Scifi, Monsters, and Survival:
Author Ariele Sieling’s Blog
Happy February! Not at all in time for Valentine’s Day, here is the next up in my series of science fiction fairy tales set in space. This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and is titled The Silver Arm!
Voice. An elusive and obnoxious writing concept if there ever was one. Ask a writer what they think voice is, and they’ll say, it’s your style. It’s the different words you choose. It’s like music. It’s what makes you different.
The only thing anyone can agree on is that it’s that thing that makes your writing unique.
I’m not going to mention trees, but I’m going to keep using images because I think it’s a good metaphor. We’re all trees ya’ll.
Okay, cool. But what is it? And how are we supposed to find it or grow it if we have no idea what it is?
First, let’s talk definition. I pulled every book I own about writing off of my shelf and flipped to the section on voice, and was disappointed by most. I read blog posts, articles, and even polled in my various writer groups across the internet. While everyone pretty much agreed that voice is the “thing'“ that makes your writing unique, no one offered a tangible definition of what that “thing” is. There were metaphors, examples, and the occasional shrug, but no one could really pin it down into something useful.
I think the reason that the concept of voice is so nebulous is because every writer has a different voice. So when someone tries to pin down the definition, they’re focused on their own voice and have trouble looking at it from a more objective perspective. When a writer says, “this is voice” another says, “not for me!” So, what exactly is voice?
Here is my definition: Voice is the sum of all the writing choices you make.
Voice is a math problem where every choice you make adds up to something greater than itself, something that is representative of you: the unique sound of your writing. Every choice matters: style, point of view, word choice, tense, theme, genre, characterization, description, dialogue, length, even your audience—who you’re writing for or to. All of these choices combined add up to equal voice.
Strengthening or discovering your voice is the act of being intentional with the writing choices that you make. Each choice points back to you: your intentions and who you are. You are the common denominator of all your writing choices.
Which tree are you?
Style is another term that gets thrown into voice conversations a lot. I think the reason voice and style get confused is because they are both equations. The difference is that while voice is the sum of ALL your writing choices, style is the sum of only a few writing choices. This might be a bit subjective, but I would say that style is the sum of genre, tone, and maybe theme.
For example, let’s say you wanted to write in the style of HP Lovecraft. You might write a story that is dark, gritty, and weird, that explores the cosmic horrors of the unknown. But HP Lovecraft’s work is notoriously racist at its core. In order to write in his voice, you’d have to try to get into his head, try to make the same writing choices he would have—racism and all. But remove the racism (as you should), and you have something written in his style, but in your voice. You’ve made different choices than he would have.
I think most writers want to develop and grow their own voice, but there are a few times when a writer might try to mimic the voice of another writer, not just their style. Robert Jordan’s series, Wheel of Time, is a good example. Jordan died before he finished his series, and so Brandon Sanderson was hired to finish it. While I’m sure Sanderson included a few touches of his own, the idea behind it was that he would finish the series as closely as possible to the way Jordan would have. He had to get into Jordan’s head and really try to write in Jordan’s voice. Here is some info about his experiences doing this.
Book packaging is another example. Book packaging is a form of publishing where a company purchases a series or a brand from an author, and then hires the author to work on it. If the author gets fired (look up Vampire Diaries), the company simply hires a new writer to work under the same pen name and continue the series. Other examples of well-known packaged series are Nancy Drew or Goosebumps. In these instances, the writer has to try to make choices as if they were the original author of the work.
In both of these examples, the writer is essentially a ghostwriter—and if you’re a professional ghostwriter, the aim here is the same: to get into your client’s head, and make the choices they would have made if they wrote the piece themselves—hence, in their voice.
The first note I want to make is that I don’t think you get to “pick” your voice. You find it. Discover it. It’s based off who you are, your values, and what’s important to you. I think your voice is really the effort of your subconscious to implant your creative fingerprint or DNA onto everything that you create.
But the more intentional you are about your values and your writing choices, the more clearly your voice will come to light in your writing. So how can you be more intentional? Three ways: write, revise, and read.
Write more. Write often. Write a lot. The more you write, the more your voice will become evident. I know everyone gives this advice for everything. You want to make more money? Write more. Want to be a better writer? Write more. Want to learn how to write better dialogue? Write more. Want to figure out your brand? Write more.
