Alas, publishing is about the bottom line, not warm fuzzies and gold stars.
by Anne R. Allen
The biggest obstacle many new writers face in making the leap from beginning writer to professional author is accepting that publishing is a business.
Newbie writers have often taken creative writing courses or read books that urge them to “just be yourself”, “be creative: there are no rules”, and “a book should be as long as it takes to tell the story.”
Then they’re shattered when they find out they’ll need to follow rules and guidelines if they want their work to be read. And for some reason, their heartfelt 700,000 word memoir about cleaning up dryer lint at the laundromat isn’t making the big splash they imagined.
Whether you plan to start your own self-publishing business or join the traditional publishing world, you need to be aware that you’re stepping into a harsh marketplace. You’re going to run into a whole lot more rejection, criticism and negative feedback than warm fuzzy compliments or gold stars for participation.
You’re also going to meet predators and scammers, eager to fleece naive writers who expect publishing to be a cozy, nurturing environment.
We need to protect the fragile creative self by arming ourselves with solid information in order to enter the fiercely competitive arena of today’s publishing world. It’s best to do our learning first—before we enter the industry.
Give yourself time to learn in a safe environment. Study the nuts and bolts of writing and the ins and outs of the business as you play in your creative space.
Later, when you’re prepared, you can separate your creative self from the one who needs to please readers and the buying public.
A creative generally starts a project in a state of artistic narcissism. That’s a necessary stage in the creative process. But later we learn to edit our self-expressions to present to readers in a way that will speak to them.
As I often say:
“The first draft is for the writer, but the final draft is for the reader.”
~
10 Tips for Protecting Your Creative Writer Self During Your Journey to Successful Publication
1) Learn to Enjoy the Ride.
A writing career generally follows the same pattern as the creation of a single work. Our first efforts are like composing the first draft. When that’s finished, we move to a second and third or fourth. Later, after consulting with professionals, we have a final draft that’s ready to launch into the marketplace.
At the beginning of our careers, we need to write up a storm, spending our time in creative play, experimenting with ideas and and genres. That’s when we write those 1000 page tomes that can later be edited down, mined for new stories and characters, and/or split into a series.
When we’re ready, we switch gears, learn to self-edit, and prepare for the “final draft” stage when we run it by a professional editor, do the final polish, then publish.
It’s a learning continuum. Don’t expect to go from step one to step ten in one leap.
Doctors have to study at med school and go through an internship before they can practice medicine. Plumbers need to work as apprentices. And hairdressers need to go to beauty school.
Writers need to “go to school” too. Even if it’s in the privacy of our own laptops.
2) Don’t Self-Sabotage.
Some writers are so afraid of the marketplace, they protect themselves by aiming to fail. It’s amazing how many writers self-sabotage because they fear success.
They send out that 700K word memoir for years without showing it to an editor. And madly attend workshops and classes only to seek praise and ignore everybody’s advice. They eschew rules of grammar and storytelling, ignore formatting guidelines, and send queries to agents who don’t rep their genre.
Or they self-publish an unreadable mess and blame Amazon because nobody will buy it.
Sometimes they rage at anybody who’s helping new authors succeed.
Like the writer who sent me a snarky tweet this week protesting my post about how putting aside a stale WIP could be a smart career move. She said she would never read anything that used the phrase “smart career move.”
Maybe she doesn’t intend to publish. But if she does, somebody at a scammy vanity press will make a smart career move and take advantage of her carefully nurtured naiveté.
Nurturing ignorance seems to be a thing, because a couple of days earlier, another naive person attacked me because she saw a tweet of my blogpost that listed word count guidelines for fiction and nonfiction by genre.
Ms. Naiveperson sent me an enraged response, saying my post “stifled her creativity.”
I made the mistake of tweeting back that I had merely reported helpful facts for debut authors entering the industry. This unleashed a barrage of snarkage from all her little friends. Thank goodness for Twitter’s “mute” function.
She and her Naiveté Brigade are insuring that they won’t be successfully published. Maybe that’s the only way they can feel safe.
But remaining ignorant is not a wise path if you do want to be a professional writer.
3) Don’t Expect the Industry to Give a Newbie Artistic Validation.
I do understand that fledgling artists don’t want to hear there will be restrictions on their self-expression down the road. I didn’t either. When we’re newbies, we’re desperate for praise and validation. We’re taking risks and want to know we’re going to be okay.
