When you write, you have to pick the right story to tell.

It isn’t easy…and yet some do it with ease. Or, at least they make it look that way. I have great admiration and respect for the author who does this well.

I know that there are a lot of people involved in this industry…besides the author and the publisher and they are all important to making it work. The marketers, influencers, media and the celebrity book club voices that make (or break) a book. The editor very well be one of the most important of them all.

For what it is worth, I think there are a lot of things to be done in the planning stage and here are just a few key questions to ask/to be asked:

• What will interest most people?
• What resonates with a wide audience?
• What topics will I be able to fully explore?
• What story lines and arcs can be developed?
• What is both unique and yet, relatable to readers?

It may be up to the publisher – who advances the funds to write – or, pay for retreat to allow full and immersive, but productive creativity. In most cases I think this is what happens.

Of course today self-publishing is easier than ever, but not as lucrative unless you have a most wonderful idea…and, a stand out first novel. (Maybe one that would be made into a major motion picture?)

Either way, I hope that it is up to the writer who is able to chose a highly skilled and trusted editor. Selecting the one who will help get the point across. Of course, the author has to pick the right story – and then, their editor should let them take all of the creative liberties you want. (It is yours to tell. Tell it the way you want – or need to tell the tale.)

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl