The Key To My First Bestseller
Published: Thu, 11/08/18
The Key to My First Bestseller
“Do you want to ghostwrite a book for me?” The voice on the other line was the president of a publishing company and he offered me the gig for three reasons:
Later, I learned that the owner of the publishing company offered a contract to the author because they were friends—but he expected little in sales. “Keep it cheap,” he told my buddy. Tom had every reason NOT to ask me. But, sucker that I am, I thought I’d throw caution to the wind and say yes. “The person is a religious television personality,” Tom explained. That’s a code word for “televangelist.” “I have seven transcripts of messages he’s given,” he continued, “that I’d like you to make into a book.” “Simple enough,” I answered. I
Said "Yes" for Ulterior Motives I didn’t have a freaking clue what I was getting into. Part of the reason I said yes was that I wanted to use the advance to buy my first desktop computer. This was 1997, and that was a big deal back in the day! Eventually, the seven transcripts arrived by email (another technological breakthrough) and off I was running. I pored over the transcripts and developed an outline of twelve chapters. Reading over the material, I realized that the televangelist never told any stories or gave any examples. So, I brainstormed different hypothetical situations that I could use. After I finished my outline and first chapter, I emailed them to my general editor. Bless her heart, Barb was a patient woman who offered me tips, chapter-by-chapter. A brief aside: no, I never communicated directly with that particular preacher. In fact, out of the 25 or so books I’ve ghostwritten since then, I’ve only communicated with about half the authors I was writing for. But I digress… By the end of the book, my editor told me, “Mike, I think you actually have the ability to become a professional writer.” Two years later, I was working full-time as a freelance writer. The book I ghostwrote eventually became a bestseller, with over 30,000+ copies in sales. Tom felt so bad about the pittance he paid me that he sent me a second check. And what was the secret to my first bestseller? Granted, many factors contribute to a bestseller. The book cover was stellar. The timing was right. The content was compelling and borderline outrageous. But as I look back, my contribution to the bestseller was this: I began with the assumption that the best writing comes across as if a person is talking to the reader. When I started, I knew I didn’t have the writing chops of a Jon Krakauer or a Lauryn Hillenbrand. My favorite author at the time was Philip Yancey, and I certainly couldn’t replicate his prose. The best writing style I could produce was my own. So, as I worked my way through the manuscript, chapter by chapter, I read every line out loud. If it didn’t sound right, I’d look beside my computer monitor and pretend I was talking to somebody. Oftentimes aloud. When I finally found a way to say it that sounded fluid and conversational, I’d write it down. Line by line. Paragraph by paragraph. Chapter by chapter. When I finished the manuscript, I read through it aloud three more times. Seventy books later, I still do the same thing. In fact, I’ve already read this blog post aloud several times. PLEASE. Don’t try to be Stephen King or J.K. Rowling or Jodi Piccoult or any other author. (Hint: Your audience will quickly sniff out your duplicitous ways). Just envision your readers sitting in front of you, and then talk to them. That means it’s okay to occasionally throw in a smattering of:
And whatever you do, don’t talk down to your audience by employing fifty dollar words when a five dollar word will do. Don’t overthink what you’re doing. Just be yourself and talk to your reader. Happy Writing! Michael J. Klassen President,
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