writing the book you want

As I'm getting ready to query Luna soon and thinking about so many of the YA fantasy books I've read over the past few years, I still have no idea what the formula is for writing a book that will sell (if that's your goal!)...

Except, that formula doesn't seem to exist.

So, how do you, THE WRITER, find the right balance between writing what your writer heart wants to write about and writing what is sellable?!

Again, I don't know if that balance exists. People with lots of knowledge on this will have actual answers, so ask them.

Whereas I can only offer what I know:

You know that little spark when you get an idea for a book and you start writing it with a grin plastered on your face because you're so EXCITED about this idea?

Would that same spark exist if someone gave you the exact parameters of a book to write and the idea was not your own? MAYBE but definitely not for me.

There's hope and joy and magic in that spark. I get it reading really amazing stories, too. Strange the Dreamer has gotten me most recently.

When I first started Luna, I thought GREAT this is my idea. I can write a book and then I can fix it and edit it and WHATEVER but then I'm done, I wrote a book!

The more I wrote, though, the more I wanted. The more ideas that popped in. So I started a new book (over 60% of the way to my first draft page goal!). And outlined an idea for another.

Now, it doesn't feel like a race to be done with one book. Instead, it's a desire to keep following those sparks, to keep writing stories and books.

Putting all your hopes into one book can be really hard if it doesn't go the way you want. You've got more books in you, so keep writing them.