Writing and Marketing That Book - The World's Your Oyster

That's what some adverts promise. Why? Because we are frightened of being sold things - and of salespeople. So copywriters above met the fear head on. Our door-knocker is safe.

Now we writers regard ourselves as a class apart from those who flog things. No 'cold calling' for us. From the safety of our, by now, centrally-heated garret in Wapping or Wyoming we wing our writings worldwide and bypass the sordid matter of selling. Artists shouldn't lower themselves to markets and the findings of 'focus groups'. Or should they?

Most bestselling authors are brilliant at selling. The majority let their writing do their talking; a few - often with celebrity overtones - leave it to their fame or infamy. So how does a self-effacing writer with no love or knowledge of the black arts of marketing succeed? Simple! By facing certain truths.

1. Readers are always right
2. No two readers have identical needs and sympathies
3. Readers can be categorised
4. Categories of readers have specific needs

Successful inventors offer products that satisfy a known demand. Like writers they often have a contempt for society, but at least they focus their skills on problems that, once resolved, might benefit others. Their products catch more mice, banish nomadic insects, peel potatoes faster; all tantalisingly mundane - yet needed. By default, they are offering benefits. Writers can do this, too. If you intend to write and publish a book, be businesslike, and do your homework first.

Fiction is a lottery. Unlike non-fiction, where the subject title establishes the market, fiction requires writers to define their own market - then satisfy it.

Readers are old and young, past it - or most likely at it, or thinking about 'it'; sporty or not interested; male or female or, nowadays, floating; they like or dislike crime, mystery, adventure, romance, fantasy, horror, 'boys books', women-only confessionals; the list continues. But the list matters. Where does your writing chime with that of your potential readership?

Which brings us neatly back to you, the writer, and your natural hunting ground. Either you know precisely where and what you are aiming at - or you don't. Most new writers have an idea or three about what they would like to write about; some are more fortunate and have to be restrained as they leap after their prey with the keyboard clicking well into the night. The rest of us have to work at our craft until we recognise a voice that is both natural to us and reads well. Then, with this established, we seek a topic, category and theme that complements the voice. It won't happen overnight, but when the homework is over and we launch into our first draft, the chances of success in this highly competitive market-place will be increased.