If you’re thinking of writing your first book, you probably know that you need help.
No books are written by one person alone. Everyone brings in a publishing professional. The question is, how do you keep your voice front and center when others are helping you?
Any time an author comes to me with a concern about centering their voice and vision, I ask them this question: What are your goals for the book?
“Voice” and “vision” may sound like solid concepts, but they’re flexible. We might have a particular voice or vision in mind when we begin, but they become less clear as we move through the project. This can make it difficult for you to guide yourself — as well as the people you want to work with.
Define your goals.
When you start writing your memoir, the first thing you should do is define your goals. Everyone’s goals are different. For some, it’s to write a bestseller or make a lot of money. Both are worthy goals. But to achieve them, you’ll need to orient your voice and vision to match what the larger book market wants from you.
Make sure you’re thinking beyond just a revenue or sales goal. What do you want the book to accomplish? Maybe your goal is to help people who are experiencing what you went through when you were younger. If your goal is to share your story with people who can learn from it, all you need to do is find those people and make sure they know about your book. Tell a story that helps others and people will want it. You can work toward this goal while working toward your revenue and sales goals at the same time.
Sometimes the goal is to make a career pivot. You could use the book to establish your expertise and authority, land higher-paying speaking gigs, book more podcast interviews, and increase your visibility as a thought leader in your niche.
If you own a small business, you might want your book to bring in leads. People buy from people, not from companies, so establishing your personal story can make your service feel more inviting. People will trust you because they already know who you are.
You can achieve any goal if you keep it front and center. As publishing partners come into your world to collaborate, use your goal to filter the advice you want from the advice that doesn’t suit your voice and vision.
Use your goals to balance success.
Whether you’re working with a writing coach, a developmental editor, or a ghost writer, at some point you’re turning over your story to someone else. This is where it matters to define your goal.
Let’s say you’re working on a memoir that contains both poetry and stories. There are a lot of authors who have written experimental or collage-style memoirs. However, your editor might tell you, “I think that trend is probably on the way out,” or, “I don’t think the people you’re trying to reach aren’t going to like the collage style.”
An editor who works in the book industry will have a clear sense of what does and does not work. If you have a sales goal, it makes sense to listen to their advice. But if your goal is to express yourself and share your perspective, then that advice probably doesn’t matter.
A clearly defined goal is like a filter. When you know what you want, everything else falls away. Keep that goal in mind throughout the writing process.
What if your editor wants you to make a change?
When you’re done writing and turn over your manuscript to your agent or editor, things can get hairy.
Your editor’s goal is to sell books. When an editor brings on your book, they’ve already gone to their editorial board and marketing department to assert that they believe your book will sell. Presses do not acquire books they don’t believe will sell. As a result, they may want to make some changes — in other words, revisions — so that your book is the right fit for the market.
There are many types of revisions. The press might ask you to write another chapter, cut a chapter, or rethink some of the imagery or symbolism you’re using. Revisions are the time to revisit your goals. If your goal is sales, then trust your editor. I promise they have a better sense than you for what the book market is looking for.
What if your goal isn’t sales, but it’s to share your story with the people you want to help? There are a few things you should think through before deciding how you want to handle a revision request.
Do you know your audience well?
I speak to hundreds of authors a year, so I know what authors who write memoirs, personal stories, and advice want. I don’t know as much about recipe books. Page & Podium doesn’t publish recipe books, so I don’t have a sense for their readership.
You need to think about how well you know your target audience. If you’re working with a press that specializes in your genre, is it possible that your editor knows better than you what that audience is seeking? If your goal is to reach a specific audience, make sure you’re getting the right advice for that audience, rather than a general readership.
Let your goals guide your revisions.
A lot of authors ask me if they can say no to a suggestion their editor has made. The answer is yes — with a caveat.
Most book contracts contain a clause that says some variation of, “This contract is contingent on the author executing the manuscript to the level that they agreed to.” What that clause means is that at any point in the publication process, your editor could say, “I thought this book was going to sell, but if you’re not willing to make these edits, I don’t think it will anymore.”
At that point, they can cancel your contract. You have declined to do something they assumed you’d agreed to in your contract, which is to write a book that fulfills their publishing goals.
If your editor gives you feedback that you disagree with, my advice is to make the most cogent, thoughtful, and well-researched argument for why that edit is not the right edit. Then, suggest an alternative edit. Often when something catches an editor’s attention, it means that it caught their eye and pulled them out of the text. You don’t want that for your editor or your readers. If something is tripping up the reader, you need to adjust it.
Most editors are open to alternative suggestions. What you should not do is just say, “No”. By saying no, you’re communicating that you are not someone who is easy to work with.
When you get a suggestion to adjust your manuscript, think back to your goal. That goal is a filter that will help you determine whether the revision makes sense. If the revision aligns with your goal, make the revision. If it doesn’t align with your vision, think about what you can do to further the conversation with your editor and show that you’re working with them in good faith.
The conversation over your book’s title and cover.
The book’s title and cover is a sticking point for so many authors. I’ve coached authors who turned down a deal because they felt like they wouldn’t have enough control over the title and cover of their book.
The title and the cover of your book is special. My first book, The Struggle Over Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter, was originally going to be called Resistant. We were thinking about the Black Lives Matter movement’s resistance to oppressive structures, and the All Lives Matter folks who were resisting that resistance.
Our press did not like it because they knew the primary title should include the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’. It’s the phrase that people who wanted to read our book would be searching for. They didn’t ask but instead told us that ‘Black Lives Matter’ must be in the primary title. They let us play around with different variations, but the ‘Black Lives Matter’ part was non-negotiable.
I was disappointed by that, but I also wanted to publish the book. I promise that when you reach the point where you can hold your book in your hands, the title will not be as important to you then as it was when you were getting started.
Again, think about your goals. Our goal for the book was to elevate the voices of people who had generously shared their stories with us. We wanted their voices to reach the people we knew they could inspire, such as activists and leaders of social movements. We believed in the book and didn’t have a sales or revenue goal. We wanted the book to be in libraries where people who needed it could find it.
When our press told us that we needed to have the name of the Black Lives Matter movement in our primary title because that’s how librarians would find it, I was sold. It was more important to me that libraries acquire our book than it was for me to have control over the title.
I do know an author who successfully argued with her press to get a new cover design for her book. This author, Rebecca Dingo, was writing about women in underdeveloped countries. Her book’s goal was to humanize these women. She wanted to make people in the Western world stop and think about how these women have the same priorities, needs, and wants that people in the west do, but with additional factors that add complexity.
When her book cover came in from the press, it was a cropped image of a woman’s body. You couldn’t see her face and the title was across her chest. Rebecca freaked out when she saw that because it was exactly the type of imagery her book argued against. When you crop someone’s face out of a picture, you’re making them someone we aren’t going to think about as a human or individual. She could not use that book cover and still have her book mean the same thing.
She took the time to gather her arguments and evidence before reaching out to her editor, telling them, “There are real problems with this book cover, and here’s what they are.” It would be different if she’d simply had a sales goal, but her goal was to change the way we talk about these women. That’s why she couldn’t let that cover stand.
This is what I’m talking about when I say that your goals are your filter. Think about what your goal is and argue from that position.
Things will come and go as you work on your book. Your perspective might even change, but as long as you keep your goal close to your heart, you’ll have all the guidance you need to elevate your voice and vision during your collaboration.
Happy writing!
