I’ve wanted to write a novel since I was 25 or so, and I’ve started to get a bit more serious about it recently.

My plan is to Tacklebox the heck out of the process and hope that that gives me a result most novels don’t get. Because, most books don’t sell. Like, at all. Graph thanks to Seth:

Since I’ve never written a novel, I’m deep in the “expert interview” part of the process - reaching out to authors that have written my favorite novels, reaching out to publishers, etc.

And, of course, my subconscious jumped in immediately - “why would famous authors talk to you? What would you even ask them? What could they say that’d be that valuable?”

No matter how long you do this stuff, your subconscious will always default to protecting you from anything even the least bit uncomfortable. But I’m used to this now, so I pushed through.

First, I emailed the author of my favorite novel of all time, and the exact type of novel I’d like to write - Big Fish by Daniel Wallace. I spent a lot of time on the email and came up a few questions I’d love to hear his opinion on. A few hours later, his response came through. It was way more helpful than I could’ve predicted, and we’ll stay in touch.

I followed with 9 more emails to authors of books I love. Four have responded so far.

This might surprise you but it shouldn’t. A well-crafted email with a question or two that make it clear you chose this person because they can be uniquely helpful usually gets answered. I’ve asked about process, about books to read, about publishing vs self-publishing, about a career as a writer and doing it on the side and gotten unbelievable answers.

Each email was different and specific and took time. Probably 20-30 minuets each with no guarantee of an answer. But, the math is wildly in favor of this type of approach.