How to Be an Author: CONFIDENCE

Three weeks ago at the last meeting of the Southern California Writers Association, Christopher Reich, the author of Numbered Account and a dozen other best selling thrillers, told us that the number one ingredient to become a writer is confidence. You must believe in what you write. Of course, a little luck and the right connections might help, too. Take for example his story of how he got his agent. A family member worked at an ad agency where James Patterson was his boss. Patterson read Reich’s manuscript and got his agent to represent him. Still, it took him 9 months to sell his first book–for which he received a $750,000 advance. My confidence rose considerably with this disclosure. I am confident that if a friend or family member with a connection to an established author or agent reads this blog she will contact me. Like I said, a little luck helps.

For the past two years I’ve been writing about a high school student who writes and directs her school’s senior play. Her mother is chief of staff for a business-minded governor, whose daughter is her best friend and lead actress in her play. The governor manages to get the state university to eliminate useless non-business curriculum creating public relations problems when his artistic daughter and her best friend decide to go elsewhere. I call this novel, which I completed the first draft of a couple months ago, Reputation. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in this novel and in Assimilation (see the excerpt under Books at this website), which I completed two years ago.

Beyond the actual writing, a successful author must be prepared to market the book, whether to the public for self-published writers or to an agent in traditional fashion. This requires a pitch. A pitch comes in two basic lengths, short and shorter. The most often cited duration for a pitch is “the elevator speech,” an allusion to finding yourself trapped on an elevator with an agent and you have until the door opens on the next floor to peak her interest in your story. The other reference is to the inside or back cover of the book, where readers find a blurb describing the story. Kind of like the few sentences in the previous paragraph that describe Reputation.

Please let me know what you think of this blog and especially my blurb about Reputation. Your comments will go a long way toward building my confidence.