Janet Evanovich on persistence, writers’ groups, and more

Janet Evanovich is one of America’s most successful authors, beginning her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall. She has since gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey. Who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job.

The Stephanie Plum novels have been on The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debut at #1 on the NY Times Best Sellers list and eleven of them have hit #1 on USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

She has over two hundred million books in print worldwide and is translated into over 40 languages.

Janet has also published a numerous short stories, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels, Trouble Maker a graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author. As well as the Fox and O’Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.

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How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? I wrote for ten years prior to making my first sale and penned three novels in that period of time. All the while, I would send manuscripts to publishers and amassed a large box of rejection letters. I was just about at the end of my rope and decided to chuck the whole enterprise and go to work for a temp agency. A few weeks later, I learned that the third book had been accepted. I have to say that persistence was a huge factor. I hear from a lot of prospective authors. Many of them are discouraged because they’ve been rejected five or ten times. I tell them that, if they are serious, they need to keep trying. Most of all, they need to keep writing. ​

​ What advice would you give to a smart, driven aspiring author? It’s easy to think of yourself as a writer, but another thing altogether to be one. The only way to be a writer is to write. If it is your passion, keep it up no matter what. A good way to improve is to join a writers’ group. Often, the feedback you get from your fellow writers is invaluable.

What are bad recommendations you hear? Sometimes writers are encouraged to put the cart before the horse. Just the other day, I received a letter from a writer who had just gotten a master’s degree in creative writing. I don’t know who was responsible for putting these questions in her head, but she had not yet finished a first manuscript and already she was asking how best to choose a literary agent and come up with a good marketing strategy. I told her that she needed to finish her book first.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to? Writing two or three titles a year is really time consuming. So that I can concentrate on writing, I’ve had to learn to say no to speeches and limit events to publisher-sponsored book tours.

What marketing tactics should authors avoid? I would turn that question around and ask — what marketing tactics should authors embrace? These days authors who are just starting their careers, don’t get the publisher support that authors used to get. Therefore, I’d suggest creating a website and a Facebook page. And if you’re doing your own promotions (getting invited to bookstores and libraries to give talks) get a Twitter account to announce where you’ll be and when.

Any other tips? As I mentioned earlier, the job of a writer is to write. Sit yourself down and get to work. Even though most writers have to do other things to make a living, it’s important to carve out time to write. Maybe your best time is an hour in the morning; maybe it’s two hours in the evening. The point is that you need to do it every day. I write seven days a week. Make it a habit!

To learn more about Janet and for more writing tips check out her website here

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