Non-fiction revisited and some publishing wisdom
Last week I tackled the topic of writing non-fiction (5 Tips for Writing Stellar Non-Fiction). Actually, I really didn’t "tackle" anything, I just sort of glossed over a few tips about writing non-fiction pieces, and then pretty much left it at that.
Today, however, I came across a post from one of my favorite blogs, The Writing Life, written by Terry Whalin. In a recent post he talks about the value of publishing experience. Mr. Whalin points out that non-fiction outsells fiction by a large margin. He then says:
Overall there are less fiction slots than nonfiction and many more people trying to write fiction than nonfiction. If you choose to write only fiction, then you are intentionally targeting the most crowded area of the marketplace within traditional publishing. That’s my case for nonfiction in books…
Great point! Everyone wants to write fiction. Everyone wants to get their fiction published and be the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. Well, maybe not everyone, but enough are trying that publishing fiction (via the traditional route) is extremely competitive these days.
Unless you’re already a published author or a celebrity, publishing non-fiction can still be a challenge and still takes a lot of work and diligence. And I imagine that, as with fiction, success is never guaranteed when publishing non-fiction. Heck, even self-publishing doesn’t guarantee success.
Terry Whalin’s blog is well worth the time to read! He’s an experienced writer, he knows the publishing world well and really seems interested in seeing all writers get their books published. Thanks Terry!
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