Advice for writers with wide-ranging interests
May 15th, 2018 by Bob Bly
Subscriber CG writes:
“What advice would you give a writer who has many interests and
talents and finds it difficult to choose a topic, theme, or genre
to write in?
“If they are new to writing full-time for a living, must they
choose a focus area to be successful?”
This aspect of freelancing — generalist vs. specialist — has
changed somewhat during my 4-plus decades as a freelance writer.
When I first started freelancing, the magazine market was wide
open — and welcome non-specialist writers with welcome arms.
The vast majority of freelance magazine article writers wrote on
almost every subject imaginable — for any magazine they could
sell their idea to.
As for books, in the early part of my author’s career — I wrote
my first book for McGraw-Hill in 1982 — I felt pretty confident
that if I came up with a good book idea, my agent would be able
to find a publisher for it.
And it pretty much worked out that say for a decade or three.
In copywriting, I was niched from day one as an industrial
copywriter, primarily because I had an engineering degree and was
a techie.
But most of the copywriters back then — and there were fairly few
freelancers — came from ad agencies and would work on any type of
product for any type of client. They were generalists.
Today, it’s a bit different….
There are still plenty of magazines buying articles from
freelancers, but magazine publishing is in a downward spiral …
and so writing articles is no longer the plum assignment it was
back in the day.
Books are even more difficult.
Book publishers today only want to buy books from author’s who
have something known as a “platform.”
The two components of a platform are (a) the author has
credentials and experience in the subject matter of the book he
wants to write and (b) also has a built-in audience which
presumably will buy his book.
And of these platform components, (b) — the ability to sell lots
of copies of the book — is much more important than (a), the
author background and qualifications.
The problem is that it is difficult if not impossible to have a
strong platform with both components, (a) and (b), for more than
one or two niches or topics.
Therefore, if you publish through mainstream publishing houses,
as I do, you cannot get publishers to buy books from you in
multiple niches — e.g., gardening, computers, marketing, pets,
and whatever else interests you — because you simply can’t have
strong platforms in more than one or two areas.
The problem still exists if you self-publish.
For instance, I publish an online marketing newsletter with
65,000 subscribers.
These people trust me for marketing advice and many will buy new
marketing books from me.
But if I tell them about my new book on real estate (and I have
coauthored two), most won’t be interested or buy — because they
come to me for marketing and not real estate advice.
So back to CG’s question: “If they are new to writing full-time
for a living, must they choose a focus area to be successful?”
I’m afraid, CG, the answer is: yes, they must focus on a niche,
topic, or area — at least at the beginning.
There are so many more freelance writers and copywriters today
than when I started, competing with one another, that
specialization is often the key to gaining competitive advantage
and succeeding.
Once you have many long years of experience behind you, then
specialization is not as critical, because people hear about you
through the grapevine, and if your reputation is good, many want
to work with you … although even then, the specialist usually has
the edge over the generalist.
I suspect my answer will distress CG, whom I think is a
renaissance person with wide-ranging interests who wants to write
about many subjects — but will have trouble getting clients and
projects without choosing an area of focus and sticking with it.
I empathize, because I too love to write on a wide range of
topics.
But I was lucky in that regards, because I started in a day when
generalists, not specialists, ruled.
As a result, I was able to get contracts from major publishers to
write books on many subjects that interested me — everything from
sex and Star Trek, to careers and computers, to essays and short
stories, science and vocabulary … to name just a few.
I am glad I did that when it was possible, because today, it is
much more difficult to sell a book outside your main subject
matter expertise …
… although I just did, writing my first biography, to be
published in October by Quill Driver — enormous fun for me!:
https://amzn.to/2HXYaun
Times keep changing, and for writers with wide-ranging interests,
not always for the better.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 at 10:50 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 16th, 2018 at 6:37 am
looking for hotmail login and the process for logging in to the hotmail accounts?
http://www.hotmail.com
May 17th, 2018 at 12:06 am
hi. In this article is i can,t understand please tell me any one.
