We talk a lot about quality in the writing world. That is, we talk about putting out quality books. Seth Godin, the marketing guru, has gone on record saying that “If you can reliably, and without drama, deliver precisely what you have promised, this is quality.” (Thinking Clearly about Quality: Seth’s Bog 6/2017)
If that’s the case, then most – not all, but most — of the books on the market are quality books. They give you a story with a beginning, middle and an end. If they are a romance, they have a happy ending. If they are a mystery, there is a crime and a solution. (This doesn’t include books that are full of typos, missing pages, lack an actual plot, etc. That is not meeting what you have promised.)
Therefore, when we talk about wanting quality books, what we really mean is we want extraordinary books. Books that exceed their promise by making you cry or lose sleep reading one more page.
Those are the types of books I strive to write. Those are the types of books we should all strive to write. Not quality books, but extraordinary ones.