The chairman of the board of a large publisher once said to a ghostwriting applicant, “The writing doesn’t have to be that good.”
Really? Was that true?
From his perspective, it definitely was. Why? Because as far as he was concerned, the quality of the writing wasn’t important to sell the book. He was offering book contracts to big-name celebrities who could write about conserving toilet paper and sell a million copies.
If you’re a celebrity, you don’t have to worry about the nature of your message or the quality of your writing. You don’t even have to look at this post, because publishers will hire ghostwriters to take care of everything for you.
Okay, so you’re not a celebrity, and you’re reading this post.
Even so, your writing doesn’t have to be that good to impress family and friends. If you have a speaking platform or social network, a fancy cover and great title is all you need to sell books. Like the chairman said, the writing doesn’t have to be that good.
However, if you want people to read your book from cover to cover, you must carefully craft every word to hold their attention. You want them to say, “I’ve never read anything this good, this helpful, this captivating. I’m so glad I read it.” And then they tell a dozen friends who each tell a dozen friends.
Do that, and you might become a celebrity.
