Write a Selling Novel: 4 Strategies to Help

Want to write a selling novel? Every author does.

Sadly, over the past year or two, I’ve been in a reading slump, marking many novels “DNF” (did not finish), especially those downloaded from Kindle Unlimited. But it’s happened with novels I’ve bought too.

Is AI the reason for my miserable DNF run of stale plots and characters? Perhaps. It’s relatively easy to recognize AI-assisted novels if you read a lot in a genre.

That said, fiction is deeply subjective. Just because your book doesn’t appeal to one reader, doesn’t mean it won’t appeal to a million. Reading is all about a reader’s personal experience while reading.

It’s also about the reader’s life experience. If you love a book and reread it every few years, you’ll have a different experience each time because you’re different—you’re bringing your changes to the book.

Speaking of experience…

When you write fiction, you’re creating an experience

My solution to DNF annoyances is to reread the novels I love, and to glom onto wonderful books and authors, buying an author’s entire backlist if I enjoy their work.

More to the point for authors: what can you do to ensure not only that readers finish your books, but also become fans?

Let’s look at some strategies which may help.

1. Pay attention to your story’s world

Check out Wikipedia’s big list of bestselling books. What do you notice about fiction bestsellers?

These novels tend to be strong on time and place: authors create a world for readers to explore.

Fantasy and science fiction authors regard world-building as essential. Authors of historical fiction do too. Over the years, I’ve spent more time thinking and researching to build a real world for a book, often hand-drawing maps, especially when I write mysteries and thrillers.

Novelist Elizabeth George wrote a couple of excellent books on the craft of writing. She revealed that she researches her novels intensively, visiting locations and studying maps, including topographical maps.

You may not have the time or resources to research at length, but every bit helps. If you jump into developing a plot, then start writing, consider whether researching settings and characters might create better experiences for readers.

2. Develop conflict, but aim to avoid repetition

A story character needs goals and motivation.

Obstacles block a character from a goal, creating conflict. However, your conflicts can’t be the same, over and over. They must not only be different, but also build to a climax.

Readers’ reviews on Amazon and Goodreads give a novel a lower rating when conflicts are repetitive. This creates author confusion. What repetition? The author wonders. (It’s difficult to see instances in which we repeat ourselves.)

Keep one word in mind: worse. Conflict should build so that a character’s situation gets worse, and worse, until the climax.

I’ve said that the story question is the beating heart of your fiction, but you can’t have a static question. Your question must metastasize, growing and worsening.

Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws sold millions of copies; the movie adaptation was a blockbuster. It’s a good example of “worse.” The novel begins with shark attacks on beach swimmers. Before these attacks become repetitive, the fisherman hired to catch the shark disappears from his boat—which has huge shark bites.

I’m rereading Jaws currently; it’s a much better novel than I remember.

3. Are you giving readers an experience?

Another word to remember: experience. Novels give readers a better experience than movies, or other media. In your reading, think about how a novel draws you in and hypnotizes you.

I’ve just finished reading Colleen McCullough’s Antony and Cleopatra, the final book in her Masters of Rome series. Not only is it a long novel, it’s packed with dozens of characters. Yet, there’s a surprise on every page, with characters who seem real to the reader. (I teared up at Caesarion’s death.)

I’ll need to reread Antony and Cleopatra carefully, to discover some of Ms McCullough’s secrets.

What’s obvious, however, even on a first reading, is not only the research that went into the book (see the first strategy, above), but also the author’s mastery of characterization.

For example, Ms McCullough doesn’t label Octavian a monster—she shows it. Not only when he assassinates Caesarion, but also in throwaway dialogue. After Octavian interviews the ringleaders of a legion on the brink of mutiny, he tells his general and henchman Agrippa to distribute the prospective mutineers to other legions, then kill them:

‘Break them up and mix them up. I think it’s better that each meets an accident, don’t you?’

4. Dialogue: keep it short, in character, and witty if you can manage it

A novel gives readers a better experience than a movie: authors can reveal each character’s thoughts to provide characterization. However, just as with movies, great dialogue is essential.

Punch up your dialogue in editing. Keep it short, mostly; you don’t want slabs of monologues throughout the book. Dialogue is an exchange. (See Octavian’s instructions to Agrippa, above.)

A character’s dialogue comes from the character. A carpenter’s words are different from those of a chef. Word-choice and style also depend on other elements, such as age, social class, and intent.

All novels, no matter how dark the genre, are enhanced by a little humor. If you’re a fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, you know that he does humor brilliantly.

From Pratchett’s novel, Eric:

Death stalked in a dignified way into the centre of the room and watched the Bursar expectantly.

I HOPE WE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE ANY OF THIS “FOUL FIEND” BUSINESS AGAIN, he said.

(Death always speaks in capitals.)

Writing a selling novel is a challenge

If you’ve been published for a while, you know this.

Sales owe a great deal to luck. Something about a book grabs readers, and it sells. Or perhaps a celebrity or someone with a big platform has mentioned a book; sales result.

Be aware that there’s a limit to what you can do to ensure your novel sells. Help your novel by focusing on craft, and put some thought into promotions.

Do your best, and write on. 🤗

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