[Book Review] "How to Become a Popular Novelist, Taught by a Professional Editor with 20 Years of Experience" by Aiko - Review
I signed up for Kindle Unlimited during the July sale when they had a 3-month free campaign, and I'm currently reading various things. I mostly read manga in my spare time—though I feel like I've been reading a lot more manga than before.
Also, since Amazon keeps recommending things to me (※This is an Amazon Associate link: maybe because I bought Introduction to Engineering Story Creation?), I've been reading several books on how to write novels, and they've been quite helpful. For example, (※This is an Amazon Associate link):
...This was a truly excellent book. Thank you, Aiko @ Novel Editor-sama.
Well, "..." and "--" (ellipses and dashes should be in pairs), leaving one space at the beginning of a paragraph, not putting a period after dialogue in quotation marks, and leaving one space after "?" and "!", were things I learned a long time ago when I attended a novel writing course (though there are still too many people on the web who don't follow those "rules")—but skipping over that level, it is wonderful how this book covers "Why you don't pass awards" and "How to debut" from a modern perspective, written concisely and logically from an editor's point of view.
There were a few things I had heard vaguely, but reading them summarized again was an eye-opening experience.
Just the table of contents for Chapter 1 alone:
Chapter 1: Aiming to be a Professional Writer - What is a Professional Writer?
The difference between those who can become professional writers immediately and those who cannot
In an era where writing skills alone are not enough
The most important thing when aiming to be a professional writer
The reality you should know if you aim to be a professional writer
Getting feedback is the most important thing
Supplementary Column 1: Should you be fixated on a commercial debut?
Also, this book is content that will deeply resonate with those who have already been writing to some extent, such as "people who are just one step away from winning a public contest" or "people who are somewhat popular on the web but can't quite connect to commercial publishing."
It was exactly as described... reading it made my heart ache quite a bit (bitter laugh).
On top of that, while I thought, "That's true," about how it's becoming easier to publish works through "other paths" in modern times, when I look at the results of KDP and the like, I still think about the difficulty for an unknown individual amateur.
There are many other comments that are very suggestive for those who are struggling while writing novels alone, so I think it will be a good reference.
In particular, the author passionately discusses from an editor's perspective that you should clarify "Who is this novel for?"—come to think of it, considering everything so far, even for me, someone who seemed to be an agent commented on RR in America saying, "I don't know who the target audience is," and it was exactly as they said—I hadn't done the targeting in my own novels, which is what we call marketing... between the entryway problem and the fact that I was a bit inconsistent?, I was full of self-reflection.
And finally, the last part:
"Only those who continue" get results. In the world of novels, more than talent, more than experience, what ultimately matters is the "power to continue".
Even for those who have won newcomer awards or achieved a commercial debut, there is always "time spent continuing" behind it.
Even if the first work fails, you might pass with the second. You might finally be evaluated after writing for five years. There are countless such examples.
There are times when you can't write. There are times when you lose confidence.
But even so, only those who "did not quit" will get results.
...This really stirred my emotions (crying)..
Well, in my case, I haven't been writing novels (long-form) for over ten years, using the excuse that my main job was busy. Recently, there's AI, and I've decided to thoroughly analyze trends and countermeasures to write an interesting long-form novel and I've decided to do so!
Anyway, I especially recommend this to those who feel like "Narou" or "wannabes" in the old terminology! It's short, but it's packed with essence, it was a truly helpful book.
So, until next time!
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