Well. There’s a reason everyone says it. Because in order to be a writer or a better writer, you have to write. In this case, the goal of writing more is to be more honest and intentional when you do it. You can try things like:
Write about yourself to parse out your values and identity. Take a month and write in a daily journal. Look for sentences and paragraphs that “feel right” or “feel wrong” and take note of them. Free write or use prompts, but whatever you do, try your best to be honest and authentic.
Explore other forms of writing. Explore genres, themes, points of view, narration styles. If you usually write science fiction, try writing poetry. If you prefer mystery, try romance. If you’re strictly a non-fiction writer, maybe try flash fiction. Stretch yourself, try new things. I think of it as feeling out the corners of a dark room. You can stand in the same place the whole time, but if you move around slowly and try to figure out the shape and size of the room, you never know—you might find the light switch.
Mimic other writers. Don’t plagiarize or copy word for word, but choose writers you know and are familiar with their work, and try to think and write like them. I find that this exercise tends to show me who I’m like and who I’m not. If it’s easy to mimic their style, I’m more like them. If it’s hard, I’m more different. It is also good for getting more insight into what “feels right” or “feels wrong.”
Yes. Everyone always tells you to do this too—and then you groan and say, “I hate revision!” So try this. Instead of thinking of revision as “fixing something that’s broken,” think of it as “finishing something that’s not done.” I like to compare revising a rough draft to creating a sculpture. The sculptor starts out with a big block of stone (blank page), and to start, she hacks out a rough shape of what the sculpture is going to be (rough draft). Then she spends the rest of her time carving out the details, smoothing out the hard edges, and polishing the stone (revising). The true voice of the artist isn’t evident in the hacked out stone. Her hacked out stone looks similar to everyone else’s. The true voice of the sculptor is in the details.
When trying to discover your voice, revising takes on a different purpose anyway. While revising, do it intentionally—to learn more about who you are, and how your unique self becomes evident in your writing.
Self-critique is arguably one of the most important skills you can develop as a writer. Ultimately, the only opinion of your work that truly matters is your own, but unless you can learn to look objectively at your work, you won’t be able to see its weaknesses or strengths—and you won’t be able to see its uniqueness. Keep in mind that self-critique doesn’t mean that you hate everything that you write—quite the contrary. It means to seeing the beauty and elegance of your writing just as clearly as you see the dross.
I recommend the book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown & Dave King as a good starting place.
Group critique can also have value. Many writers participate in critique groups or have beta or ARC readers. Having other people look at and make comments on your work can be a great way to get out of your own head, to see alternative perspectives on your work. Alternatively, you could consider hiring a developmental editor instead—think of it as therapy for your writing. They read your work, and you pay them to provide constructive feedback that not only helps you grow as a writer, but helps you learn to be more intentional with your writing choices.
A few notes on external critique: remember that not everyone is the right critic for your work. Just because someone doesn’t like something about your work, doesn’t mean they’re right about it. It also doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Take everything with a grain of salt. Feel free to ignore any opinions or advice—but try to listen with an open mind. Ultimately, the only opinion on your work that truly matters is your own.
I love Neil Gaiman’s advice on this. He says, “Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Group critique has not always been a common thing. Plenty of writers have gotten along just fine without it (this is where self-critiquing skills come in handy). The danger of group critique is having too many cooks in the kitchen—especially if those other cooks aren’t rooting for you to succeed, or they’re cooking a completely different cuisine. Imagine what (the wrong) critique group would have said about James Joyce’s writing. Or Herman Melville. Or Kerouac.
And don’t forget: trust yourself.
The third strategy for finding your voice is to read. A lot. Widely. And with an open mind.
I’ve heard some writers say that they don’t have time to read. Well, I recommend making time. If you have 5 writing sessions a week, make one of those sessions for reading. If you spend a half an hour a day on Facebook, spend a half an hour a day reading instead—or swap out one day for reading, and spend the other six on Facebook. Delete the Facebook app—download the Kindle app instead. Can’t afford to buy books? Download free ones.
