Write In Your Own Voice
By Jerry D. Simmons | January 24th, 2006 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Hardly a week goes by that I do not get both of the following questions sent to me in an email: “Should I write under my own name?” And, “What category should my book be?” The answers, from a strictly marketing and sales perspective, is that authors should write under their own name and never, ever worry about the category you give your book.
If you are a woman writing what is perceived to be strictly a man’s genre, it is possible questions will be asked about why a woman is writing this type of book? If the writing and story are good enough, and the timing is right, then it’s possible that instead of using Anne Smith, the publisher will go with A. Smith. The same holds true for a man writing in what is perceived as a woman’s genre, if there is sufficient concern with the publisher about the acceptance of either book in the marketplace, initials can work as well as your name.
When writing your story, leave the categorization up to the publisher. They will make certain your book gets the correct category designation to maximize the potential in the marketplace. Regardless of the category you give your own book, your editor and in-house staff will make any necessary changes they feel a book needs to make the numbers.
Finally, and most importantly, never write to fit what you feel will sell, OR never write a certain way because that is the way some best-selling author writes, OR never write the way someone else recommends you write. WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE! Each of you is unique, and your story is unique because you are the one writing that story. If you try to imitate another writer or style, then your story will become a bad copy of someone else’s writing. Your success depends on your writing, the way you write, telling your story in your own voice. Never change that.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Book Sales, writing
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