Unfortunately some newbies think if they can get attention from any professional in the industry, magic will happen. Sometimes they send their fledgling efforts to successful authors to try to get that validation.
Which is a really bad idea.
Ruth and I have to deal with emails from clueless beginners who somehow get hold of our names and have no idea that a fellow author—even a NYT bestseller—can’t get them published or find them an agent. They are hurt and angry when we tell them that we aren’t publishers, editors, or magical fairygodpersons.
We now have to send those emails to spam. There’s no way to respond that won’t make them angry.
And the very worst way to get validation? Querying too soon.
Here’s the thing: you need to understand the business and have a polished, edited, properly formatted manuscript that’s the right length for your genre, or you’re wasting everybody’s time by querying.
Clueless queries get rejected. And the pain of endless rejection can stop a career before it starts.
I sent plenty of clueless queries myself. The rejections kept me from writing for over a year back in the early 1990s. We didn’t have easy self-publishing then, but if we had, I might have published my 150K women’s fiction/political thriller/saga and ended my career before it started.
Self-publishing isn’t a shortcut. If you send a bloated, unedited first draft into the self-publishing marketplace, your reviews will be vicious and it won’t sell. No validation there.
4) Be Wary: Starry-Eyed Newbies are Prime Targets for Publishing Scams.
If the fact that publishing is a business makes you angry, and a glimpse of reality sends you into high dudgeon, you’re not ready to publish.
And if you do, you’re setting yourself up as an irresistible target for scammers.
One of our clueless emailers who expected us to publish his newbie writing wrote back to gloat that his book had been “accepted” by a notorious vanity press. There was nothing we could say that would have helped him at that point. I hope he has enough money to pay exorbitant fees for a run through spellcheck, bad formatting, a bunch of bogus “marketing,” and a print book that’s priced too high to make a profit.
Some people have to learn the hard way.
Also, naive new writers can also be duped into draconian deals and “in perpetuity” agent contracts that can kill a career. Some “legitimate” industry contracts these days are vicious rights grabs. You need to know what’s acceptable and what dealbreakers can stop your career in its tracks.
For more on how newbies can get scammed, check out my post on how to avoid publishing scams. And these posts on popular writing scams.
5) Relish the Beginning Stages of your Writing Career.
I understand why beginners hate to face the fact there’s a long, hard road ahead. I sure did. It’s tough to keep going when you know how long the journey is going to be.
This can be intensified when family or Significant Others are constantly asking why you’re not making money with that stuff yet.
So we fantasize that the minute we type “the end” on a first draft, Oprah will descend from on high and make us millionaire authors overnight. (Yeah. That fantasy is more common than you think.)
But don’t be in such a hurry to move on.
The truth is that the beginning stages of writing are the most fun. It’s when you can play with no thought of word count restrictions, grammar, or even correct spelling. So enjoy the writing process and don’t try to jump into the marketplace before you and your work are ready.
People who tell you about industry standards are not stifling your creativity. But YOU are stifling your own creative growth if you try to publish too soon.
6) Recognize Where You are in Your Writing Journey.
When you’re in the beginning, creative stage of your career (and each piece of fiction you write) you can forget rules and limits. Get in touch with your inner child and revel in your creativity.
This is also true for creating a first draft, even for a seasoned novelist. We wallow in that creative muck in our brains and finger-paint on the page. This fantastic gestational period is when we play with character sketches and back stories and travel the globe with Google Maps.
It’s where the magic happens.
You start a writing career the same way. Play around with different genres, mash-ups, and wild fantasies. Write down anything might contain a seed that will lead to a successful novel or story. Follow the most exciting path and write away
But when you’re in the editing and selling stages, you need to know the rules, even if you plan to break them. And you need to be a grown-up. Following guidelines and reader expectations makes your product visible to the public. If it doesn’t have a place on the bookshelf, nobody will see it and all that artistic effort will be wasted.
It’s the same if you want to enter a story in a contest or submit to a magazine. You need to keep your story to the word count specified. If the contest directors ask for an email submission of a Word doc, double spaced, in TNR or Courier font, with one-inch margins, do that.
You’re not going to win the contest if you send something 2000 words over the limit, snail mailed, and handwritten in glitter pen on stationary shaped like a bat.
