Trend Alert: Writing isn't enough
FIND WAYS TO PACKAGE YOUR WRITING
OK superstars, it’s time to get creative. I don’t know what went through your mind when you read this headline, but I’m sure a little bit of anxiety filled your gut.
Take a deep breath. It’s not as alarming as it sounds. When I say writing isn’t enough, I don’t mean you need to stop writing or start doing something else. Not exactly. What I mean is that it’s time to think of different ways you can package and present your writing and leverage it to build readership, attract fans, grow your brand and make some money.
AI has already changed the game
We need to get something straight right now: AI isn’t changing the game, it’s already changed the game. ChatGPT and GPT4 are literally in their infancy and they’ve already changed industries. We may not see it clearly quite yet, but trust me on this one. Creative industries, in particular, will never be the same.
But AI is just one reason we don’t just need to adjust, we need to recalculate. Writers need to do a deep dive assessment on what makes our writing valuable, bottle that up, and package and present it in ways that appeal to audiences.
How are you packaging your writing?
When thinking of ways to package and present your writing, you need to understand trends. Audio and video are definitely trends you should already be aware of. I already wrote a piece on how audio is impacting publishing and you only need to open any social media app to see video’s impact.
But what does that have to do with your writing? Am I saying that you should stop writing and become a vlogger? No. What I’m saying is that you need to use audio and video to draw attention to your writing.
I’ll give you two examples: First, I recently discovered an author named Xiran Jay Zhao. They’re (pronoun is they) a bestselling fantasy writer who only recently popped on to the scene.
In one of their videos, Zhao talks about how they spent a year on YouTube because their first book deal didn’t pay enough. It ended up working out and the fan base they amassed on YouTube no doubt helped them become a bestseller.
Another example: Sam Demma, who I’ve met and has become a friend and supporter, recently put out his first book. He’s not traditionally published. Instead, he took the independent route and set up a cross Canada tour with the help of a small team that he assembled.
Sam used Instagram very specifically to document the steps of his tour. He took us outside car dealerships where he was searching for sponsors. He took us inside classrooms where he wears this huge red bag to promote the title of his book, Empty Your Knapsack. He asked the drive-through server at Tim Hortons “What is one piece of advice you would give to a group of young students.” All of this is on video.
My point is that these authors realized that it’s not enough to just write. They needed to find different ways to package their writing to connect with an audience. They used video to do it, but there are other ways you can package your writing.
Maybe you have a blog right now. What if you leveraged the theme from one of your posts and turned it into a podcast (audio only)? Invite someone else on so it’s more of a discussion than a lecture.
Maybe you’ve just published a book or are in the midst of publishing one. What if you released the first three chapters as a newsletter? What if you turned one of those chapters into an animated video with voice over? Or take the lead from one of my author friends, Kasandra Coleman, who released two children’s books over the past year. She designed a black and white image of her book that kids can colour at her book signings. Her request is that their parents post the completed image to their social media with a QR code that takes you directly to her book.
Thinking of Art Basel happening in Hong Kong recently, I can’t help but connect it back to our literary community. So much about art is about how it’s curated; how it’s presented at a gallery to optimize the experience of the expression.
Writing is a lot like that, too. You’re performing. You’re using words but how are you getting creative with your canvas? Is a digital publication your canvas? Are you using visuals to bring your story alive? Are there phrases in your piece that can be extracted and repurposed on another platform or in a different medium? What about offline? Are there ways to represent your writing on a physical canvas that makes sense?
You may need to collaborate to make some of these ideas possible. That’s OK. Collaboration exposes you to different audiences. You shouldn’t just be open to collaborating, you should be intentional about it.
My friends, this is the new reality of our industry. Simply writing isn’t enough anymore. It must be combined with an equal amount of creative energy to attract readers and prove to them that it’s worth their time. If we want to keep up, this is what it’s going to take.