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I THINK YOU WILL LIKE
MY LATEST BOOK
GIVE IT A TRY!
SO HOW DO YOU GET YOUR eBOOK TO GO VIRAL?
It is beyond social media.
You can’t tweet or Facebook yourself into viral status. Your publisher can’t even make it happen.
It rarely happens to the common A-list author names –
they became A-listers after their viral debut –
it’s usually something fresh, from a fresh face.
The criteria for putting your book into a position to go viral
is almost exactly that associated with getting published in the first place.
The book has to work. Really, really well.
That said, viral books tend to do a couple of specific things really well:
1.) They are often “high concept” (rather than character-driven, even though they introduce great characters),
with exceptional execution across all the story basics.
2.) They also deliver something else, almost without exception:
they seize the inherent compelling power of underlying story physics in ways that exceeds the competition.
These two realms of story –
compelling concept,
with exceptionally strong underlying essences, is what gets you into the viral game.
YAWN!
Right? Isn't that what everyone does?
Not really.
They don’t address these as goals.
Some authors just write their story, write it well, let it evolve organically, and hope somebody out there gets it.
This may get them published, but it doesn’t usually get them on Oprah Winfrey.
The viral book is driven by hero empathy,
while delivering a vicarious ride.
It isn’t the plot, and it isn’t character.
No, this is about the reader.
It’s about the reader transporting themselves into this world… going on this ride… feeling it… wanting to be the hero…
wishing it was them…
The reader completely engaging in this journey
on a personal level.
I hope this helps in some small way.
I hope this helps in some small way.
I think you're right--it's all about a personal connection with the story, which is one of the toughest but most satisfying things an author can do! Thanks for the thoughts!
ReplyDeleteCortney:
ReplyDeleteYes, it is SO hard to personally connect with the reader, but all the best books do -- to a cross of different kinds of people -- at heart, we all want to connect with a kindred spirit. Thanks for visiting and chatting! :-)
Something that goes viral, is amazing... though it's word of mouth or shared links... I have wanted to have this happen with any of my posts, video, photos... nothing. Though your stuff is viral, Roland... I have always enjoyed everything you have shared, via book, ebook, post, comment... you should be seen by the world and more.... here are the latest things I would like to go viral...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jmhdigital.com/2015/01/star-wars-force-awakens-been-playing.html
http://youtu.be/pCgD3k4sXSE
http://youtu.be/MzVk7DDuD5I
May we win someday... may the world remember us for our work and if we should go viral... cha'ching!
Jeremy
With the exception of my genre, I agree. It seems in psychological thrillers, unlikeable characters and low concept take center stage. This is true from the most recent viral hits, The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, all the way back to Patricia Highsmith and The Talented Mr. Ripley. This may be why psychological thrillers are such a difficult genre to market. As you say, Roland, it is all about the reader transporting themselves into the story, which is why it's hard to understand why so many readers are attracted to these books. I have no idea, and I'm the target audience.
ReplyDeleteVR Barkowski
When the reader gets hooked not only on a story I've written but a couple of particular characters in it, then I know I've done my job. I'm surprised at a few of the novels I've read--only a minority, and they can be both commercial and serious literary--that have completely unlikeable characters that I don't care about at all. One exception: I kinda liked the male lead in Gone Girl, and learned to despise the female, but the story was so twisty and surprising that it kept me going.
ReplyDeleteJeremy:
ReplyDeleteI pray that lightning strikes the two of us ... in the best possible way! :-)
VR:
I think Helena in the next comment has the key: when a book has an unwholesome, cruel main character, it is the unique mystery or suspenseful twists that keep readers reading.
I just cannot stay with a book whose major character is gruesome. I've stopped reading chapters in Dean Koontz books in the POV of a torturing killer to skip to the next chapter focusing on the heroes, hoping I will be able to pick up what happened in what follows!
Helena:
You've given VR and me the key to why some psycho-thrillers have an audience -- the unlikeable characters are caught up in a mind-twisting mystery. Thanks for helping us out! :-)
So true. It is tough to say what makes something go viral. The right amount of people noticing something at the right time, luck, star alignment... Sadly it doesn't always have to do with the quality of the work so much as the word of mouth about it.
ReplyDeleteHeather:
ReplyDeleteYes. Sigh. Lighting strikes where it will. I wish we have prose viral lightning rods, don't you?
Maybe if I started dating Miley Cyrus? No, some prices are too steep to pay!! :-)