While you’re reading, watch for the voices of other writers. How do their choices manifest on the page? What about it resonates with you and what doesn’t? Read widely—as many genres as you can, as many authors as you can. Think about what feels “right” to you, and what feels “wrong.” Sometimes, a writer’s voice is subtle, sometimes strong. Sometimes it flows and swirls, sometimes it jars and rips. As you’re reading, think about how you might describe the other writer’s voice and how it might be similar or different to yours. And read intentionally.
I know. There’s a lot of wishy-washy nonsense in this article. “Trust your feelings, Luke!” “Become one with the Force!” “I AM YOUR FATHER.”
Are you familiar with the uncertainty principle? It theorizes that you can’t know the exact position and the exact velocity of an object at the same time. Basically, you can know how fast something is moving OR where it is, but not both at the same time.
I think voice is similar. You can know that you have a voice, but not know what it is. Or you can know what your voice is, but not ever know if you’ve actually implemented it. You can know if you’ve found your voice while you’re writing, but not while you’re reading. Or, you can look at something you wrote and say, “this is my voice,” but not know how you got there.
You might not ever really truly know your own voice. Maybe it’s only something for other people to know. Regardless, your voice will be something that always grows and shifts and evolves. Eight years ago, when I first started searching for my voice, I knew what my voice was. Well, seven years later, my voice is completely different than it was back then. I still feel like I know my voice. Don’t know how I got here, though. And seven years from now, my voice might be completely different. Or it might be the same.
In conclusion, I’m going to share this quote from Donald Maass’ book, Writing the Breakout Novel:
“…it is worth noting that the voice of many best-selling authors is as neutral as a national news anchor’s accent. Some say it takes blandness of style to break out; or rather, to rub so few people the wrong way that millions can read the author without any discomfort. My own feeling is that voice is a natural attribute. You no more control it than you can control the color of your eyes—nor would you want to. Plenty of breakout authors have a distinctive voice.
“To set your voice free, set your words free. Set your characters free. Most important, set your heart free. It is from the unknowable shadows of your subconscious that your stories will find their drive and from which they will draw their meaning. No one can loan you that or teach you that. Your voice is your self in the story.”
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass (p 195)
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Because I’m one of those people that likes to DO things, and not just sit around and ponder nebulous concepts like “voice,” I’m going to throw a couple of exercises in here. But the truth is, your best bet is to write more, revise, and read—go be a writer, be yourself, and you’ll figure it out.
Set a timer and write down ten words that you think describe your voice. Do it as fast as you can, with as little thinking as possible. If you’re having a lot of trouble, write down ten words that you think describe the voice of your current work in progress.
Do this twice a year (or as often as you want). Keep all the lists. Watch how it changes. Watch what stays the same.
Read the following excerpts. Write down ten words you think describes the voice of these writers. You can do this with literally any writer, any book, any work.
First excerpt:
“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”
Second excerpt:
“What do I really know about love? I have had some experiences and feel fluent enough for my own satisfaction. Love, I find is like singing. Everybody can do enough to satisfy themselves, though it may not impress the neighbors as being very much. That is the way it is with me, but whether I know anything unusual, I couldn’t say. Don’t look for me to call a string of names and point out chapter and verse. Ladies do not kiss and tell any more than gentlemen do.
“I have read many books where the heroine was in love for a long time without knowing it. I have talked with people and they have told me the same thing. So maybe that is the way it ought to be. That is not the way it is with me at all. I have been out of love with people for a long time, perhaps without finding it out. But when I fall in, I can feel the bump. That is a fact and I would not try to fool you. Love may be a sleepy, creeping thing with some others, but it is a mighty wakening thing with me. I feel the jar, and I know it from my head down.”
Third excerpt:
“Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. Carlos’ hair is thick and straight. He doesn't need to comb it. Nenny's hair is slippery—slides out of your hand. And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like fur.
“But my mother's hair, my mother's hair like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell, when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain and Mama's hair that smells like bread.”
Fourth excerpt:
“Modern elevators are strange and complex entities. The ancient electric winch and ‘maximum-capacity-eight-persons’ jobs bear as much relation to a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Happy Vertical People Transporter as a packet of mixed nuts does to the entire west wing of the Sirian State Mental Hospital.