The latter doesn’t impress anybody with your “creativity.” It impresses them with how little you respect the time (and eyesight) of the contest judges.
The creativity was supposed to happen earlier, when you were writing the story. If you send the glittery contest entry, you’re only telling people that you’re still finger-painting and not ready for the marketplace.
7) Remember If You Want to Stay in the Creativity Stage, that’s OKAY!
Not all writers want to be professional authors. Writing makes an excellent hobby. If you want to be a hobbyist writer, writing in your private journal, or maybe self-publishing for friends and family, you can ignore all the standards of the publishing business.
It’s fine to write for yourself. Writing allows you to live a life of the mind. It brings clarity of thought and helps you sort through your own emotions. It can bring great joy. You may be happiest staying in the hobby stage, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
As long as you don’t send snarky messages to people who are trying to help those on a professional path.
8) When You’re Ready to Think about Publishing, Put your Career into “2nd Draft” Stage.
This is when you move from right to left brain thinking for a bit.
With each novel or story, this where you take those ideas and make them into a coherent whole that will make sense to a reader. You look for plot holes and places to cut or add to the story to achieve the proper style, pace, word count, and tone for your genre.
It’s the second draft stage. Not a final edit, but a clear-eyed assessment of what the ms. needs.
With a writing career, this is when you start looking at what you’ve written, what you want to write, and where you want to go with your career.
Hanging out on social media is a great way to educate yourself about the business. As Nathan Bransford said on his blog this week:
“One of the most under-appreciated elements of being active on social media is that it’s a terrific tool for learning more about the publishing industry.”
So Google around the Interwebz to lurk and learn.
9) Be Proactive in Preparing Yourself for Publication.
- Ask yourself if you want to be an entrepreneur and start a self-publishing business, or whether traditional publishing works better with your goals. Join some online writing groups and read blogs (including agent blogs) to make an informed decision.
- If you’re going the trad. route, look at small presses as well as the Big 5. Decide if you want an agent or a small press editor to guide your career.
- Enter contests and submit to magazines that will get you noticed in your genre.
- Do you want to be recognized as a literary writer? Is your goal to be reviewed in the New Yorker or The Times Literary Supplement someday? It might be time to look into an MFA program or some academic conferences and classes. Maybe intern at a literary journal.
- Do you want to make a name for yourself as an innovative sci-fi author? Or write the next Game of Thrones? Set a goal of getting some stories published that will qualify you to join SFWA and learn the ropes.
- Do you aim to make some serious money writing romances that entertain and sweep your reader away? Join RWA. Enter romance writing contests. Get to know people in the Romance community.
- Write mysteries? Join Sisters in Crime and start networking.
- Do you have a memoir or other nonfiction work? Start a blog and gather readers who are interested in your field of expertise.
10) Make Yourself Ready to Enter the Marketplace
With a manuscript, this is when you send your book off to your editor. Yes, you chew your nails hoping the edits won’t be major. But even if they are, you do them and turn in your final draft by the deadline, because you’re a pro.
In a career, this is when you start researching agents and publishers, or study the nuts and bolts of self-publishing and marketing and start building a list.
If you’re hoping to trad-publish, this is a great time to go to writers’ conferences where you can meet agents, learn about pitching and writing an irresistible query. (For a great piece on how NOT to query, here’s a post from literary agency reader MNBrian.) Find out what will get you an automatic rejection and don’t do it.
Seriously. Don’t. This is the real world. Professionals won’t make exceptions because your mom thinks you’re a genius.
If you’re planning to self-publish, research editors. Read some good books on self-publishing so you can avoid getting scammed. (I recommend David Gaughran’s Let’s Get Digital, now updated in a new edition.) Start shopping for cover designers. Join online indie writer groups and listen.
Whatever your path, study marketing, build a list, set up a website, and maybe start a blog.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
When you’re finally ready to publish, and you’ve learned to market and orchestrate a book launch, then it’s time to start another book, if you haven’t already.
And then you get to go back to that fantastic, creative, finger-painting stage, shed the psychic armor, and forget all the rules again.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) April 8, 2018
What about you, scriveners? Did you find it hard to accept that publishing is a business? Do you prefer to stay in the creative zone? Did you ever have that Oprah fantasy? Did you try to enter the business too soon? (I sure did.)
