What Justin Bieber Can Teach Aspiring Authors

Say it ain't so, Ara!

Before you think I've jumped off into the deep end and have purchased a Bieber-Fever T-shirt, or have replaced all my conservative ties with purple ones, please take a deep breath, relax and read on.

My wife ordered Justin Bieber's documentary/movie ("Never Say Never") a couple of weeks ago. My boys (5 & 7) seem to enjoy his music, and my wife (who is always looking for any opportunity to show our boys that hard work pays off) made popcorn and turned down the lights.

This was my opportunity! Exit stage right. I was about to get nearly two hours of uninterrupted writing time. Score, right? Well...

It took about seven minutes until my wife called for me. I knew I should have put the noise-canceling headphones on sooner, but alas, I hadn't.

"What?" I asked, although it wasn't really a question--it was an accusation.
"You've got to see this." That's code word in our home. It means, come downstairs and check this out. Because, if you don't, we will all be disappointed in you.

I may have uttered a couple of expletives. I may have even said, "No one understands my pain." I may have.

I must admit that I walked downstairs having prejudged Bieber as another "created-in-the-studio" artist. No talent, but a phenomenal marketing engine. Thoughts of N-Sync & Spice Girls came to mind.

I went to the den and to my surprise, my boys (thunder and lightning) were watching this movie. I mean really watching it. Anyway, I walked over, sat on the arm of the couch and next thing I know, 90 minutes had elapsed and I was entertained beyond my expectations.

I went back to my office and sat in front of my manuscript, but instead thought of this young man's journey and the road ahead. It became apparent to me that if someone studied his road to success, then maybe on some level, we could apply it our own artistic journey. The journey of transforming from a writer into a published author.

12 things Justin Bieber can teach an aspiring author:

1. Create content that meets your audience's tastes

As writers, we have heard this before -- first, write a great book. I agree. But what's great to a romance reader, is not great to a YA reader. Know your audience. Ideally, you are a member of that audience. In the case of Bieber, the type of music he loved was the type of music he wrote. He understood what made him love artists like Usher, or Boyz II Men.

There are a lot of questions floating around genre. You must understand why an agent cares and why the editor needs to know. But think about it from your perspective as well. Who will want to read this story? Who is your tribe? "My novel will appeal to to all current members of the Whig political party." Awesome, you're adressable market (the total market that could be converted into a paying customer) is a total of seven people.

2. Never stop improving your craft

I was amazed to see how this young man spendt countelss hours with his vocal trainer/coach. Yes, my friends, he actually sings when he's performing live--no lip sync here. In fact, in the movie, he had strained his vocal muscles so much that he had to cancel a show.

Understand that the two core elements that make you a better writer are: writing & reading. And by definition, those are on-going elements. Therefore, your education never ends. There is no such thing as "I am there now." That's an abstract notion. There is no "there" to get to, because it only ends when you've taken in your last breath. You work hard every day... oh wait, that's number three.

3. Hard work

You must work hard every day--but also be smart. Tim Ferris ("4-Hour Work Week") asks the question, are you being active or effective. Set goals (word count, marketing plan, etc) then go after them with passion and focus. You never make excuses. You never accept excuses. You are not only your own toughest critic but you must also be your strongest advocate.

When no one wanted to sign Bieber, he and his manager hit the streets--planes, trains and automobiles. He went from one radio station to another. Just he and his guitar. He sang live and won over the DJ's. And he started building an audience. He built his platform by hard work and determination. No excuses.

4. You can create your "Platform"

In the movie, Bieber's manager (Scooter) tells the story of how none of the labels wanted to touch him. I paraphrase: "You need the platoform. He needs Disney or Nickolodean. You nead the machine." 

Yes, the platform is important. How will people know who you are? How much work will it take to generate a buzz about this new artists? What the labels didn't understand was social media: Hundreds of thousands of You Tube viewers + thousands of Twitter followers = platform (a true fan base). This young man had a monster of a platform. Which leads to...

5. This Social Media thingy may be real

More of your potential customers (i.e. readers) spend eyeball time on their computer/iPad/smartphone than on TV or the NY Times. Understand what this means. You need to have a presence in where they're looking. Doing poetry readings at Chuck E Cheeses will not get you the audience you need. Also, you need to have an honest voice. You need to be interesting and relevant and entertaining (not like a clown, but you know... entertaining). You have to be humble. You have to be you. 

Your voice as a writer is that special, unique way you say things. Your followers will follow you because you're interesting and relevant. And when you have followers, don't be a snob. Everyone loves the underdog. Everyone wants to be recognized as one of the people that helped a talented individual breakthrough against impossible odds. Treat them with the respect that they deserve.