“This is because they operate on the curious principle of ‘defocused temporal perception.’ In other words, they have the capacity to see dimly into the immediate future, which enables the elevator to be on the right floor to pick you up even before you knew you wanted it, thus eliminating all the tedious chatting, relaxing and making friends that people were previously forced to do while waiting for elevators.
“Not unnaturally, many elevators imbued with intelligence and precognition became terribly frustrated with the mindless business of going up and down, up and down, experimented briefly with the notion of going sideways, as a sort of existential protest, demanded participation in the decision-making process and finally took to squatting in basements sulking.
“An impoverished hitchhiker visiting any planets in the Sirius star system these days can pick up easy money working as a counselor for neurotic elevators.”
Reread the list of ten words you wrote about yourself in exercise 1 or the list you wrote about one of the excerpts in exercise 2. Then, choose one of the following prompts and do the best you can to write a paragraph in that voice. Be intentional with your choices.
I stared at the clouds.
Coins scattered as the purse hit the concrete.
The bright red car sped past.
I didn’t know what hit me.
She said no.
A pin, a tie, a pocketful of change
The same eyes gazed back at me but with new wrinkles.
Because I’m also the type of person that likes to see examples of exercises already implemented, I did 1 & 3 (you’re on your own for #2) and they are below. Enjoy.
Exercise 1: 10 Words That Describe My Voice
quirky
eccentric
descriptive
intellectual
complex/maze
thoughtful
light
funny
character-driven
colorful
Exercise 3 (based off my own list and the prompt, “I stared at the clouds.”)
I couldn’t tear my eyes away. The clouds—they had changed. No longer white puffy billows of cumulus vapor, or the low lying undulating layer of winter—no they bled, vibrant red and orange, blood, brick, crimson. The rain, too, had changed, salty and scarlet, as if a great wound had torn apart the heavens and its life force was gushing down toward the earth below.
The end <3
Happy writing!
I recently read a book titled The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber, and it was eye-opening, to say the least. It gave me a ton of ideas for how to hone down my own business, make it more efficient and effective, and work toward being more productive.
It also got me thinking about what it might look like to operate an indie publishing franchise. I did a little research on some of the various current models of publishing—small press, traditional, book packaging, non-profit—but I didn’t quite find anything like I was thinking.
So, as part of my fake master’s degree coursework, I drafted an essay laying out my ideas for a franchise system of indie publishing. Enjoy (or don’t—business isn’t as much fun as monsters!)
(If you’re interested in reading the book, here is a link.)
What if the process of independently authoring and publishing books could be franchised? What if you could create a system that any competent author, no matter their genre, skill level at marketing, business know-how, or networking acumen could step into and make work? What would that look like? What systems would you have to create to get it off the ground?
This is the question I am posing (and attempting to answer) after reading the book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber. My goal is to map out the process of publishing an average, text-based fiction or non-fiction book, complete with all of the different options and choices that are part of the process. I also want to design a choose-your-own-adventure marketing system that could make it possible for a decent writer with good covers to make enough money to not only cover their upfront investment, but also have a regular monthly income (amount dependent on how many books the author has available and their relative value to readers).
Some aspects of being an indie author are easy to input into a franchise model. The publishing process, for example, and even the editing process, can be designed to be repeatable, with relatively consistent results each time. For example, I walk through the same design process of each book, from working with cover designers to inputting text into a template for the interior design—I simply use checklists to keep track of where I am for each project. Post finished manuscript, the process would involve hiring a copy editor to do edits, the author implementing those edits, then hiring a proofreader (or two) before the manuscript is considered done.
In terms of the actual publishing process, some of the first steps would involve hiring a cover designer and an interior designer, each of whom aligns with the franchise’s core principles, and who has experience in the genre. Choosing a printer would be another important step, taken early in the design process, as would choosing primary distributors. The distributors part could be pre-chosen for the franchise, based on the genre and/or the marketing system. Then, an e-book designer would be hired—or the author could be trained to do the design of the e-book and use the tools themselves.
Finally, ebook and paperback distribution would have to be determined. This is also a relatively straightforward process, and would largely be based on cost and quality factors. While there are many options out there, the franchise could pre-determine the printers, so the author wouldn’t have to worry about making choices; this way, we could guarantee consistent quality, timelines, and cost of printing. Then all books could be pushed to Amazon for purchase, and if there was a franchise system in place, the overarching organization could also handle ISBNs and copyright, and possibly create a small-press like distribution system that could reach libraries and small bookstores.
