We’ve all been there. The excitement for our newly finished
book. The praises from our first readers feeding our enthusiasm. The news story
of the latest up-and-coming novelist to hit it big. This is it. The moment all
your hard work has been building toward: the release of your break-out book,
the one that makes you a household name and changes your career forever.
Only it doesn’t. It takes forever to finally find a
publisher. And once it does, despite the marketing team’s enthusiasm and a slew
of five-star Amazon reviews, your first royalty check won’t cover a nice
vacation, much less support your family long-term. While big-name authors rake
in millions for churning out formulaic sequels and overseeing an army of heavy-lifting
co-authors, your labor of love is barely noticed in the ever-growing sea of
books readers have to choose from.
So what do you do? All your high expectations have been
dashed against the unforgiving shores of a tough market and you’re reeling from
the aftermath. Do you give up, frustrated with “rigged marketplace” or a modern
readership who doesn’t appreciate true talent? Or do you press on?
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We live in simultaneously the best and worst time for new or
up-and-coming authors. If you want to get your book published, it’s phenomenal,
as there have never been more opportunities to get your book into the hands of
readers. However, if you foresaw getting a million-dollar advance for your
debut novel, chances are you’re going to be disappointed. The big houses tend
to be much more risk-averse to non-proven entities without huge sales records
under their belts. Like the big movie studios, the traditional houses have
largely become tentpole businesses, focusing on the perennial bestselling
authors who bring in the vast majority of the publishers’ revenue. No one is
surprised when Brad Thor’s or James Patterson’s latest book hits #1 on the NYT
bestsellers list. Authors like that are proven entities, and publishers know
that, despite seven-figure advances and massive marketing budgets, those
releases will more than recoup their return on investment.
Whether you aspire to become a tentpole author yourself or
just to make a good living writing fulltime, the answer is the same: learn,
grow, and persist.
I had big hopes for my debut novel, From the Ashes. At first, I was sure I would land a deal with a big
publishing house. I pitched to agents at Thrillerfest 2009 and 2010 and
received a number of favorable responses, but none of them panned out. In 2011,
an author friend of mine introduced me to his publisher, who had released his
debut to mega sales (including three weeks in the Kindle Top 10 which led to
international rights being sold in eight countries). When From the Ashes released, I anticipated similar results, but some
crucial elements in the market had changed, and my sales, though solid, came
nowhere near the bestsellerdom of my friend.
Similarly, The Danite
Prophecy, which was initially written as the sequel to From the Ashes, was ready to be published by my current publisher.
But when a number of first readers, including some bestselling authors,
recommended I pitch this one to bigger publishers instead, I became enamored of
the dreams of bestsellerdom again. This could be my breakout hit, they all
said, so I rewrote the book as the first in a new series and landed the top
agent I had unsuccessfully pitched to years back. But it didn’t take. Most
editors loved it, but I was a risk, an unproven entity. To this day, The Danite Prophecy, the book that was
going to be my big breakout, remains unpublished, nearly four years after its
completion.
My current publisher used to helm a major New York house,
working with and developing talents that are now household names. But unlike
the one-strike-and-you’re-out mentality of many big houses these days, he takes
the longview approach, building a brand, a readership, and a career over a
number of books. My agent, who has been working in the industry since the ‘80s,
offered similarly sage advice for my expectations of an advance big enough to
quit my day job with. Just as most CEOs started at a low rung on the ladder,
most authors don’t strike sales gold on their first release these days. They
got to where they are through hard work, determination, and continually striving
to improve.
Nearly two years after its release, From the Ashes became a #1 Amazon category bestseller, beating out
hit releases by tentpole authors like Nelson DeMille and Steve Berry in the
Historical Thriller category. It was nearly two years after its initial
release, but it happened. And then, a few months later, it climbed the charts
to hit #1 again. And then, a few weeks before my second published book, The Dubai Betrayal, released, From the Ashes finally became a national
bestseller, hitting #3 on the overall Nook bestseller list. Beating out, well,
everyone, except John Sandford and Christine Feehan, perennial New York Times bestselling authors whose
new books had just released the day before. This more than four years after From the Ashes first hit store shelves.
I still believe I will someday have my big breakout book,
one that changes my writing career forever. I believe that a big New York house
will buy The Danite Prophecy and its
sequels. And I believe one day I will be a tentpole author, able to fully
dedicate my professional life to writing the best books I can, complete with
expensive and resource-intensive research trips. It may not come with the next
book or the one after that, but that’s okay. This is a marathon, striving to build
a lasting career and brand. And that takes focus, determination, and realistic
pacing expectations.
Persistence and a longview approach are crucial to achieving
the success you’re dreaming of. Your new book may not become the overnight
blockbuster you’re sure it could be, but every minor success can lay the seeds
of greatness if you don’t allow yourself to get disillusioned. A dedication to
improving your craft, writing with passion that draws in readers, and a
determination to keep growing your audience through increasingly compelling
stories will ensure that, when the right opportunity for your newest book to
become the breakout career-maker you’ve always dreamed, you’ll be ready. And so
will I.
Jeremy Burns lived and worked in Dubai for two years, conduct- ing first-hand research in many of the locations featured in The Dubai Betrayal and immersing himself in a variety of Middle Eastern cultures. His first book, From the Ashes, introduced Wayne Wilkins and is a two-time #1 category bestseller on Ama- zon, with more than 95,000 total ebook copies downloaded to date. A seasoned traveler who has explored more than twenty countries across four continents, he lives in Florida with his wife and two dogs, where he is working on his next book.
