Learn to love research
It occurred to me that one of the main reasons I got so much publicity for my recent book So Why Have You Been Married, is because I took the advice of a very wise friend and based the book on primary research. If you don’t already know, there are two types of research you can base a book on: primary research—research that you do—and secondary research—research somebody else has done. My primary research was an online survey I conducted for the book. The results of that survey allowed me to declare findings and conclusions that nobody else could because I did the research, I had the results. And since I was the only one who knew the results, that made it newsworthy. Viola, free publicity.
I cannot stress upon aspiring writers enough the importance of conducting research as the basis for their book. Perhaps you are an aspiring fictional writer and you think that makes you exempt from doing research. I would disagree. Some of the greatest novelist of our lifetime like Michener, Vidal, Uris, Wouk and even Tom Clancy, based much of their “fictionalized” novels on extensive research. The truth is, without some amount of research, all you have left is you imagination to base your book on. And unless you win the writer’s lottery like J. K. Rowling, your book is less substantive than others that are based on research. Remember, there are about 125,000 books published each year and if you want to get some attention, basing your book on research is one way to go.
Learn to love research. I love it. I love knowing things nobody else knows (or few other people know). And it’s a great foundation for a book (and a news story). If you don’t know how to do research, find a book, take a class or contact me. I’ll try and point you in the right direction.
