THE CAREER NOVELIST
BREAKING OUT
Break-out Book: that term is bandied around a lot in publishing, but
what does it really mean? It has different definitions for different
people, but generally it refers to any book that moves an author a
giant step upward in sales or name recognition. If a novel leaps
onto the best-seller lists without warning, you can be sure everyone
will be calling it a "break-out."
Are break-out books "made," or do they just happen? To be sure,
few books can get on the best-seller lists, or stay on them once
there, without strong support from a publisher. You would think,
then, that break-outs are planned, but that is not necessarily the
case. Soaring reorders can take publishers by surprise. When that
happens publishers may have to scramble to keep copies coming.
Whether planned or a surprise, however, there are certain cir-
cumstances that usually accompany a break-out. One of them is a
leap in an author's writing. A move out of genre fiction into main-
stream, a plot newly large in scope and scale, a deeper-than-usual
theme... any of those factors may elevate an author's newest novel
and make it a candidate for break-out.
Of course, there are those break-out books that are simply the
reward of accumulated good writing and long-term word-of-mouth.
Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac, which was a best-seller in 1985, was
not a significantly bigger novel than her former ones. It did win
Britain's Booker Prize, which did not hurt (but which also does not
necessarily help a novel in the U.S.). In truth, Brookner's time had
simply come. The public was ready for her.
Did you catch that phrase word-of-mouth? That means a devoted
and passionate coterie of readers who are talking up an author
whom they love. Such authors are said to have a "cult following." A
loyal readership is truly the launching pad for a break-out book, but
I think that many people in our industry do not realize how man-
ageable word-of-mouth may be. It can be cultivated.
Authors who spend years doing signings, interviews, convention
appearances, and the like are not just indulging themselves. (At
least, let us hope not.) They are connecting with readers, making
friends, winning converts, getting bookstores behind them so that
each new novel will be hand sold to customers. There is nothing