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    How to Write a Bestseller, No Mistakes Writing, Volume II
    How to Write a Bestseller, No Mistakes Writing, Volume II
    How to Write a Bestseller, No Mistakes Writing, Volume II
    Ebook251 pages2 hours

    How to Write a Bestseller, No Mistakes Writing, Volume II

    By Giacomo Giammatteo

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    About this ebook

    So you've written a book. Big deal. Did you write one good enough to sell? Will it sell? There are millions of books out there. Why should readers buy yours?

    Before you put your book up for sale, before you even finish writing, you should read this book. Find out what you're doing wrong, and what you're doing right. Discover why character development and editing are everything. And learn to make your readers laugh and cry.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGiacomo Giammatteo
    Release dateMar 14, 2018
    ISBN9781940313399
    How to Write a Bestseller, No Mistakes Writing, Volume II
    Author

    Giacomo Giammatteo

    Giacomo Giammatteo lives in Texas, where he and his wife run an animal sanctuary and take care of 41 loving rescues. By day, he works as a headhunter in the medical device industry, and at night, he writes.

    Read more from Giacomo Giammatteo

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      How to Write a Bestseller, No Mistakes Writing, Volume II - Giacomo Giammatteo

      Introduction

      Introduction

      First, let’s tackle the elephant in the room—I’m not a bestseller. So what am I doing writing a book about how to be a bestseller?

      Like anything else in life, you do not have to have done something to teach it. Take boxing—a boxer may be the best, may have even won the title without knowing it was his left jab combined with a mean right hook that propelled him to the top. But his trainer may know all about it.

      I once saw a bestselling author signing at a bookstore, and when asked about her writing, she went on and on about her use of setting and how that was her best trait.

      The odd thing was, in conversations afterward over coffee, almost everyone I spoke to agreed that it was her mastery of character development that interested them, not setting. Only one person thought setting played a major part in the books, and that person happened to have grown up where the books took place.

      With that said, this book is not going to be about setting. Nor will it focus on all the other important aspects of a book.

      This is a book about writing. And since we're going to be talking about writing, we're going to focus on two of the most important parts—character development and editing.

      I know that there are other things that affect the reading experience of a book, but I feel that character development and editing are two of the most important.

      Let's talk about reading experience for a moment. What makes a bestseller? Sales, of course, but what drives that?

      Word of mouth.

      And nothing affects word of mouth more than giving people a great reading experience. Give them a cast of characters that they get lost in and complement that with great, error-free editing, and you are well on your way.

      The reason character development is important is obvious, but editing is more subjective. For me, it's simple—mistakes pull me out of the story. Once I find a mistake, from then on, I'm busy looking for the next mistake instead of being lost in the story. Right or wrong, that's the way I am, and I'm willing to bet there are other people who feel the same. I know there are. I’ve seen it reflected in reviews.

      So without delay, let's get going.

      Oh, and by the way, I use gender neutral pronouns, so instead of saying he/she, I will likely say they.

      One more thing. There is a hotly debated issue (at least in Texas) about how to abbreviate ya’ll. Some people think it should be y’all and others swear it should be ya’ll. I hold to the ya’ll argument, so that’s what I use throughout the book.

      Eight Things Every Author Should Do

      This chapter is included in one of my other books also, a book that deals with publishing. I felt it was important enough and appropriate enough to have it in both books .

      The chapter deals primarily with what an author should do to ensure a book’s success. I included it in my book How to Publish an eBook as it has a lot to do with publishing, but it also has a lot to do with writing, so I included it here. If feel any of the parts don’t apply to you, skip over them.

      From the book How to Publish an eBook

      This chapter is not about self-publishing; it's about publishing. No matter which path you decide to take, it's the same. There are no fences.

      We (self-publishers and traditional publishers) compete in the same market and for the same audience. We use the same distributors and retailers, and the same readers buy our books.

      But while my opinion of the eight things every author should do may apply equally to a self-published author or a traditionally published one, the process of how to achieve those steps is often dramatically different.

