Why Are You Writing a Book?

Photo by Taylor on Unsplash

I once worked on a book proposal about dogs.

Dogs are my FAVORITE THINGS.

Dogs outrank nearly everything I like in the world outside my husband and business . . .

I will talk at length about dogs.

And, as it turns out, I will read extensively about dogs. Research a ton about dogs. Write a lot about dogs. Entire client conversations have gotten derailed by our dogs.

So when it came time to pitch a book proposal about the emotional benefits for humans of dog ownership, everyone involved (the agent, the author and me) thought it would be a slam dunk.

It was a book about dogs, written by an author with authority and a platform.

And dog books sell — for the same reason that there are dog celebrities on Instagram or Grumpy Cat hats (one of which I own. It’s cute and I got it for free.)

People freaking love dogs. And want to read about why owning a dog is awesome because that makes them feel awesome about owning a dog.

But: spoiler alert. That project will go down as One That Didn’t Sell.

And here’s why: the author didn’t own a dog.

His interest in writing about dogs came from the desire to have a book deal. He wasn’t passionate about dogs. He didn’t…