Does Your Book Have That ZING?

People are always asking me what makes a paper sandwich deliciously original. If you're going to self-publish, in particular (I prefer "indie publish") you've gotta pack ZING into every layer of your book. Cuz it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that.

If your book is now in the hands of a major publisher, well, yikes. Pray hard. The New Yorker expressed the current publisher attitude toward authors extremely succinctly in a cartoon that ran last December (the winter of our discontent?) Actually this attitude first emerged sometime in the mid 90s, but it's only now that it's getting decent airplay. The cartoon would be a lot funnier if I hadn't seen the scenario it describes befall numerous worthy books in the last ten or so years. Egad, and alas. It's what made me, an author published more than once by kind editors at once-decent-but-now-usurious publishing houses, turn away in disgust. It also inspired me to become an uncompromising champion of indie publishers.

But I had a point, and it has to do with Quality and Honor as practiced by the best of writers.

First, you've gotta love what you’re saying. This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people set out to write a book merely because they think it'll sell. This is a terrible reason to write anything. Don't do it.

Second, honor the people who said it first. Then offer the reader a message they haven’t seen before -- or at least one they haven’t seen recently.

Yes We Love It, but No, It’s Not New!
Every book is not Homer’s Odyssey. We can all be grateful for that, given our shrinking free time. But however humble the work may be, it pays to acknowledge the sources that nudged forth your own genius. Writing about bagels? Remember to mention the authors of Bagels of the Cretaceous and The Bittersweet Bagel Diaries. However, as my friend Amanda Lorenzo Famous Author says, it’s all a matter of proportion.

Of course, feel free not to credit helpful but brief-ish pamphlets such as Test Your Child’s Bagel Quotient, unless you quote it in full in your own brief-ish pamphlet!

Acknowledge the Source!
All authors I’ve read have in some way enlarged my wealth of knowledge; however, listing each deserving one would make one’s bibliography as thick as a deep-dish lasagna. And it’s honor we’re talking about here, not weight. Somewhere among your textual musings, there should be evidence that you, as author, are aware that others have trod parts of this path before you. Your mention may be a still, small voice at the end of your Introduction, or a hyperbolic passage acknowledging your debt to the author of Whither Goes My Bagel?
Whether it’s a teeny, tiny tenderness or a big bold bang, thanking our predecessors and literary influences reminds us, at the very least, that we are not alone.

Ceci Miller is founder and president of CeciBooks.com, an editorial and publishing consultancy that empowers authors to write, publish, and market irresistible books that uplift and inspire. A long-ago graduate of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, Ceci has written, co-authored, and edited books with bestselling authors and experts since 1988. See book credits.