Strategy session III: managing successaccidental about that. It is all calculated and deliberate and enact-
ed over a long period of time. Cult following? I think cultivated following
is a more useful term.
One trap for authors is getting cozy with their long-time fans and
failing to reach out to potential new readers. True, it can be boring
to speak the same message over and over; conversely, it can be
comforting to surround oneself with people who already under-
stand one's work. Smart authors strike a balance: they neither
neglect fans nor quit selling themselves to new readers.
Another circumstance that often attends a leap out of category or
off the midlist is a new format, as with the paperback novelist who
goes hardcover, or the hardcover novelist who has a splashy new
trade paperback. A new cover look can also help, such as an "up-
market" design, an all-type cover, or simply the placement of the
author's name above the title.
New formats and stylish packaging are not by themselves
enough to make a book break out, however. The book must "be
there," as insiders like to say. In plain English, that means the
break-out book must be good—damn good. It is natural for
authors to believe that of their most recently completed novels,
but it is quite another thing for everyone who reads those novels
to agree. A break-out novel is a two-part equation: first, writer;
second, readers.
With luck, one's agent, publisher, publicist, and sales force will
all recognize the break-out book when it arrives, and will all shift
into high gear. A better advance, nicer packaging, blurbs, bound gal-
leys, ads, publicity... any or all of those may come into the equa-
tion. But in the end there is one group that matters more than any
other when it comes to breaking out.
They are... well, you know who.
ADVANCES
A moment ago I mentioned advances. No doubt about it, there is
nothing like a large advance to get everyone's heart racing. A big
advance not only calls attention to a novel but also strongly moti-
vates the publisher who is paying it; after all, suddenly its number-
one job is to earn back all that dough.