The One Thing I Really Wish Aspiring Writers Would Take to Heart

photo credit: madamepsychosis via photopin cc

photo credit: madamepsychosis via photopin cc

Earlier this week I was listening to a conversation between Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt), author of Platform, and Stu McLaren (@StuMcLaren), a startup entrepreneur. At one point in the discussion Stu emphasized the importance of knowing your audience’s pain.

What is your audience’s need?

What is the problem your audience has that you can solve?

And I thought about you, the readers of this blog. What’s your pain, I wondered.

It probably varies from person to person. A publishing insider isn’t here for the same reason as an aspiring writer. But my sense is that most of you are writers who want to get published.

Whether you’ve been published before or not, you want a publishing contract. That is your pain. That is the problem for which you are looking for a solution. Am I right?

If so, here’s what I want to say to you. That’s the wrong problem.

Let’s say I could wave a wand and give all of you a contract. Done. You have it. It pays a modest advance of, say, $5,000. We pay half of this when you sign the contract and half when you send in an acceptable manuscript.

Wow. Amazing, right? A real publishing contract with a real publisher.

But so what?

I’m telling you: If you don’t have the right combination of concept, writing, and platform, your book will go out there and sell 2,000 copies or less.

What’s the point of that?

Sure, 2,000 of your extended network of friends and family picked up the book and maybe they even enjoyed it. But that’s not why you wanted a publishing contract, right? I mean, what’s the point of all that work to see a couple thousand people buy (and not necessarily read) your book?

I don’t say this because I want to make your life more difficult or make you angry or because I don’t care. I say it because I do.

I don’t want you to have the wrong goal—a goal that ultimately will disappoint you.

So what’s the pain behind your pain?

You want to help people, right? You have something to say and you want people to hear it. You want a boost to your ego (be honest). You want to raise money for a cause. You want to pay some bills.

Those are all legitimate needs, even the ego one. But selling 2,000 copies or less will not help you significantly with any of these legitimate needs.

What will meet these needs is the hard, hard work of coming up with a great concept, honing your writing skills, and building a platform. This is day-after-day, for-the-long-haul work. It means investing your own money to get better at each of these. It means connecting with others to learn from them.

Here’s what I think the right goal is for aspiring writers: to get publishers to come after you. (Want to tweet that?)

If you have a sweet concept, writing that sings, and a platform that helps you reach thousands of people, you won’t have to beg for a contract. It will come to you. In fact, publishers might very well fight each other to sign you.

That’s your goal.

And that, friends, is what I hope this blog is all about.

I have a question for you, and I really think this question is key for anyone who wants to get published: What’s the pain behind your pain? If you did get published, what would you like to see happen?

 ~~~

If this post was helpful, would you help me share it? I’d be grateful.

Writers, what’s the pain behind your pain? This post via @chadrallen helped me figure out what mine is. http://wp.me/p2FgGq-eC [Tweet this.]

Why getting published will NOT make all your dreams come true. Time for a reality check via @chadrallen. http://wp.me/p2FgGq-eC [Tweet this.]

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Categories: Book Proposal, Goals, Platform, Publishing, Writing

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17 thoughts on “The One Thing I Really Wish Aspiring Writers Would Take to Heart”

  2. I’m new to your site- really appreciated this post. I’m trying to determine what to do with the book I’m working on and why I’m writing it… Is it worth the time to try to get it published or should I push up my sleeves and try to work/invest in parents locally. (Is the book publishing path realistic enough to pour my time into?). There are SOOOOOOO many books on the market and how many parents are looking for a book on discipling their children?!?! Thought provoking. Thanks!

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  4. The pain behind my pain is seeing people abandon the faith or just going through the motions as though it were a check list to being in God’s will instead of embracing the relationship God so desperately desires to have with them.

    My platform is Rooted and Grounded:Cultivate a legacy of Faith. My desire is to encourage and equip parents to be the spiritual leaders of their home. The first step is taking inventory of their own faith. If I were to get published, I would love to see a revolution in homes with parent’s leading boldly and children who are rooted and grounded in unwavering authentic faith.

    I just finished the book (A Parent’s Guide to Spiritual Milestones) which includes a handbook and have written a children’s workbook to go with it. I am working on curriculum now and praying for guidance in regard to pitching it. Do I try for an agent, a publisher, send it to a contest, self-pub? So many great options 😀

  5. I think before you find yourself published the pain is having enough confidence to keep going for me. Sometimes, I really want to listen to that voice that I’m silly to think I have something to offer with my writing. There are so many amazing voices. It’s having faith in something unseen, that is challenging.

    You are right, you have to hang onto the bigger picture. I hope my work will encourage and help others intentionally seek out ways to live out their faith, even in those areas that are difficult and controversial. Thank you for the encouragement.

    • LIsa, you drew me to your blog because of your “heart.” Never, ever let the enemy steal, kill, or destroy the seed of desire that Christ has planted there.

      I’m praying big things for you and your writing ministry!

  8. Excellent post, Chad. My pain behind my pain is that I’ve focused so much on promoting others, I don’t always promote myself enough. It’s like the contractor who never works to fix up his own house. I’ve been published twice, but didn’t spend as much time promoting the second book as I did the first one. When I sat down to consider all the blogging I do, I realized in that area, too, I focus more on others than myself. It’s not a bad thing to be giving, but I need to manage my time better to focus on promoting my writing at the same time.

  9. Thanks, Chad, for another amazing post.

    I think the “pain behind the pain” is my book’s mission:

    The mission of the book that is already out (Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers), is to help people to take prayer far more seriously than they ever have before. Finding ways to connect with God that are deeply rooted in the practices of Christians across the ages, AND that really fit the person God made you to be is a source of spiritual growth and transformation.

    The mission of the one I’m working on now is to help revitalize Christian communities so that they go deeper with God and go farther in God’s work–by exploring the wide range of world changing movements in the Church that had distinctive approaches to community discipleship.

    And I can say I now absolutely see the connection between platform and the mission of the book. If people don’t somehow have a place to see me (a platform to stand on) they’ll never find my book. Unfound book = unfulfilled mission.

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