6. Good Hair makes all the difference

7. The advocate

Scooter is Justin's manager. This guy belived in Bieber when no one else wanted to touch Bieber. He saw the talent when Bieber was barely fifteen (on You Tube by the way -- that's how Justin was discovered). He knew there was something there. And through all the rejections, he was never dissuaded. He worked even harder.

Many aspiring authors, myself included, are searching for the right agent. I emphasize right. Not every phenomenal agent is necessarily the right fit for you. For my day job, I have hired hundreds, interviewed thousands. I only hire on fit. Fit matters.

I know its tempting to jump on the first agent that shows interest. But this is a long-term relationship. The fit needs to exist for both of you. You are both investing your time/money on a joint veture. The right person is everything. First Who, then What.

8. The connector

Even with an advocate, what Scooter needed was someone who knew someone. He went to Usher. Usher had the power, prestige and connections to help pave the way. Usher knew Scooter so he agreed to listen to this "kid." This kid, sang an Usher song acapella (no music, just his voice) and blew Usher away. As Usher says in the movie, "This was a no brainer." Maybe. But so far, no label had even considered Bieber. Usher was the connector. He found Bieber the producer, who in turn got this young man's music published.

You never know who will help you. I find that the writing community has a lot of gems. And I am not referring to just their talent. But I mean as humans. They want to help. They want to give back. Behave like a professional. Be a connector for others. Do it, even when you're a relative nobody. Help others. If you love something you read, tell the world. Karma has interesting a way of helping you down the line.

9. You must be born left-handed



10. Love those who love you

Treat your fans--your followers--with respect. They will be your wave to success. Treat them as if your career depends on it. Because it does.

At concerts, his team goes out and upgrades seats for fans. Or give them free tickets if they were left without seats. It's the little things that converts a fan into a believer, and then into a loud chorus of appreciation. They will spread the word about you. This is the essence of word-of-mouth. And in today's democratized digital age, you never know who will be that person who will advertise you in ways that no full-page ad in the NY Times could ever dream of touching.

11. You must know how to dance



12. The right team, the right attitude

I was impressed at the loyalty of his team. Sure, they are with the fastest growing artist in the world. Sure, they are now rolling in cash. But they were with him when he was a nobody. It wasn't easy for the first few years. There was nothing there. Yet, they stuck it out together. As I watched them in the movie I noticed something else. They were a family and they had the right attitude.

Surround yourself with people who care about you and your dreams. Don't dwell in the negative stuff. Rejection letters are a part of the game. Please, oh please, don't post them on your blog. Don't badmouth the agent who "clearly is blind since you're the best thing since JKR, in fact, she stole your idea about Harry what's-his-name." Argh! Don't burn bridges--this is a interconnected highway with many connections. But more importantly, don't demean others in this industry who are trying their best. It's not easy. It can't be. Think about it and you'll get it. Finally, it's a small industry. When you attack one, you attack a few hundred people down the chain, and you show that you are not a professional. When you are dealt a bad hand, remind yourself why you write in the first place. I don't know about you, but I write because I have to. Because my sanity depends on it. Because now that I know I can, how could I ever pretend otherwise?


Fight the good fight!

Is your book better than it sounds?

I've quoted this man many times before. I will quote him again. From Seth Godin's blog:

Better than it sounds

Mark Twain said that Wagner wrote music that was better than it sounds.

It's an interesting way to think about marketing. Is your product better than it sounds, or does it sound better than it is? We call the first a discovery, something worthy of word of mouth. The second? Hype.

I often feel that way about the great things I've come across. When I get excited about something -- be it a book, a movie, a lecture, whatever -- I try to explain it. My words collide into each other, meaning is lost, and the barrage of adverbs and adjectives must be nauseating. But in my excitement, the person listening wants to find out why Ara is so flippin' excited about this 'whatever it is.'

This is a typical issue of mine. Which is why I have been struggling with my query letter--never quite happy with it. Just to be clear, this is an internal struggle. I am never happy with what I do--not completely. I am certain I can do better. I push and push until I'm proud of the work. As for the query letter or synopsis, it doesn't seem to capture the excitement I have for the story. I feel that I don't do my main characters and the story they go through justice. One person who has read my manuscript and provided feedback on my query letter said the following, "You are totally underplaying the story, the characters and the connection they have."

This issue is greater than just about the query letter. It's an all encompassing phenomena. It's about how we talk about our craft and our work with others.

"What's your book about?"
                      "What do you write about?"
                                               "Where do you get your ideas?"