Distribution of e-books is a bit trickier, since this relies partially on the marketing plan. But there are really only two choices, and authors could be trained on both: going wide, or Amazon only. Either way, the platforms and tools currently available are easy to learn and use—it would be simple to develop a straightforward process and then train authors to use it.
Where it gets tricky is at the beginning and at the end of the process of developing a book. I’ll start with the beginning: deciding what to write. The reason this is tricky is because authors are a creative bunch and most of them want to write what they want to write. A few write to market, of course, but in general, subject matter, style, and voice all play a role in the success of the manuscript. But authors create their best work when they have the freedom to do so, so by imposing too restrictive of a system or a process, you risk reducing the quality of the books.
To help with this, I thought we could implement a program in which authors are encouraged (or possibly required) to explore a variety of genres, practice writing in different styles and voices, and make literary diversification part of their game plan. They would be required to publish in multiple genres (though the genres could be related), and encouraged to publish series, not simply standalone books. This would be true for non-fiction books as well. How-to books, informational books, and even memoir could be explored from a series perspective, and thus help create both a backlist (which will help with income) and a web for interested consumers to follow from one book to the next. Essentially, while we couldn’t guarantee that the author would learn to write quality manuscripts, we could mitigate the chances of poor-quality books being produced with the franchise branding by providing education on the actual process of writing before allowing authors to participate in the franchise.
Another complicated component at beginning of the process is timing. Some authors write quickly and can produce a book every couple of months or so. Others are slower, and can only produce one book a year. Of course, you also have your George R.R. Martins, who write one book every five years. The franchise system would be suitable for those who could write one or more books per year (allowing for the occasional dry spell even for the most prolific writers), but I think slower writers would find that the costs of running the business with only one product output per year would not be sustainable.
The other tricky part of franchising authoring is the marketing, which would be crucial for the success of the model. Marketing, while highly customizable, is extremely variable on the book, the genre, and the author. For example, some authors prefer book-heavy marketing, while others use their own face as the primary imagery for their business. Some prefer to focus on social media and newsletter marketing, while others focus their time and energy on paid advertising.
But a franchised marketing plan would have to be high-level enough that authors could plug and play based on their own personal skills, feelings, and genre, but specific enough that they knew exactly how to spend their marketing time and dollars. That said, the franchise itself could begin to build a base of readers, segmented by preferences, similar to the way that BookBub has done.
That said, I think a specific yet flexible marketing plan is totally doable. We could create multiple marketing patterns for several different genres, and the author could simply create (or hire someone to create) the marketing materials based off of their particular situation. For example, a science fiction writer might create buzz around their book by sharing world-building information, imagery from the book or series, quotes, a video interview with the author, and then throw a launch party. They would have access to the franchise-level ARC team to get reviews on their book, and they would begin by having their book Amazon-only, to take advantage of the Kindle Unlimited program and the other marketing options Amazon offers. Then, they would be required to invest a certain number of dollars into Facebook ads, Amazon ads, or Google ads, and we would either train them on this or provide experts to actually do it for them. Then, there would be regular, custom newsletters, regular social media updates, and that sort of thing. We could create a map for them to follow step-by-step. A romance author might be similar, but they might focus more on blog tours and giveaways—the trick would be in testing several different systems on a variety of different authors and books, and seeing how well they work. All authors would have access to marketing professionals, whose job it would be to help the author create a marketing plan specific to their book, series, and genres. And of course, they would be welcome to step outside the box and experiment with other tactics if they wish.
It’s pretty common knowledge that the more books an author has available, especially if they are in series or trilogies, the more money authors are able to make. As a result, this franchise system would require a certain upfront investment of both money and manuscripts. But as part of it, the author would have access to the franchise’s network, training opportunities, distribution network, and more—things that indie authors as a whole do not have access to. Though, I think either the franchise would have to charge them for access to the system, or they would have to give up a certain percentage of sales to the franchise to continue using the network and resources available (to be determined by someone with more business acumen than I).
