Michael Connelly and I began in the mystery field about the same time. He lived in L.A., I lived in San Diego. He, Alan Russell, and I did some traveling and book signings together. I consider Mike both a friend and a writer from whom I've learned quite a bit.

His career has developed the way a career is supposed to, with a readership that grows book after book. I've got some thoughts about why.

During college, Mike decided to become a writer of crime fiction. But instead of jumping right in and, like most of us, writing about situations we've only read or watched dramas about, he chose to major or minor  (I forget which) in journalism and become a crime reporter. This decision put him way ahead of most novelists for two reasons. First, by the time he began writing novels, he had seen and learned plenty that could make his stories feel authentic. And, as a journalist, he learned how to write clearly, which English majors, charmed  by style and rhetoric, may never do.

In Harry Bosch, the Los Angeles policeman Mike built his series upon, he chose a main character loaded with conflicts. Harry is a battle scarred Vietnam vet. His mother, a prostitute, was murdered. He's a lone wolf in a profession whose job description emphasizes teamwork. Often I've heard people comment about Bosch as a character. They love him and want to read more and more about him. My best guess as to why he's so compelling is that his character revolves around a certain definable trait. Bosch is haunted. Which makes him somehow simple and complex at once. Those who would create a character as compelling as Harry might try finding a single adjective to describe him or her and using that word as a unifying principle. 

I don't know whether Mike intended to write for the niche "police procedurals," but he has become a household word amongst fans of that sub-genre. The idea of finding a niche may seem limiting to writers, but to marketers and p.r. folks it's golden. If you fail to define your niche, you're not likely to get your book published, let alone become a bestseller.

When the time came for Mike to try to sell his first novel, he set out to find not only an agent, but the right agent, whom he found by learning who represented the authors he most admired and to whose work he believed his novel bore a resemblance. The tactic worked, and the agent he landed with, he has stuck with ever since. 

For advice about finding and working with agents, go to my web site and subscribe to my newsletter. 

Most of us writers are introverts, which Mike appears to be. But since part of our job is to impress or befriend people who can spread the word about our books, when we're in the presence of fans, booksellers, librarians and such, many of us attempt to pretend we're extroverts. We act like somebody we're not.  This has never been Mike's m.o.  What he appears to have done, is be himself. And that tactic worked. He's awfully well liked. I've heard plenty of talk about him, and never a bad word. 

Also, Mike learned from masters.  But that deserves a whole other story, which I'll dish out next time.

Happy New Year.

Sandra Cisneros and I were good friends in graduate school and now and then since, so I have some perspective on her career and can offer a couple suggestions about how to follow her path to fame and prosperity:

Find your distinctive voice. Sandra began as a poet. Her first book, House on Mango Street, which I suspect may still be the most popular, is a collection of stories in some cases so brief you wouldn't go far afield calling them prose poems. And they all come from a voice at once both wise and youthful. 

Seek out your niche and build from there. Arte Publico, a small publisher from Texas, originally published House on Mango Street. I suspect they promoted the book to college Chicano Studies professors and to high schools in areas with a substantial Latino population, because in those venues it gradually became not only a hit but a staple. 

Here's a link to an article about the future of publishing that advocates publishers would be wise to dedicate themselves to finding niche markets. publishers, but I suspect it relates to authors as well. I'll give a snippet from it:

"A stark illustration of this hit my radar screen last month.  A major agent told me that he sold a Mind, Body, Spirit author’s book to Random House, which sold 12,000 copies.  He sold the next book by the same author to niche publisher Hay House, which sold 200,000 copies! And Hay House, with over a million email addresses of people all interested in the same type of book, probably spent less on marketing to sell eight times as many."

Sure, finding a distinctive voice and a marketable niche probably won't be easy. The voice has to come from your unique personality, or you won't be able to sustain it. 

The niche? Well, I've been wrestling with this question for a spell, and the best niche I can imagine for my books is that they are most liable to appeal to former English majors with History minors (or vice versa) who appreciate somewhat gritty detective fiction and aren't offended by Christian characters who may be either heroic or despicable. 

If can identify a niche market for your work but doubt reaching it will allow you to support yourself and family with your books, take a look at some of the magazines that appear to thrive. I'd bet if your book sold to one out of every ten people who read English and put ketchup on broccoli, you could pay off the credit cards and buy rental property.

Now the question becomes, how to reach our target audience?

Until I find the answer, I'll leave that issue to marketing pros and move on to describing other paths to literary success, next time. So I'll remind you to subscribe. 

So, suppose you want to become a bestseller not by writing what people want to read but by introducing them to your view of the world, with the stories you feel compelled to create.

Having been around a while, I've gotten some insider knowledge about careers that worked like you want yours to.

John Irving was my first teacher at Iowa, and he impressed upon us that we should not expect to make a living writing. We should accept the fact that (lacking wealth or generous spouses) we would need another career. Our stories should be our passion and avocation. Okay, but a couple years later, The World According to Garp made him a fortune. He's been a bestseller ever since. 

To follow Irving's path, I'd suggest you:  1. have a wild imagination and get over any fear of using it; 2. diligently study the plotting of Charles Dickens, as Irving did;  3. become a master humorist and express your humor in quirky ways.

Richard Russo and I were friends at the University of Arizona. Though he had already finished the MFA program, I read and critiqued several of his stories. Since then, he has become a master. Film adaptations of his novels have starred Paul Newman. His books all become bestsellers. And they're mighty fine books, both enjoyable and thoughtful, as are John Irving's.

To follow Russo's path, you might: 1. seek out advice and when you get it, ponder to glean all you can from it; 2. find an agent who is in the business of nurturing authors; 3. build your stories around unique and colorful characters; 4. place those characters in an environment, such as Russo's Mohawk, that may intrigue folks in the publishing business, in the case of Mohawk, because it reminds them of their weekend retreat.

If neither of those paths seem the one for you, come back. I'll steer you in some other directions.

So, you want to become a bestselling writer but also want to guide readers into new realms, new ways of thinking. Here's a problem you'll no doubt run into:

Most readers don't want to learn new ways of thinking. They may like learning new facts, but regarding their outlook on the world, they want writers to validate and lend ammunition to their current attitudes. If you want to change Democrats to Republicans or Christians to athiests, good luck. Most people don't buy books that will challenge their belief. 

So, along with learning how to craft a suspenseful story, the most effective formula for becoming a bestseller is to share the attitudes of the majority. Which makes life difficult for those of us who don't.

A very well read and learned librarian told me that successful writers are those whose internal metaphors and symbols, conscious and unconscious, are  in accord with the ones in most people's minds. If this describes you, then your stories will come alive to those people and you can paint vivid pictures with a minimum of words. But suppose you're a bit quirky, and your internal symbols and metaphors are out of sync with the multitude's. You can attempt to discern what symbols and metaphors work best for most readers, say, by attending critique groups. But this may prove a challenge that would require more than one lifetime.

Similarly, if your beliefs about conspiracies or politics or spiritual growth or romance are close to what your readers believe and you can express their thoughts or desires, perhaps more fluently than they can, you may be half way to riches and fame.

But suppose your attitudes are somewhat singular. Suppose you think for yourself and you want to express what you think and that's a main reason you write. And suppose you dream of being looked up to, for financial reasons, by your brother the mortgage broker.

Next post I'll offer a few solutions.