BOOK OF THE WEEK
GHOSTWRITERS IN THE SKY: Camilla Mystery #1
Murder and mayhem (and a really shady agent) at a California writers’ conference.
After her celebrity ex-husband’s ironic joke about her “kinky sex habits” is misquoted in a tabloid, New York etiquette columnist Camilla Randall’s life unravels in bad late night TV jokes.
Nearly broke and down to her last Hermes scarf, she accepts an invitation to a Z-list Writers’ Conference in the wine-and-cowboy town of Santa Ynez, California, where, unfortunately, a cross-dressing dominatrix named Marva plies her trade by impersonating Camilla. When a ghostwriter’s plot to blackmail celebrities with faked evidence leads to murder, Camilla must team up with Marva to stop the killer from striking again.
Available in e-book at:
Available in paper at:
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Ha! I love your example, Anne: “And for some reason, their heartfelt 700,000 word memoir about cleaning up dryer lint at the laundromat isn’t making the big splash they imagined.”
Right now I’m reading a book by an author who seems to have done many things right: book signings, interaction with his Facebook friends … Oops! The book isn’t formatted well for Kindle, it’s full of typos, and he uses words that look like they were searched out in a thesaurus but don’t fit the context. I’ll finish the book because I paid for it, but I’m unlikely to buy any more of his books.
The first book is a learning experience, yes, but it needs careful attention to detail. He ignored: “When we’re ready, we switch gears, learn to self-edit, and prepare for the final draft’ stage when we run it by a professional editor, do the final polish, then publish.”
You first point may be the most important of all the points above.
Kathy–Books like that are heartbreaking aren’t they? It’s so sad to read something that might have been a good book if it had been through the hands of a good editor, but the author doesn’t want to interfere with his own “genius.” All the marketing savvy in the world won’t get that kind of career off the ground.
Excellent post! Writers need to separate gauzy fantasy from down-to-earth reality. Anne tells why and explains the nitty-gritty how to in ten practical steps.
Ruth–We’ve run into a number of these newbies with “gauzy fantasies” recently, haven’t we? I don’t suppose this will reach most of the people who need to read it most, but I can hope it will get to a few.
You had me at #1 Anne: that one all day long and I sing the chorus with you.
I think a lot of the rest of it has a common theme, about the rhythm of your creativity and finding happiness in all of it. I can only do this with my day-job! The ideal there is to have one document in editing, one in draft and one being researched at all times. I’m sure the real pro writers aim for something similar (if you’re cranking out a bestseller every eight months it’s either that or go the Patterson route and use interns). I never get close when it comes to the writing, but you’re spot-on that thoughts about the WiP (or the next project) come to you all the time and it’s probably going to reduce your happiness to focus too much on any single spot in the process.
We all have the pace we have.
And #4 was just so sad- I know that hurts for you because you and Ruth have spent so much time coming out here and being helpful to newbies. I felt a pang to think you had to watch that person feeling so triumphant and headed for such disappointment. But you can’t save them all! Most grateful for your tutelage over the years.
Will–We really all do have to learn to enjoy the ride. People who rush through a rough draft sometimes push themselves so hard I can see they’re starting to hate the process. This is why I think NaNo doesn’t work for everybody. As you say, we each have our own pace.
I’m always working on several projects, but one has to be front and center, or I get too scattered. But I keep my notebook for jotting down ideas.
That poor guy who got snagged by a vanity press was all too typical. People who know nothing about the industry and refuse to read blogs or books that will clue them in. They think a pile of badly spelled, meandering pages are going to make them millions. There have to be a lot of them, or there wouldn’t be so many predatory “publishers” out there.
All new writers need to read this! If only there was a way to reach them.
The beginning stage is a great place to linger and enjoy for a while. There’s no pressure or expectations – or deadlines.
And enjoying the journey is so important. The journey is the best part.
Alex–Yes. I felt kind of sad writing this, realizing that anybody savvy enough to be reading a blog like this isn’t my target audience. But maybe a few newbies will get a link from friends or family and start to educate themselves. They don’t need to rush. They need to learn to enjoy themselves.