Another relevant piece is that in order to be successful in the franchise model, a certain level of quality would be expected. We wouldn’t be able to guarantee that every author ever would be able to make this system work. Some books are just too esoteric; others just aren’t good; and still others might be too complex to fit within the franchise model. For example, books requiring a lot time and research to develop might not fit well. Children’s books might not fit well, as they are a completely different audience, and have a significantly different process for development than word-heavy fiction or creative non-fiction. In addition, chapbooks of poetry have a completely different audience, different style of book, and different expectations surrounding the publication and marketing processes.
Rule #1 of The E-Myth Revisited states that “the model will provide consistent value to customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders.” This means that the franchise itself would build custom relationships with printers, designers, suppliers, marketers, publicists, website designers, bookstores, and whoever else might be required throughout the process. Then, franchisees would have the ability to pick and choose from those individuals or organizations for the production of their books. This will also enable to keep costs standardized, and reduce or entirely eliminate issues with flaky cover designers or vanishing editors.
Rule #2 states that the models should be operable by individuals of the lowest possible skill. I think there should be some sort of gateway to entry that involves testing the quality of writing. Perhaps the individuals would have to take a test, or maybe their initial two or three manuscripts should be read by in-house reviewers for viability. Perhaps we have a pre-entry course that goes through the basics of writing, and even expert writers would be required to take it if they wanted to participate in the franchise. That said, as long as someone has the ability to write a clean, coherent story, I think they should be allowed to participate in the franchise. Right now, in order to be a successful indie author, you have to also be a marketer, a business person, an accountant, a designer, an editor, a project manager—and it seems like we could have a lot more wonderful books out in the world if authors weren’t intimidated by all of these other hats, or forced to spend time learning how to do them instead of crafting more stories. By having a franchise system in place, authors would have to know to do two things instead of ten: write a book, implement the franchise system.
Rule #3 of The E-Myth Revisited states that the model will be a place of impeccable order. Creativity is often messy and all over the place. This franchise model will allow for the writing process, the actual act of creating art, to be as messy and all over the place as the writer wants or needs it to be. But the process of publishing and producing the book—this would be neat and tidy.
Rule #4 of The E-Myth Revisited states that all work in the franchise model will be documented in the operations manual. This is an obvious course of action—this way, anyone participating in the franchise never has to question what to do. Everything they need to know—every name, every process, every step of every process—will be laid out in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format. They would also be trained on this process, and have access to a mentor or consultant to help them as they figure out what they’re doing.
Rule #5 of The E-Myth Revisited states that “the model will provide a uniformly predictable service to a customer.” Based on the idea that the customer is expecting either pleasure and entertainment or knowledge, this would mean we would have to ensure a certain base level of story quality. We also would want the books to have beautiful covers that represent the genre and content of the book; interior design that is clean, simple, and representative of the genre; e-books that are customizable by the reader; and the print or production quality one might expect from a traditional publishing company. Individuals who are unable to produce these results or are unwilling to use the resources provided to them for producing these results would be discontinued from participating in the franchise in order to maintain the franchise brand.
The final step in the process, #6 in The E-Book Revisited, states that the model will utilize a uniform color, dress, and facilities code. This is slightly less relevant, at least the way it’s phrased in the book, since the idea behind this franchise is that it is operated entirely online and authors would be working from their homes. However, it would be necessary to set expectations about social media presences, website design, using logos on books, book design standards, and that sort of thing. The franchise would have a clear-cut branding that would be sharp enough to differentiate franchise books as being part of the larger organization, but flexible enough that authors could also incorporate elements of their own brand and style in order to create differentiation.
Books and stories are nothing more than a vehicle to experience emotions, learn things, and be a part of something bigger than yourself. A franchise model of publishing would manifest this idea not only within the books that are created as a result, but in the way the system works, how the authors work together with the franchise teams, and in the creation of a system that enables the creation of art.
The next installment in my fake master’s degree comes to you by way of the book David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell. Excellent book, one which I highly recommend you read. For my assignment, I wrote a 1500 word essay on how the concepts that he discusses relate to being an author. I’m not going to lie—it was supposed to be a 500 word essay, but I had a lot to say about it lol.