      Below is my list. (These topics will be covered in detail later in the book.)

      Write a great book

      Find a great editor.

      Create a great cover.

      Make sure the layout and formatting are superb.

      Write an irresistible description and premise.

      Proofread, proofread, proofread.

      Price the book as if it's worth something.

      Let the world know you're there.

      I know what you're thinking—I've seen bestsellers that weren't very good.

      I have seen that also, but more times than not, they were good.

      You may also say to yourself, I’ve seen bestsellers that had mistakes in them.

      I have, too. But once again, most don't. I've seen Oscar-winning movies that I felt were terrible while great ones (IMO) didn't get a nod.

      It's true. When it comes time for awards and sales, everything is subjective. The worst book or movie (in your opinion) may sell the best.

      Take a look at some bestsellers—at the time of this writing, Gone Girl has 43,000 reviews, and yet, 13,000 of them are rated either one or two stars. Fifty Shades of Grey has an amazing 66,000 reviews but twenty percent are one– or two–star rated.

      A lot of factors determine a book's success, and the ones I've listed above don't come close to covering all the bases, but these are the ones I felt were some of the most important. Let's look at them one at a time.

      Write a Great Book

      This is, without question, the number-one priority. I know that many mediocre books have made it to the best-seller list, even dominated the list, but I've always believed that if you're going to run the race, you should enter your best horse.

      How do you do that?

      Make your characters real.

      Make your plot sizzle.

      Make your dialogue crisp.

      Make your story enthralling.

      Quality

      In my opinion, you should never sacrifice quality—for anything.

      Not to meet a deadline.

      Not to save money.

      And certainly not because you're too lazy to fix a mistake.

      Do whatever is necessary to produce a perfect book.

      No matter how you try, it won't be perfect. No matter how much effort you put into it, a typo may pop up here and there, but if you set out with a mission to produce a perfect book, you'll come close (I hope).

      Find a Great Editor (or Two)

      I included this as one of the top things to do for a reason. I don't know of any author capable of producing a top-notch book without some kind of editor. Even editors use editors.

      Let's look at the editing process.

      Content editor

      Line editor

      Copy editor

      Proofreader

      Content Editor

      A content editor is standard fare with traditional publishing houses. It’s a service that publishers provide to authors for better or worse. Content editing is expensive, normally in the neighborhood of $1,200 to 2,500 or more for a full-length novel. I don't view this as a necessity, but most authors need something, even if it’s a small army of beta readers.

      Line Editor

      A good line editor will point out problems with paragraph structure, sentence flow, dialogue issues, and clarity. Many line editors combine their services with copy editing, but technically they are different beasts. Before you engage an editor, ask them for a sample, so you understand what they will provide. That way, you’ll have it spelled out in a contract.

      CopyEditor

      If there is one service you cannot do without, it's copy editing. A good copyeditor will fix grammar problems, punctuation, consistency issues, and issues with sentence structure.

      In general, they will ensure that you follow the rules that don't bend. I did a post on copy editors which you can see here; in fact, I’ve included it in this book as well.

      And if you're wondering how important this service is—I would sooner cut my arm off than put out a book without going through a copy editor. If you find a good copy editor, hang onto them and don't ever let go. (As mentioned above, copy editing and line editing are often offered as one service.)

      Proofreader

      This is another critical service. Proofreading deals with typos, grammar, spelling, and any other mistake not caught in the process to date. Even when you think you've got it nailed, a good proofreader will often find a stray mistake. They're worth what you pay them.

      Create a Great Cover

      Everyone has heard the saying You can't judge a book by its cover. And yet that's exactly what happens millions of times each day. Readers choose, and buy, books based on their covers. Sometimes it's not the cover alone that is the deciding factor, but the cover quite often is the impetus for taking the next step.

      Nothing screams amateur like a poorly designed cover. My advice is to do whatever you have to in order to get a cover that draws attention. It's going to cost you money (unless you’re talented enough to do it yourself), but it will be money well spent. Look for details in the chapter for creating covers.