Another fine post, & oh-so-true. As an audiobook narrator/producer regularly cruising the want-ads at ACX (Audible’s back door), I’m painfully aware of the self-published & small house-published books that desperately need an editor. I see so much lost potential. Lack of a decent editor is the #1 reason I choose not to audition for what might otherwise have been a grand book. “Be Proactive in Preparing Yourself for Publication” — indeed!
CS–I wish that could be broadcast all over the writing community. “Lack of a decent editor is the #1 reason a narrator will turn down a book.” It’s also the #1 reason readers turn down a book. Lost potential indeed.
Anne, I liked all those reasons, since I’ve been through all those stages. I especially liked the advice in # 6. When I spoke for the first time at a writers’ convention, I made two points for those not yet published. One was, get PayPal, since almost every contest and editor prefers that, either to pay you or be paid by you. The second was, that editors’ “guidelines” aren’t really guidelines. They are rules set in stone, and should be regarded that way. I’m proud to say that failing to do that is one mistake (maybe the only one) I’ve never made.
Fred–As Ruth and I say, “we made the mistakes so you don’t have to.” I’ve been through the stages myself.
“Get PayPal” is fantastic advice. Yes! And I’ve said it myself. “Submission guidelines” are not guidelines. They are rules. Commandments. Follow them to the letter!
…and when it all becomes a crushing bore, take a year off.
Louis–Good advice. Take breaks. This business can be overwhelming.
I am Exhibit A for your advice on “how putting aside a stale WIP could be a smart career move.” I set aside THIS I KNOW for over a decade before coming back to it with fresh eyes and a lot more writing experience/publishing savvy. That patience along with honing my craft is what made the difference between rejection and a publishing contract. More great advice, Anne. I’ll be sharing your tips across the writerverse. 🙂
Eldonna–You do have the ultimate success story for putting aside a WIP. You took on a different project, self-published successfully, then you could rewrite your old WIP with your new skills, and got a major publishing deal!
We’re looking forward to your guest post in May!!
Thanks again for clearing the mud off my glasses. I can see clearly now. I would appreciate you covering registering a copyright on a book or book series. The little bit I’ve read so far needs to be run through your clarifying process.
David–I’m glad this helps. I covered the copyright issue back in 2015. Maybe I should run it again. Here’s the link. https://selfpublishingsites.com/2015/10/do-you-need-to-copyright-your/ .
Thanks. I re-read the post. Checkout the creative law center, they recommend registering book series title instead of individual books.
David–That’s a good tip! Thanks.
Anne, what a wonderful compilation of home truths, all from a deep well of experience. Once an author has digested and put into practice your points, the next step is legal protection. As we grow our author business, we need to know how to be savvy negotiators and protectors of our intellectual property rights. Copyright, trademarks, etc., because as you noted, there are TONS of scammers out there, all trying to make a buck from our marketing efforts. There are many legit ways an author can lose out if they aren’t more savvy than the scammers. Thanks for giving us these great posts week after week.
Carmen–Thanks. It’s true that indie authors need to learn about the legal aspects of publishing too. I hesitate to mention it in a post for newbies, because newbies tend to fear the wrong things: agents “stealing their ideas” or beta readers copying their deathless prose. Some of the predators out there cant’ be stopped, like third world piracy sites, although I really like the people from Blasty who can take down most of your pirated books from torrent websites.
But what’s much more terrifying is the people who game Amazon and may steal your book and put a new author name on it and claim it’s theirs and even get your real book taken down. Those Amazon gamers are dangerous because they are a regular industry in some third world countries. But they’re very hard to catch, because law enforcement in their countries may simply not care. I hope you haven’t been dealing with that kind of theft because it’s really hard to fight.
When a Brazilian pirate stole all the content of this blog and shut us out, I think it took several years off my life. Luckily we had backup and moved the content to another host.
Wow Anne, you do seem to attract some of the strange and absurd with harsh comments. But excellent tips. And I agree, the best part about writing is the earlier stages of actual writing. Publishing/promoting is not a favorite part for many, 🙂
Debby–We sure do get some loonies. Of course most of the people who contact us read this blog and so they’re savvy about the business. But our names and addresses must be on some weird lists for scammers and the terminally ignorant. Sigh.
Yeah, marketing is not the forte of most authors. Although Kathy Steineman mentioned an author in her comment above who sounds as if he markets a whole lot better than he writes.