Underdog stories are everywhere. Look at Harry Potter. Luke & Leia Skywalker. Matilda. Frodo Baggins. Katniss. Alanna of Trebond. It’s not just characters, either.[1] Look at J.K. Rowling. Everyone’s favorite story about her is how she was a poor, single mother living off of welfare.[2] They like to quote how many rejection letters she received for her books before she was accepted by a publisher.[3] Or, think of the oft-quoted fun fact about Stephen King—how he lived in a trailer before his book Carrie took off.[4] We like to tell stories of great changes in fate, of the strength and power it takes to defeat overwhelming odds. We like to tell tales of Hercules, athletes with disabilities, mountain climbers. And we all want to have that story ourselves—we just want to skip over the hard part, of course.
In Malcom Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, he takes a closer look not only at why humans find this plot archetype so appealing, but also at real life examples of underdogs achieving success and conquering the day.[5] From battles to doctors to history to athletes to everyday people, Gladwell continually comes back to the point that the underdogs who have won are the ones who broke the rules. I think this concept applies to writing and marketing as well—the writers and authors that have been the most successful are the ones that broke the rules, either with their writing or with their marketing. They’re the ones that did it their own way. Ultimately, I believe there is no one way to succeed at writing and publishing; your best bet is to determine your own strengths and weaknesses, and to forge your own path.[6]
So, what does this look like in practice? Take J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter series rose in popularity quickly, and has sold 500 million books worldwide,[7] in addition to birthing the movies, Pottermore, and endless merchandise. The reasons why the series was so popular range from luck to excellent writing to timing,[8] but the one thing that you can see across the theories is that J.K. Rowling’s series broke all the rules. It was fantasy, when fantasy was considered “old-fashioned,”[9] she wrote children’s books that appealed to adults, she wrote in her voice, her own story, her own way.
Another easy example is Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Fifty Shades of Grey began as an erotic fan fiction (both erotic and fan fiction were looked down upon at the time) of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight.[10] James published it first on a fan-fiction site, then took it down and republished it on her own website. She then re-published it as paperbacks. Fifty Shades of Grey is frequently dismissed by the writing community as being drivel; British Indian novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie said of it, “I've never read anything so badly written that got published. It made Twilight look like War and Peace.”[11] There also was a lot of controversy over the erotic practices in it, many stating that the book portrays abuse, not BDSM.[12] But, Fifty Shades of Grey still sold 60 million copies and became the best-selling book of all time.[13] Why? Because E.L. James ignored the rules. She wrote what she wanted, how she wanted, published it where she wanted and the way she wanted—and with a little bit of luck, she took the world by storm.
Gladwell starts David and Goliath with the biblical story of David and Goliath. But his very first point is that the story of David and Goliath is not entirely what it seems. He cites history and the known culture of the time, and points out a few key facts. First, that the fight they were having was a custom known as single combat, in which one warrior would represent each side of the conflict (p 6). Typically, these battles were fought hand-to-hand, so Goliath prepared himself accordingly, with a javelin and heavy armor (p 7). David, on the other hand, wore no heavy armor, and took only his sling with him—intending to fight as a projectile warrior (p 10-11) . Secondly, Gladwell points out that Goliath likely had a medical condition called acromegaly, which causes overproduction of the human growth hormone and would likely explain Goliath’s enormous size. Another symptom of this disease is vision problems, which would explain Goliath’s slow movement (p 14). In short, the battle of David and Goliath was not entirely as it seemed.
I think Gladwell’s main point is that David and Goliath were fighting two different battles. Goliath was preparing to fight a heavily armored, hand-to-hand battle where strength and size would go a long way towards achieving victory. David went in planning to fight a fast, dirty battle, where all he had to do was avoid Goliath’s weapons (easily done with a sling) and aim for the head.
A lot of the stories Gladwell shares come down to this same dichotomy: one side is fighting a battle for dominance, the other for survival; one is fighting for ethics, the other saving lives; one is fighting for money, the other is fighting to win. I don’t think any of us can look at an author like J.K. Rowling or E.L. James and know exactly battle they were fighting, but I do think it is valuable to think about our own battles. What are we trying to achieve? Where are we going? And what is the best way to get there?
