Book publicity Steve Harrison interviewed John Gray (“Men
are from Mars, Women are from Venus ”) about his road to becoming a
best-selling author. In one part of the interview, Gray gives advice about how
to build your career step by step, using his own experience as an example:
He began teaching his workshops while supporting himself as a computer programmer. Eventually the workshops paid enough so he could give up his day job.
In turn, the workshops and coaching practice supported him well enough to give him extra time to write and promote his book. His first books were self-published and it took him a year to find a distributor that got them into stores.
After about five years he was developing the ideas behind “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,” but couldn’t find a publisher. He changed the title to “Men, Women and Relationships,” and published it—and it was about four times as long and much more dense in content than the eventual best-seller. The first version did quite well—50,000 copies sold in the first year, and that got the attention of some well-known agents. One wanted to sell that book to a traditional publisher, but Gray wanted to write a shorter, more user-friendly version that would be easier for readers to understand and apply.
He says one of the big components of his success was his unique perspective--he was a monk for nine years and learned how to be happy without a relationship before he started to have them. He believes that if you have an authentic story behind what you are writing, it will give it a boost. He also suggests sticking to your own personal passions rather than trying to figure out what topic might appeal to readers.
In short form, the key points:
1) Have a way to support yourself while you build your career
2) If you are a non-fiction writer with expertise in your topic, start by teaching workshops
3) Let the workshops lead to your book
4) If necessary, publish your own book
In the next post, we find out how to find your niche and promote your book.
(For guidance on how to write your own book, see my book,"Your Writing Coach." More information is at www.yourwritingcoach.com)
