“I want this book to be a bestseller,” my writing coach prospects and clients will often say to me.
Who doesn’t? I think to myself as I rush to assure them that if I knew the key to writing a bestseller, I would likely be sipping a cocktail under a palm tree on a sandy beach and heralded by every publishing company across the globe. I say this despite having ghostwritten two national bestsellers.
I go on to talk about the importance of writing one’s truth, as authentically as possible, rather than trying to chase the latest publishing trend with an eye toward grabbing that bestseller gold ring. Some people hear and heed that advice. Others not so much. “People like to read about this kind of stuff,” one of my favorite clients repeatedly insisted while writing his book. It’s a wonder I didn’t bean him. Just kidding. Sort of.
Thankfully, readers can sniff out authenticity, along with the reverse. The stories that move them are the ones that move the author. That’s at least one secret to writing a bestseller.
Apparently, the same rule applies to songwriting. “Music = Honesty,” reads the first life lesson in an article by one of my musical heroes, Graham Nash, whom I was fortunate enough to interview years ago while working as special features editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine. (And if you don’t think that I almost swooned at the enormous bouquet of flowers he subsequently sent, you need to think again.)
“When you’re writing songs, you have to tell the truth, to reflect the times,” writes Nash. “Most of the choices I’ve made started with my mother and father telling me, ‘Follow your heart and you won’t go wrong.’”
His conclusion on the topic neatly sums up the message I’ve been trying to convey about books, be they bestsellers or not. “I can only write songs for me,” he says. “I can’t write them for you.”
Are you listening out there? I sure hope so.
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