ISO 9001 Certification in qatar
May 17th, 2018 at 4:08 am
If you have the skills and time to spare for having a second money source these jobs could guarantee some extra money. If you are that kind of person there are a lot of such jobs that could gain some extra income. image background removal service
May 18th, 2018 at 1:35 am
Writers — properly, very good authors any-way — know words. ” They’ve got this uncanny ability of understanding which to use so if — and only presume, you can find tens of thousands upon tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of their blighters. Also check it Phicomm K3C AC Router
May 18th, 2018 at 5:04 am
It’s really awesome. I love it.very interesting and meaningfull post. I got some very important views in your post which are very good and applicable for me. I just wish that I’ll see your another post very soon. I am waiting for that.
Hotmail login
Hotmail.com
May 19th, 2018 at 6:24 am
Thanks for sharing such awesome post… FIFA 2018 Live Stream here
May 22nd, 2018 at 12:15 am
Great Job, your Blog has nice content Too short but Very well define and much effective.
May 31st, 2018 at 12:44 am
Web Designing Course basically deals with creation and maintenance of websites. Best Web Design Training Institute
June 1st, 2018 at 11:28 am
Here, you can check the working hours along with the holiday hours of Dollar General stores.
survey |
feedback |
customer feedback
June 2nd, 2018 at 3:35 am
A lot of thanks, Because you have posted a such a nice post. But next time changes to the title of your post and put a social title. visit our website: http://www.gfriders.com
http://www.mecga.com
June 6th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
FIFA World Cup 2018 Live Stream Update (All Matches Watch Free Online ). NOW Watch FREE FIFA WORLD CUP LIVE Stream
LMI Sports
June 13th, 2018 at 11:46 pm
I am grateful to have opened this discussion. This question is quite interesting to me. Finally the answer was found 192.168.0.1
June 17th, 2018 at 11:14 am
Wawa is the relaxing place to order some food or drink. Besides, you can refuel your vehicle in this store too. The Wawa store is offering a mywawavisit Customer Satisfaction Survey for the customers to provide their feedback about the products and services offered by the company and in return to the survey the company is offering $250 worth of gift card for the lucky winners those who give honest feedback.
July 3rd, 2018 at 4:53 am
Do you know this? You can know your SBI Account Balance just by giving a missed call. The SBI Missed call service will provide you with the account balance info, loan related info, mini statements, ATM card info and much more. sbi balance check
check sbi balance
August 14th, 2018 at 6:21 am
This should be a valuable note for all the writers and those who wish to become writers in future. I think many people don’t know about these facts. Anyway, I appreciate your effort for sharing this information with us. pop ups chrome
September 1st, 2018 at 5:29 am
Very nice information thanks for sharing this article. Here provide you the survey list where you participate in survey and win big cash as dgcustomerfirst
September 1st, 2018 at 5:32 am
So friends if you want take survey and price then you can take this survey or win prize tellpizzahut
September 1st, 2018 at 5:35 am
So friends if you don’t know how to manage your gift card then here the solutions and then you will get fully information about mygiftcardsite and more.
November 8th, 2018 at 7:38 am
This post is the best so far. Author is very good in finding topics and writing it. Keep posting such a good articles.
http://www.kajalthakkar.com/
January 8th, 2019 at 6:06 am
There are many people who are interested in writing. Writing in your own language for the topic given will help you in improving the vocabulary. This will help you in bringing creative ideas and writing that will attract most of the people. cheap real diamond rings
January 8th, 2019 at 9:22 am
i also interested in writing but after read this advice really i very exert in writing.
https://www.simbainstitute.in/php-training-surat.php
April 17th, 2019 at 6:04 am
thank you very much. keep sharing keep loving. keep share this downloadbyme.com
August 15th, 2019 at 12:14 am
For the customers who are planning to pay a visit to Wawa chain stores, it is advisable to take your time and participate in their survey. Share out your views and opinions about the nature of the experiences you encountered in the stores by visiting their link at http://www.mywawavisit.com.