      Make Sure the Layout and Formatting Are Superb

      Just as the cover makes the outside of your book shine, the way the book is presented on the inside also tells the reader something. When you present readers with nice, easy-to-read fonts, uniform indents, drop caps, maybe even graphic images at the beginning of each chapter—those things tell a reader you care about your book. I have even recently begun including images in the book’s content, and it looks great. You can see it below, and read all about it in my book How to Format an eBook.

      And when that layout presents the same, whether it's read on a computer screen, a Kindle, an iPad, iPhone, or an Android tablet or phone, it makes the reading experience a good one. Your readers will thank you for it by recommending the book to friends or leaving a good review (assuming the book is well written). Or by buying the next book you publish.

      Write an Irresistible Description

      I don't think there is anything short of the cover that is as important to the actual sale of the book than the product description. The book cover makes the reader stop and take a look, but the description is what hooks the reader or turns them off.

      Take as much time as you need to and hone the description to perfection. Run it by friends and fellow authors. And if you're not happy with it, ask for help. Don't publish the book until you have a description that sizzles.

      Think about it. There is a reason why companies pay big bucks for people to write advertising copy for their products. They know it works.

      Price the Book Like It's Worth Something

      Birds of a feather flock together. It's another saying that's been around a long time, and it's so ingrained in our minds that many people believe it without a second thought. That might have something to do with it being true.

      What does it have to do with books?

      If you price your books at ninety-nine cents, or God forbid, are continually giving them away, readers will associate you with the ninety-nine cent or free crowd.

      The problem with that is far too many of those books are not high-quality books. After a few bad reading experiences, those same readers associate ninety-nine cent books and free books with poor quality. You don't want that.

      There is another reason for pricing your books higher. Each retailer has a recommendation engine that matches readers with what the retailer’s algorithms predict that reader will like, such as the readers who bought this also bought…

      When your books are priced at ninety-nine cents, you're not getting the advantage of the readers who are the big spenders, the ones who buy the books priced at $5.99 or $7.99 or $9.99 or higher, because the majority of those buyers are not slumming in the free piles. That's a huge disadvantage.

      Don't believe me? Look for yourself. Surf on over to your favorite retailer and check out a book that you know was recently offered for ninety-nine cents or given away. Now, look at the other books those customers purchased—they will be listed underneath.

      If it follows the typical example, most of those books will be either ninety-nine cents or possibly $1.99.

      Now, do the same for one of the best sellers like James Patterson, or John Sanford, or Michael Connelly, or Gillian Flynn. The also boughts listed underneath of those books will likely be between $5.99 and $14.99. One hell of a difference.

      Let the World Know You're There

      Visibility may be...let me re-phrase that…Visibility is the single biggest factor that determines whether your book will become the next bestseller or sit on the virtual shelf.

      Your next question should be, How do I become visible?

      I sure as hell wish I knew. I only know of two fail-safe methods.

      Word of mouth

      Amazon/Apple/Barnes and Noble, etc. recommending you

      The big question is how do you get either of those to happen. The first is easier to imagine. Write a book people can't stop talking about. The second, short of big bribes or blackmail, is a mystery. If you find out, tell me first. Please?

      My Advice

      (We'll go into all of this in detail a bit later.)

      Try to get honest reviews and don't ever worry about reviews.

      Think before you price your books.

      Do not go exclusive on Amazon.

      Don't check your sales, or reviews, or anything else, every day. Certainly don't do it every hour. Check them once a week and force yourself to abstain on the other days. I know it's more difficult than dieting, but if you treat it like that, it works. Think of all the time you'd have to write if you stopped that nonsense.

      Get off Facebook! (or simply stop touting your latest review).

      Stop tweeting! (at least about your book).

      You don't need another picture on Pinterest.

      I'm not saying to abandon social media altogether, but if you continually bombard friends and followers with reviews or quotes from your book, you will quickly bore those followers. Nobody will listen, and before long they'll tune

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