Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Rob Parnell It's every writer's dream. To write something that sells millions and pretty much guarantees you a place in history. Now that's sweet - the idea of it anyway. Of course, you have to remember it's every publisher's dream too. I read a publisher's blog recently that said that even in the US, it was rare for any author to sell more than a few hundred of their own books - and only then if they were lucky. I know that mainstream publishers with worldwide distribution often have trouble selling the first print run of what they call their 'B List' authors - a title which pretty much covers the majority of us! That's the reality. For every bestselling author that sells millions of copies of their book, there are perhaps a thousand, more likely ten thousand other authors who get by selling barely enough of their books to justify their publishing deals. Many career writers who receive (often small) advances on their work usually don't start mak...

Rob Parnell We've been busy these last couple of weeks going through staff applications and we've just started conducting interviews. It's fascinating to view so many different people and gain some appreciation and insight for their very different lives, hopes and dreams. As a writer, coming into contact with new people obviously fires my imagination and makes me think of characters I may not have considered - or imagined - before. Be that as it may... (one of those strange cliches that doesn't appear to say what you think it means.) It's also interesting to me because the whole experience of expanding my horizons has made me re-evaluate where I want to take my writing business in the future. The other night I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about what I would do if I had a huge staff of helpers, consultants and writers. What would be possible? Just what could I achieve, I thought, if I had a large corporation of people to run, occupy and motivate? Instead of jus...

Rob Parnell Do you ever have those days when you don't know what to write about? And worse, do those days turn into weeks and months, even years? You're not alone. I know this for a fact because people email me and send me letters about it all the time. According to most surveys, 80% of people feel they have a writer inside, someone who could - and thinks they should - write a book at some point in their lives. That's a huge statistic. So huge that it's the kind of percentage that would have marketers foaming at the mouth! But experience shows that only around 5% actually get around to any kind of serious writing in their lifetimes - and only around 1% of that 5% end up getting paid to do it. That's why, in marketing terms, writing remains a niche - one of those nebulous terms that means 'so specialized' as to be largely irrelevant to modern demographics. Clearly that doesn't quash the urge to write for most of us. But this issue of "I want to write...

Rob Parnell The biggest selling book of all time is of course The Bible. Hardly surprising given its place and significance in our history. But, strictly speaking, the Bible doesn't count for our purposes because it's not supposed to be fiction (though some might disagree.) I want to restrict my study of the bestseller to fiction - because to me, any book about things that aren't obviously real, would have to pretty powerful to inspire millions of people to buy it. Okay. Would it surprise you then to discover that the most verifiable bestselling novel, ever, is in fact Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities"? Surprised the hell out of me. Yep, apparently we've consumed over 200 million copies of this saga about the French Revolution and its affect on English mores. After that, we're on more familiar ground with "Lord of the Rings" at around 150 million - and apparently this figure isn't skewed by the book often being sold as three books - they...