My gosh, what does all the good marketing in the world do for a lousy book? Buzz will bring them to the book, the results won’t garner any repeat readership. And as for comments and emails from strange people, when our names are out there in cyber world, it’s not difficult to find a contact email address. Lord knows I do get some strange requests on mine, lol. 🙂
I sometimes blame the media, when they invite debut authors onto breakfast TV shows to plug their book, only to hear the author say “Oh my friends all told me I told the best stories, so I thought I’d write a novel, and a month later it was born and I got an agent within a fortnight. I’m really just very lucky”, and then people think that’s what happens. What they DON’T see are the mega successes like JK Rowling and Stephen King who might be massive sellers now, but faced heaps of rejection when they started out…which is how they learned to be better at what they do.
Icy–You’re right. And it’s not just talk shows. Movies and TV make it seem as if all a writer has to do is sit down at the keyboard for a couple of weeks, type a first draft, then voila! In the next scene, they’re signing books in some huge bookstore with a line of fans going out the door. I know it makes better drama, but it sure gives people the wrong idea.
Second draft stage, I’ve never heard it called that before. But I like the term–that’s where I am right now.
Leanne–Yeah, I made that up. But I think it helps to think that way. Good for you to recognize where you are in your writing journey!
You are absolutely right in what you say. While some writers may decide to focus just on writing and not on publishing, those who do want to move into that next stage have to understanding that writing is a BUSINESS. Also that rejections can teach you something about the quality of your work, your approach to publication–and possibly both. But another key point is that, even those writers who don’t care about being published, should care about improving their craft, and that means being open to critiques and being willing to take courses to develop their skills. Sadly, so many don’t want to hear the negatives.
Nancy–I agree with most of what you say, but I don’t think agent rejections show much about the quality of work. They show whether your work is on trend, but not much else. Most agents are looking for one or two types of books that their contacts have asked for, so if you’ve written War and Peace, but they’re looking for the next Girl on the Train, you’ll get rejected no matter how brilliant your work.
Instead, listen to beta readers, teachers, and editors other people who read your work with a critical eye. (Although we should always consider the source and whether the critiquer has an agenda.)
I wasn’t necessarily talking about agent rejections although I have had some that gave useful comments. Some editors also give suggestions for improving the work as do beta readers and writing group members.
I did a checklist of everything you mentioned and I’ve doing pretty good. This doesn’t mean I’ve got agents knocking on my door but it does mean I’m listening and learning the ropes.
There is no easy path into anything unless daddy owns the company. Even that isn’t a sure thing.
Writers need to do their homework and I strongly suggest hiring an editor.That was the best thing I ever did. It takes away doubt when you get rejected. I know this is the best my book will be and if an agent says no than I know it was the wrong fit.
As always excellent info. Huge thanks!!!
Bryan–Good for you to keep working on your craft and educating yourself. You’re right that often rejections come just because it isn’t a good fit. As I said to Nancy above, agent rejections don’t tell you anything about the quality of your book. They tell you if it’s on trend–especially the trend that their contacts are pursuing at the moment. An editor or writing teacher is a better source of evaluation of your writing, and tips for improvement.
I think this post hits it on the head about newbies and our starry eyes. It can seem a big leap from laissez-faire creativity to reader-savvy creativity.
No. 2) Don’t Self-Sabotage -this is apt for me, not just in writing but in business full-stop. I did fear success: what if people bought what I sold? I’d have to deal with them – yikes!
4) Be Wary: Starry-Eyed Newbies are Prime Targets for Publishing Scams – this is important. There are so many scams that newbies fall for. I’ve fallen for a few myself by trusting particular individuals knew more than I did and would help me, instead of scamming me.
5) Relish the Beginning Stages of your Writing Career – you’re right because being a newbie means the space to be creative. Learning the ropes can be freeing and enlightening.
I think creatives who understand business and where creativity fits into it are the successful ones.
Tom–“Reader-savvy creativity” is a great phrase. It’s exactly what I’m talking about here.
And it’s hard not to fall for the scams. There are more predators out there feeding on naive writers than there are successful authors. Just this morning I got emails from three different scammers. One had researched one of my books on Amazon and told me it was priced too high ($2.99! which is set by my publisher, not me.) And that I didn’t have enough reviews so I needed to buy reviews from them.
