If you're able to write, then with determination, you can write a book. How successful the book is depends on many factors, and Scott Berkun sheds some light on those. Need ideal conditions to write? Berkun cites Voltaire and De Sade writing the bulk of their work from prison. If you want to do it, don't whine, just do it. Still on board? Then Berkun recommends doing some much needed, and often neglected, homework:
"The sticking point for most wanna-be published authors is, again, the work. They want to hear some secret that skips over the hard parts. Publishers are rightfully picky and they get pitched a zillion books a day. It takes effort to learn the ropes, send out smart queries, and do the research required to both craft the idea for a book, and then to propose it effectively. So while writing is a rejection prone occupation, even for the rock-stars, finding a publisher is not a mystery. In fact the whole game is self-selective: people who aren't willing to do the leg-work of getting published are unlikely to be capable of the leg-work required to finish a decent manuscript."
Comments (1)
I completely agree. My book was written everywhere. In subways, coffeeshops, airplanes, airports at the kitchen table.
I needed years to write my first book, and I always wondered how to do it. It is simple: A text editor is all you need ... besides your idea and you passion.
Posted by Boris Gloger | March 8, 2008 3:37 PM
Posted on March 8, 2008 15:37