November 28th, 2019 at 7:56 am
YoWhatsapp New version apk mods are only developed for Android operating system platform so you would be able to use these features only on your Android smartphones only. you can download and use on ur android mobile phones. Other smartphones OS like IOS, windows, and blackberry doesn’t support this apk respectively. Excepted developed released separate versions for those users. For more info visit us :- http://yowhatsapp.info/
December 17th, 2019 at 9:17 am
Amazing post for surely inspire many people. Thanks author. Biography is very most thing and helpful for us so if you want to know more about it the read more
December 27th, 2019 at 10:46 am
thnxs for such a nice information.best article
January 11th, 2020 at 2:25 am
Thanks for your sincere advice, very helpful to me.
vex 3
January 15th, 2020 at 7:33 am
Roku is an online streaming device that allows users to watch their favourite channels on TV. Therefore, to enjoy the features of streaming device, users have to plug the device and connect with the internet and then after that set up the Roku account to watch the online programs.
January 16th, 2020 at 5:01 am
Whether Amazon Echo is not responding or you are having some other problem with your Echo device, troubleshooting the issue can quickly resolve the trouble
January 22nd, 2020 at 4:39 am
Thank you so much for this wonderful Post.This is an awesome post thank you for sharing this interesting post,
This is a really helpful post, very informative there is no doubt about it. Thanks for sharing this information with us. I really appreciate your work.
Thanks for providing the information with this post.
http://result-prediction.com/
March 14th, 2020 at 1:04 pm
This is a helpful post, very informative there is no doubt about it. Thanks for sharing this information with us. I really appreciate your work.
March 20th, 2020 at 1:29 am
Thanks for providing the information with this post. The post is very nice! By the way, I want to share with you information about the best.
April 7th, 2020 at 10:30 am
Thanks for giving this useful information with this post.
https://www.getpassiveincomes.com/
April 9th, 2020 at 6:47 pm
You are doing amazing job. Today we are sharing with our followers all the new https://pinoylambingantv.me replays which you watch daily on your free time.
April 10th, 2020 at 4:39 pm
Thank you so much for such an amazing article, love to read it eagerly looking for it.
https://jobsadvisers.com/
April 13th, 2020 at 2:41 pm
Thank you so much for such an amazing article
April 13th, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Thank you so much for such an amazing article
https://www.helptime.pw/
April 13th, 2020 at 2:42 pm
This is a helpful post, very informative there is no doubt about it. Thanks for sharing this information with us. I really appreciate your work.
https://www.techjus.com/
April 18th, 2020 at 3:06 am
Thanks for providing the information with this post. The post is very nice! By the way, I want to share with you information about the best.
April 18th, 2020 at 9:58 am
This is a really helpful post, very informative there is no doubt about it. Thanks for sharing this information with us. I really appreciate your work.
http://result-prediction.com/
http://result-prediction.com/who-will-win-today-yorks-vs-dur-t20-blast-2020-match-prediction-today-match-prediction/
July 30th, 2020 at 7:11 am
No doubt that the ATT service setup is one of the most outstanding electronic mail services in the USA. Even, the ATT email setup has a vast customer base with millions of users. Well, if you remember then, in the last post, we teach you how to login in ATT webmail setup? In that article, we tell you that first, you need to make the personal or private account of yours on ATT. The detail information of ATT email usually generates at a time of the account making. It also is useful for making an account of ATT. Though, creating or setting up an account of ATT webmail is straightforward and easy which you now, we hope you already know. So, here, now again come back to today’s topic. Well, all the client can have a completely different issue with ATT, not working service. Yet, many same problems are faced by a lot of users on ATT service setup, as penned below.
October 16th, 2020 at 5:57 pm
This is the greatest blog I have find around. Keep the good work and thanks for sharing. For the best tattoo shops near me ” | ” tattoo shops ” | ” tattoo shop near me ” | ” tattoo studios near me check us in Fayetteville, NC. Thanks Guys
December 7th, 2020 at 12:27 am
Read all information about Season in Odisha Shayari
February 2nd, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Nice Post
Apko Cricket Khelne ka sok hai to apne Virat Kohli ka nam to suna hi hoga or aap Virat Kohli ki Biography In Hindi janana sahte hai to aap is link pe click karke jaan sakte hai
February 22nd, 2021 at 5:51 pm
Very helpful information..The stuff is good and simple.I appreciate your work. Keep it up .. Rise and shine..
office.com/setup
March 3rd, 2021 at 1:33 am
such a awesome information to share you thank you so much
please visit
https://iihtsrt.com/python-training-course/