He's been an executive with different firms for the last twenty or so years. With each company, he's been responsible for making and marketing various widgets. It really doesn't matter what type of widgets. But in each case, the widgets were solid, tangible objects.
He has a very difficult time understanding how I, as one person, can produce and market a totally intangible thing that people are willing to pay money for.
The thing he can't quite grasp is that a tangible object or a service is marketed very differently than entertainment.
Why? Because in my humble opinion, it all comes down to a variation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
People need entertainment. It's an essential psychological need. My executive is used to producing widgets that were more akin to solving physical needs.
If people are living in an area that is or can become cold, they're going to need a blanket. My executive would market to people who lived in areas where they need blankets. They give him money for a blanket so they don't freeze to death. Right?
I don't deal with physical comfort. My customer is looking for a particular emotional experience. In particular, I provide excitement and adventure where justice is served in the end. Bad guys die or are apprehended for their crimes. My good gals get the guy and the acclaim. This is the value I provide to my readers.
Unfortunately, he doesn't quite get how I can upload a book to an online store and attract customers' attention. I pointed out covers and blurbs, which is a type of marketing that signals what kind of story this is. (I mean, come on! Everyone knows a woman with a sword is most likely to be fantasy, right?) I point out that I've been published in anthologies, which are akin to a sampler platter at a restaurant.
Even though I used Netflix as an examples of how people search out what they like, he still doesn't quite get it. And I finally got out of him what the real problem was--he doesn't understand an imagination. He doesn't understand how to make up shit.
I'm not sure how to explain imagination to anyone short of going Spongebob Squarepants on their ass. Anyone who's not a writer got any tips?
Wow. I mean, I know making things up and working them into a coherent story is a skill and requires practice to master. And even just the "making things up" part; that's why so many baby writers want to know where ideas come from, because they've only had one, or three, or however many. (That they've recognized.)
ReplyDeleteBut the thought that a grown-up actually has no idea how imagination works is boggling. I'm really curious about what he was like as a kid. [ponder]
Angie
I don't know what he was like as a child. I didn't meet him until he was in his early forties, but he definitely hasn't changed much over the years. *grin*
DeleteTo me, the imagination is like a muscle--the more I use it, the bigger it gets.