In indie publishing, the initial battle was stigma. Once e-books took off in popularity, the attitude of non-traditionally published authors was that they couldn’t get published by a traditionally publishing house because their books weren’t good enough, that authors were self-publishing just for their own ego.[14] So everyone started hiring editors, cover designers, people to help them make their books as quality as possible. And now, as indie publishing becomes more and more popular, the stigma is dying away.[15], [16] But many smaller battles have arisen—battles with Amazon over seemingly endless issues, battles over reviews, battles in which smaller or more diverse voices are trying to have more sway. The newest frustration voiced by many authors is visibility: Bowker announced in 2018 that over 1 million books were self-published in 2017.[17] And according to Worldometer, at the time I’m writing this, over 1.6 million books have already been published in 2019.[18]
In conclusion to his retelling of David and Goliath, Gladwell says, “in reality, the very thing that gave [Goliath] his size was also the source of his greatest weakness. There is an important lesson in that for battles with all kinds of giants. The powerful and the strong are not what they seem.” (p 15) As authors, we are all in some kind of race or battle or uphill climb—whatever metaphor you prefer. But the question still remains: what are you fighting for?
“Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.” – Malcom Gladwell (p 149)
[1] https://www.thomsonwoods.com/articles/five-famous-authors-who-went-from-rags-to-riches/
[2] https://www.insider.com/jk-rowling-harry-potter-author-biography-2017-7
[3] https://youth-time.eu/from-rejection-to-best-sellers-five-writings-that-were-initially-turned-down/
[4] http://mentalfloss.com/article/53235/how-stephen-kings-wife-saved-carrie-and-launched-his-career
[5] Early in David and Goliath, Gladwell suggests taking an in depth look at wars over the course of the last two centuries, specifically ones where a large country was pitted against a small one—wars where from the outside, it was obvious who was going to win, odds ten to one in favor of the larger country. Most would assume that close to 100% of the larger countries won those wars. But, “When the political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft did the calculation… what he came up with was 71.5 percent. Just under a third of the time, the weaker country wins” (p 21). And when Arreguin-Toft looked at the same question from a different way, and narrowed the sample size to those underdogs that refused to fight the wars by the rules, using unconventional or guerilla tactics, “the weaker party’s winning percentage climbs from 28.5 to 63.6 percent” (p 22).
[6] I do think that doing your own thing can go horribly wrong, or at very least, just plain old fail. I met a writer last year, in his mid-fifties, who spent a good ten minutes talking to me about J.K. Rowling. “I wrote a story about an academy for wizards ten years before she did!” he complained. “It had unicorns and everything!” Clearly, he did not read Harry Potter (unicorns are not a main plot point), but I think his concerns bring up an important point. Writing in your own voice will not necessarily get you noticed. He also self-published book—simply self-publishing will not necessarily get you noticed. But I also did a survey of his work—poor prose, poorly edited, and even if you look at his work after the Harry Potter phenomenon, despite him having run his career his own way, there wasn’t really anything unique enough about it nothing to make it rise to the top of the pot.
[7] https://www.pottermore.com/news/500-million-harry-potter-books-have-now-been-sold-worldwide
[8] https://thetalkingllama.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/what-made-the-harry-potter-books-so-successful/
[9] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-26/harry-potter-effect-how-seven-books-changed-childrens-publishing/8630254
[10] https://www.businessinsider.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-started-out-as-twilight-fan-fiction-2015-2
[11] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9596577/Sir-Salman-Rushdie-Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-makes-Twilight-look-like-War-and-Peace.html
[12] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fifty-shades-grey-a-dominatrixs-773577
[13] https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/336759/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-becomes-the-bestselling-book-of-all-time
[14] https://www.npr.org/2012/12/19/167448748/self-publishing-no-longer-just-a-vanity-project
[15] https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/14/is-the-self-publishing-stigma-fading
[16] I’m honestly not convinced about this. I still get disapproving looks when I tell people I’m indie published, and always hesitate when people ask what publishing house I’m with. Can’t be legit if a corporation didn’t say it was, I guess. Snobs. Also narrow minded and stupid. (I have strong feelings about this lol).
[17] http://www.bowker.com/news/2018/New-Record-More-than-1-Million-Books-Self-Published-in-2017.html
[18] https://www.worldometers.info/books/
