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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Nonfiction

Nonfiction

Same Message, Different Reader

By Dan Balowon August 7, 2018
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When a published book is successful (sells well), the publisher and author begin pondering how to be successful again with the next book.

Often times, the solution to the repeat-success puzzle in non-fiction is having a similar message but aimed at a different audience. You’ve seen it happen many times, whether you realized it was intentional or not.

Examples of branded book lines which have been successful are numerous. For these, the author’s name-awareness can become secondary to the brand.

Since most nonfiction books in the Christian market appeal primarily to adult women, a common second-book might be aimed more specifically at single women, young women, moms, wives, or expanding the message to men, teens, or some other focused group. Applying a generally similar message with more targeted material has been a successful publishing strategy for many publishers.

But if you are an author who wants to go an entirely different direction with your next book, it can be somewhat dissatisfying, creatively speaking.

A successful book can be a blessing or even a curse, as excellent sales “brand” you a certain way. You will be expected to repeat the success, and more than likely, you will be required to do something “same, but different.”  Frequently, this means to write a similar book to a more focused audience.

A very small number of authors can write whatever they want, and their readership follows them to whatever they write. The bulk of successful authors are known for something relatively narrow.

If this makes you feel uncomfortable, you need to take a deep breath and get over it.

Authors are in the business of creating a consumer product and it makes no business sense ignoring the consumer when deciding what to write. They are the eventual buyer and consumer, making the entire publishing process work.

In fact, once the needs of the reader begin to mean little to you, consider finding another way to express your creativity and message. Publishing without a reader-focus is destined to fail.

Being a successful author is about giving your readers what they expect. Don’t disappoint them.

It’s why Paul McCartney still sings “Hey Jude” at his concerts, a half-century after the Beatles broke up.

If you are fortunate enough to have a book which sells well, either traditionally or self-published, don’t move too far away from the theme of it for your next one.

In some cases, you simply need to ask yourself how you can re-work the content to aim it more specifically at a certain market and do a book which is a derivative of the first one.

The creative author then enters into the uncomfortable world of creative “sameness” which can feel unfulfilling.

But a successful author will respond to the discomfort with, “Well, that was interesting. Maybe I can do it again and reach more and different readers?”

Once they find something which works, authors with traditional publishers, and successful self-published authors take advantage of the opportunity and stay in their branded publishing lane…until it stops working, at which point they try something else.

Successful publishing of all kinds is more about the reader than the author. Everyone must pay close attention to what readers want to read. Readers are not all alike and no book is for everyone, despite what some may think.

If you are fortunate enough to achieve good results in publishing, be ready to repeat it. Often, this means writing a similar book to a different, more specific audience.

 

 

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Category: Book Business, Creativity, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Book Sales, Career, Creativity, Nonfiction, The Writing Life

Book Proposals: The Nonfiction Annotated Outline

By Steve Laubeon June 4, 2018
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Since we recently discussed the role of a synopsis in a fiction proposal I thought it important that we address what the nonfiction author needs to provide. This is one of the main differences between the fiction and the nonfiction book proposal. I’ve seen many authors confuse the two and create extra work for themselves. Not a Synopsis but an Outline I intentionally did not use the word …

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Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: Annotated Outline, book proposals, Get Published, Nonfiction

What’s on Your Shelf?

By Steve Laubeon February 12, 2018
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A series of interview questions that dig into my reading life. What’s on your nightstand right now? I am an extremely eclectic reader and have dozens of books waiting for attention. In fiction I’m currently reading Run Program by Scott Meyer a science-fiction story of a newly developed artificial intelligence program that “gets out” of the lab and is now running loose on the Internet – with all …

Read moreWhat’s on Your Shelf?
Category: Personal, ReadingTag: Books, fiction, Nonfiction, Reading

Can Death Cleaning Spark Joy?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 8, 2018
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One of the most challenging aspects of being successful in nonfiction is choosing a topic general enough to interest a broad swath of readers, but unique enough to make them think of the question in a new way so they’ll want to buy your book. Take decluttering. I follow at least three decluttering blogs. My daughter says, “How about just cleaning instead of reading about it? Then you’d get it …

Read moreCan Death Cleaning Spark Joy?
Category: Book Proposals, Branding, Marketing, Pitching, Platform, The Writing LifeTag: Marketing, Nonfiction

Are You Curating or Creating?

By Dan Balowon January 23, 2018
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Every once in a while, a book proposal crosses my desk and catches my attention with its creativity and approach. It is engaging and makes me think.  Whether I agreed to work with the author or not, I needed to give them kudos for their great work. Rarely, if ever, does something catch my attention (in a good way) which is simply assembled from or built entirely on the thinking of someone else. I …

Read moreAre You Curating or Creating?
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: book proposals, Creativity, Nonfiction

Writing Thoughtful Books

By Dan Balowon August 15, 2017
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There has always been a hierarchy in fiction distinguishing “literary” from “popular” books, with lines drawn between both topics and reading levels.  Authors of each are different, somewhat like actors who work on stage versus those who work on screen. Comparisons of literary vs. popular and stage vs. screen are often done in a derogatory manner. Christian authors describing non-fiction might use …

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Category: Art, Faith, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Faith, fiction, Nonfiction, Theology

Work First, Book Second

By Dan Balowon September 27, 2016
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For successful authors of non-fiction, no one career or life-path is common. Family situations, upbringing, education and experiences are unique to each person. Listening to an author explain how they became successful is always a combination of things someone else could never duplicate perfectly. It’s like someone giving a business seminar titled, “This is how I did it.” It is rarely an exact …

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Category: Book Proposals, Branding, Marketing, Pitch, Pitching, PlatformTag: Nonfiction, Pitching, Platform

Nonfiction Checklist

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 28, 2016
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Although I represent many works of quality fiction, I also look for the very special nonfiction project. As you prepare your proposal, here is a four-point checklist that might help determine if yours could work for an agent: A Great Title Lots of nonfiction is geared to impulse buyers. If you can convince a shopper to pick your book up from a spin rack or click and place in a virtual cart, based …

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Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: book proposals, Get Published, Nonfiction

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