Back to Seth--this is not about being a better marketer or a salesman. Because obvious marketing comes across cheap, planned, with lack of honesty behind it. This is about releasing any and all judgement you have about yourself, your work, and your passion. It's about trusting your work and letting it sing. Maybe even generate music that last the test of time. Sort of like Mark Twain, Wagner, and Seth Godin.

Remember this, it is YOUR responsibility to make your book's pitch consistent with what it is. No one will sell the 'hook, book and cook' for you, better than you. You may chalk this off as, "I'm not the business man, I'm the creative one." Selling is not a bad thing. It's the way we clarify the value to someone else, so that they also get the benefit. It is using words to convey the story we're trying to tell. Who better to do that, than writers?

Fight the good fight!

What's this eBook thing, anyway?

This is almost painful to watch. The look on their faces as they speak about this weird, new thing called the "Internet"

Okay, so maybe the video has nothing to do with eBooks... but maybe, it really does.

I can't help but let my very expensive education from USC get in the way. I guess when I got an MBA, I learned to look at most things through the eyes of an entrepreneur. Most people in the industry are pretending, hoping that this eBook-thing and self-publishing-thing and indie-publishing-thing will go away. If we shove our head deep under the sand--real deep--it'll go away.

It won't go away. It's already too late. The question, the only question, that should be asked is what are YOU doing to ride this wave? How are you reconsidering the impact and possibilities and opportunities that this wave will bring.

In this blog, I write about writing.

But my "other" life is, and has been, about bringing new technologies to market. I've launched businesses, ran businesses, and helped others realize their entrepreneurial dreams. Today, I help develop the technology roadmap of the movie industry. And I see a dangerous disease everywhere I look.

There is a disease that's called denial. And unfortunately, in the book publishing industry, denial is the de facto standard. As writers, we can't be blind. This is our careers, the future, the platform upon which we are able to deliver our stories to others.

We can watch that 1994 TODAY SHOW video and laugh. "How ridiculous, and blind," we'll claim. "For the love of everything that we know of, the Internet is the backbone of everything we do."

In ten years, will we look back at the articles, and YouTube videos produced in 2011 about eBooks and laugh? Will we wonder how so many people missed the boat?

Why Do You Need a Professional to Read your Novel???

Why indeed... well, one of my favorite blogs captured the reason succinctly.

Jane Friedman wrote:

"Why are editors rejecting my work when family and friends love it so much?

Your family and friends love you and see you in your work. An editor doesn't know you and is often more objective, especially when it comes to marketability. Publishing professionals have distance; you and your closest friends/family may not." There Are No Rules - Agents

Objectivity is critical. 

Writing is an art... publishing your art is a business. 

You need to know that a business executives (Agent and then Editor for the publisher) believe that many people will want to read your story. Chances are that your story has some things in there that will delight your friends and family... because they know you, they get it, and maybe they are excited by what you have done. The agent and editor don't bring all that baggage to the game.

Bring on a dose or reality... that will make me a better writer, a better story teller. 

The Waiting Game...

I'm waiting to hear back from the critique service... I must admit, that I'm a bit of a mess. What if they're drinking beers laughing at my dangling participles?! And I'm paying them for this. Who you callin' a gerund? Sometimes I wish I hadn't slept through high school grammar class. Worse still, these are professional readers who have read hundreds of manuscripts... and published dozens of novels themselves. The pressure is enough to make me want to get a croissant with Nutella!

But fear not, I am not sitting there knitting an afghan! I picked up a very promising book by James Scott Bell, "The Art of War for Writers." I really like his work, both his novels and his non-fiction material on the craft of writing. Good stuff. I have another one of his books in my "Must Read" list of this blog.

Also, I'm pouring over sites and articles about the "Query Letter." For aspiring authors these two words cause a disturbance in the time-space continuum.  It's a one page sales pitch that very briefly describes your work to an agent. And you hope that your three or four paragraphs are convincing enough to excite that agent to say "Why heck! This guy is the next Tom Flippin' Clancy! Send me your manuscript! Pronto!"

It is odd... you slave over every word as you prepare a novel (in my case 91,000 words)... and if your one pager is a dud, the agent won't even want to look at it. But hey, let's not fight the wave. We ride the wave!

Janet Reid (agent extraordinaire) has a phenomenal blog Query Shark. You submit your query and the shark gnaws away at it, until she's happy with it. Apparently if it's good enough, she will ask to see your manuscript. She's a tough one. My fragile heart will not last long under her piercing glare. But when I'm ready, I'll jump in the shark infested water and see what happens. What makes this site fantastic is that you can look at all the queries that she has gone through, her comments, and the revisions. Very informative.