write « Robin Writes

The short answer is this: I’ll be darned if I know!

The long answer, however, is this: Many, many factors.

First, you have to have a good story, and/or a book with wide appeal. Second, it must be well-designed. Third, you have to get it to market.

A good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Something to hook the reader and let him in, hoping to discover more and wanting to know more.

A book with wide appeal is something to which many people can relate. In fiction, that can be all over the map, so to speak; in non-fiction, it could be as simple as cooking, or self-help, or entertainment, or information on a common illness or disorder.

That simply means that it must have universal appeal—a book about your family will be interesting to your family, but not necessarily anyone else (unless you’re famous). A book about something you overcame or your own life story may be intriguing to some, but not to many (unless you’re famous).

And of course, you can’t price it too high.

Timing helps too—you don’t want to release a holiday book in the spring, for example.

Then you have marketing. This means exposure. If you don’t have a website or do nothing with it, if you don’t have a blog or never post new material, if you only market to other writers, etc., etc., you will not sell books. If you never do events or festivals or appearances or speaking engagements, you will not sell books.

If you do all these things, consistently, you will sell books. Probably.

The single biggest factor for marketability is luck.

Just stop and let that sink in for a moment.

You’ve all seen really crappy books, or even just a short story sold as a “book,” that climbs the Amazon charts. Ugh. And good ones, from unknown authors, that just sell and sell and sell.

WHAT THE HECK?

Luck. Pure and simple. Like winning the lottery. I can’t explain it and neither can you—if you have the awesomest story ever, and the most brilliant illustrations, but sometimes that just can’t compare to this type of luck.

What does this mean? Not a thing. It certainly doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t write or draw or try to sell books—that won’t get you a darned thing, and that’s for sure. Keep trying, keep working on it—why?

Because that’s who you are.

I said yesterday that I’m sick of hearing about Ferguson, etc., so this is it. Next week, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

A news story the other day was about a woman who’d been blinded by an officer firing a bean bag gun. She’s pregnant. Sounds horrific, right?

Well, there’s a little more to it:

It happened in the wee hours of the morning; shots were fired at a gas station, the lot was crowded, police were called. This pregnant woman, who said she was out riding around “respecting Mike Brown,” was in a car driven by the boyfriend. When police arrived, the dude decided to drive around or directly at the police. Doesn’t matter, when the cops show up, you sit tight and follow directions.

So the shot was fired and it entered the passenger side window, where she was sitting, and hit her in the left eye. I still don’t get that part—wouldn’t it have been her right side next to the window? Anyway, she was interviewed outside the hospital and her sister added that they just want “justice.”

Let’s take a look at this situation—we already know the boyfriend was kind of an idiot, right, but also there’s now a warrant for his arrest. So let the police deal with him.

The girl, though—first, if you’re expecting a baby, what the hell are you doing riding around in a car in the middle of the night? Second, how is this “respecting” Mike Brown?

Go to church and pray, talk with others about what a great guy he was, put flowers on his gravesite. THAT is respect. Look it up.

Third, her sister wants justice. Oh, crap. Are we tired of this, or what? It was AN ACCIDENT, that occurred at least partially because the girl was dumb enough to be out in this mess and has really bad taste in boyfriends. I’ve also heard she had two children at home, but I haven’t confirmed that.

Now, if I can see, from my TV, all the stuff going down in Ferguson, why couldn’t she? What would possess someone to go out there? I’m truly sorry it happened, and yes, it’s terrible, but come on. Justice? Again?

Justice comes down to right and wrong. The Ferguson decision WAS justice—the grand jury decided not to prosecute, based on the evidence. There’s your justice. The protestors are still screaming for justice, but what they really want is revenge. They want Officer Wilson hanged from the highest tree. That’s not justice. They got justice already. But not the answer they wanted.

The sister of this young woman also wants justice—but you know what? Sometimes, no one “pays.” Sometimes it’s an accident, sometimes it just happens. Even if she hired an attorney and they sued for damages, the jury will still consider how much of it was her own fault. Bet she didn’t think of that. And if Mike’s family files a civil suit, they might want to think of that too.