Gold20:

Golden Rule No. 20:

Avoid the 'snob' trap

Good writing, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. A Mills and Boon romantic novel can give as much pleasure to one reader as a Shakespeare sonnet to another. Do not get caught up in the "snob" syndrome where you feel you have to write a work of great intellect. There is an audience out there for every type of book imaginable.

If you are entering the world of fiction make sure your book is populated with strong, believable characters. Many good judges consider strong characterisation to be more important than a good plot. If you do not have interesting characters with personality you will quickly lose your reader regardless of how strong your plot.

Georges Polti once wrote a fascinating work called Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, summarising all the book plots and making the point that there are no more than thirty-six dramatic situations. He contended that any plot an author dreams up is always a modification of one of these situations or a mix-and-match of two or more of them.

If it is your own life story or a ghosted autobiography that you are writing, then you do not need a plot but strong narrative. Above all, make sure you keep it interesting. Even a dull existence can be made to seem fascinating if it is written in a readable style.

Give a lot of attention to the title of your book. Leslie Thomas hit the target with Virgin Soldiers. I do not think he would have got a book and a film deal so easily had he called it National Service in Malaysia.

Among my book titles have been Banks of England (for World Cup goalkeeping hero Gordon Banks), This One's On Me (in which Jimmy Greaves told the gripping story of his battle against alcoholism), Watt's My Name (boxer Jim Watt's autobiography at a time when he had won a world title just months after being dismissed as Jim Who?), The Glory and the Grief (George Graham's story of his rise and fall as Arsenal manager) and Mike Tyson: The Release of Power (the biography of Mike Tyson, written with boxing commentator Reg Gutteridge and timed to coincide with Tyson's release from prison).

When choosing your title visualize the book sitting on the shelf in the bookstore. Make it a title that will stand out and grab the attention. You will often find the publisher proposing an alternative title. Listen to the reasoning, and you will usually find that their suggestion is more fitting.

Your book contract will contain a deadline for the final submission of your disk and/or typescript. Meeting the deadline is paramount. If you realise that you are going to miss the deadline give the publisher as much notice as possible. A deadline is agreed between publisher and author to enable a book to be published at the most favourable time. No matter how good your book is, if it appears at the wrong time, a major part of its potential sales may be lost.

If delivery of a disk/typescript is delayed significantly, the market may begin to shift before the book can be published. It is a cardinal sin to miss a deadline, and it could mean your publishing deal being cancelled and you being liable for the costs and the return of your advance. Read your contract.

Remember that the publisher has a schedule with the printer, the binders, the distributors and the marketing team, and your book will have been given a place in a crowded queue. Make sure you have the finished book in on time. Then you can call yourself a true professional.

It is fairly easy to start a book. The hard part is finishing it. I promise that the only way to do it is to get that first word down and keep on writing until you have reached the last one. When you achieve that you will know the true meaning of satisfaction.

If nothing else, I hope that my Golden Rules have helped you believe in yourself. The three Cs come into play: Be Confident ... Be Creative ... and give it all your Concentration.

Remember, don't talk it, write it. Good luck. Now please visit How to Earn to discover how we can all make money!

Golden Rule No 20 is that you must believe in yourself, and make sure you finish as well as start the book ... and don't miss that deadline.