The Anatomy of a Best Seller...

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I read. I read all the time. I read blogs, articles, magazines and books. I read mostly fictional works, but I also read to better myself at my craft... Writing. So you know when I find that one title that says, "How to Write a Best Seller," of course I am going to dive in. I mean, who wouldn't want to know how to be at the top of their writing game?

The thing is, every article I read on the subject has one of two messages: 1) Writing is subjective and there is no way to know what will propel you into the insanity of a best seller or 2) Marketing, marketing, marketing! Flood the market, alienate your friends and family and spam the crap out of anyone you ever met to sell your tome.

Anyone who knows me knows the second option isn't for me. I have done my share of tier marketing, from Mary Kay to horse wash systems, and my philosophy has always been, "I have it if you want it, but I will not chase you down to sell it." I run two other businesses of my own these days, one markets a product, the other markets me, and I still firmly believe in that philosophy. The product is high quality and speaks for itself, and me? Well, art is subjective. If you like it, I have it. So...

Still, there are days I am faced with the lonesome reality that sitting back and waiting for the world to come to me to hear my stories is fruitless. I have no less than six stories running around in my head and all of them have immense potential to be incredibly successful stories in today's market. Well, I have to think that, right? Or else, why put myself on the page?

AHA! (Spins on heel and points accusingly at ... the mirror.) See that's just it. I don't write to market to the public. If I did, I would do some studying and make myself fit into one of the genre moulds of this staid and stodgy industry. You remember here where I told you I got my first rejection letter that fueled me instead of ruled me?  I don't fit into the cubby holes. More importantly, I don't want to fit into the cubby holes. It may mean that I never find success in the publishing world. It may mean that I am never able to say I make a living as a writer. I'm ok with that. I have to be. I'm ok with that because to not write would kill me. To not write would put to death the person I have become. I need it almost as much as I need air, or food, or wine.

So a bestseller? Probably not. If it happens someday I will rejoice loudly! Until then, the best advice any of the how-to articles have given me is write. Until that is done, all of it is moot. So while I am on hiatus right now, getting ready to launch my daughter into the collegiate world, I am still thinking about writing, day dreaming about writing, and occasionally writing. I have one to finish and another to start, and none of them will fit a mould, and isn't that grand?