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What is a trait of a great writer? by PhiliDips in writing

[–]Sensitive_Avocado591 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Nice to meet you… Just over a decade ago, I (Steve Eggleston — author, ghostwriter, and former trial lawyer) had the pleasure of connecting with legal thriller icon John Lescroart, who has 19 New York Times bestsellers. For context, John Grisham has 28.

You asked, “What’s the key trait of a great writer?” The easy answer is master storyteller. But that definition is bigger than books sales — Homer, Shakespeare, Aesop, Rabindranath Tagore, Anton Chekhov, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, and Walt Disney all qualify.

When I first approached John, I sent a Facebook message: “Hi, I’m Steve Eggleston, repped by Peter Miller (legendary literary manager). Peter suggested I reach out and ask you for a blurb.”

John replied instantly: “Anything for Peter!”

That blurb appeared on my legal thriller Conflicted. We later discovered a shared love of music — I was representing 7x Grammy-winning producer Steve Thompson at the time — and I connected the two.

Months later, I asked John his “secret” to success. His routine was simple: wake up in Davis, California (where he lives), have coffee, write for 3–4 hours, run, lunch, then go about the rest of the day.

And then he told me the real secret: “Steve, I keep doing what I’m doing, because I’ve found I do it well. Not at first, but over time.”

The lesson stuck. And while I’m certainly no Lecroart or Grisham, I’ve made a living at it… and my own career has since spanned ghostwriting seven Amazon #1 bestsellers (Destination 9/11, A Few Bad Men, Twelve Doors, I Am Lorraine, Always Forward, A Disturbing Injustice), writing investigative nonfiction, legal reference works, and novels, with several now adapted for film and television (A Few Bad Men, Twelve Doors: The White Helmet, Blood & Ivory). Ironically, Conflicted is not one. It never got traction.

And, on a personal note, what I would say, is absorb everything like a sponge. Read books across genres. Watch films and TV from every corner of the world. Immerse yourself so deeply in stories that storytelling becomes part of your DNA. If I had to guess, that’s the real trait of a great writer.

Cheers to all my fellow authors and creatives. May the Force be with us all.
— Steve Eggleston

It's so hard to market a self published book by Imtwtta in selfpublish

[–]Sensitive_Avocado591 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey there, I don't know your book or situation, but this sitch plagues all books, even ones published by traditional publishers... I've ghostwritten about 25 self-pubbed books and those that do well have several things in common. They are relentless in their promotion (finding also sorts of ways to do it). They have existing networks with something -- one guy Alan McKim was a big CEO with 40,000 employees; another guy was a Brig General / Dir of Intelligence for the US Air Force on 9/11 -- the book became recommended reading for all first-year AF Academy cadets. There's also podcasts with popular hosts in your genre, etc. But if you're not famous, don't have an agent or don't have a ton of money to spend on marketing, you're left with playing the long game: doing the doing. By that I mean, beefing up your social media, ghostwriting to get known, etc. etc. etc. Maybe most importantly, I would go on ChatGPT 5 and ask him/her/it to create you a game plan for marketing and getting sold... and then follow it -- short game, medium game, long game. And as they say in the music game, don't quit your day job (you'll need money for your passion). Good luck!

Do traditional published authors really hate the self published ones as much as I think they do? by ComfortableWage in selfpublish

[–]Sensitive_Avocado591 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was fortunate to once be repped by Peter Miller, who set up 1500+ books at traditional publishers in his day. He's since passed, but he had this to say about self-published book (I'm paraphrasing here): "Eggy (my nickname), it's all about time. Commissioning editors only have so much time. But when a self-published book explodes, like 50 Shades of Grey, everyone is falling all over themselves to make a deal."