Oh, sure. And then I’ll get my Amazon account suspended like so many others did this month. Even if you have Prime–you are shut out from shopping at Amazon ever again if you buy reviews. I might have fallen for this jerk if I didn’t know the score. I hate to think how many people will.
As always, excellent points. Many of us began by writing short stories and submitting to print markets. Yes, we collect a shoebox of rejections, but we see our stories published. Not all writing is long form. Short story markets offer a way to test your voice, hone your skills and develop ideas without spending a year on a book.
Anne–You’re absolutely right. As I said in #9–the way to be proactive in preparing to publish a novel is to write and place short fiction. Submitting to journals and contests will give a writer validation, establish them as professionals, and maybe even bring in some $$.
This post is SOOOO perfect for newbies as well as those of us who have written several books. I read it and recall all that I’ve learned along the way since I started in 2009 and much of the help I received was from this blog. I see myself “way back when” and the things I did that I no longer do, the things I learned that I hadn’t a clue about until “after the fact”. I wish I’d read this blog 9 years ago! But as a student of the writing and publishing scene, all of the stuff I “wrongly” did, I needed to do – to get to the place I am today. Thank you for all the help you’ve given me.
Patricia–It’s true that sometimes we have to make our own mistakes. We learn from our failures more than our successes. I’m glad to hear this blog has helped you in your writing journey!
This is the best writer’s blog I have ever encountered. I enjoyed reading it immensely including the comments, as I blurted out yes, yes, yes in agreement until my neighbors probably thought I was in orgasmic ecstasy! I wish these ten tips were required reading for every aspiring writer, especially number 4. I’ve seen newbie authors with their head in the clouds, so blinded by the flashing lights of fame and fortune that their common sense got deleted like a bad typo, and…well, let’s just say it was open season for heartless scammers that never seem to sleep! Writing the book is just the beginning as most of us know and, dare I say, the place where the true torment begins IF you don’t follow the rules a.k.a “the law,” and study the market.Unlike days gone by authors do most of the marketing themselves, and sometimes even page layouts, with no additional compensation. But if you are determined, and somehow manage to muddle through, the rewards are simply spectacular! I guess we all have to pay our dues one way or another. It may seem like a marathon at times but absolutely nothing compares to crossing that finish line! Thanks for a great read and words of wisdom.
Bonnie–Many thanks! I’ll bet your neighbors are saying, “I’ll have what she’s having.” 🙂
Jane Friedman talked about this at The Creative Penn today. She said that MFA and creative writing programs are sadly lacking in business courses, which ALL writers need in today’s publishing world. http://bit.ly/2JxulSB
Unfortunately I think my snarky Tweeters are probably in some creative writing program where they’re being taught as if it were 1976. They are going to be very sad (and broke) when they graduate and find the sad truth.
But yes, it’s all worth it if you love what you do!
hahaha i remember that movie well…forgot the title but it starred Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal! Let the snarky Tweeters snarl all they want. The truth is still the truth. Thanks for the Jane Friedman link!
When Harry met Sally. I watched it recently with a couple of friends and it doesn’t hold up as well as we hoped, but that scene is still priceless!
Some more wonderful advice. I wish I had know about blogging before I published my first book. It would have been so helpful but “you live, you learn.”. Fortunately, I always viewed writing a book as a career. I am a chartered accountant and I had to study like a maniac for 4 years and then do a 3 year apprenticeship while studying further to achieve my qualification. Once qualified, I had to work for at least 3 years before I felt confident in anything. That is 10 years of learning. Why would writing be different?
Robbie–That’s why I’ve written my book The Author Blog. So many authors don’t realize the importance of blogging–and how easy it is for authors, because you don’t have to monetize and follow all those blogging rules.
Accountants do have to go through a long, rigorous education–on both sides of the pond. That’s another profession that requires a long learning curve. Writing is a profession. People need to realize it’s got a learning curve too. Thanks for the addition to the conversation.
Hi Anne
I’ve been lurking in the background for awhile now, finding your posts most helpful. I like what you said about self-publishing not being a shortcut. Having amassed a nice pile of rejections, I decided to self-publish. Yup! I entered the business too soon, fell prey to being scammed. Then spent a lot of time pootling around the internet, trying to find out as much as I could about it. Hey ho, live and learn.
Even though I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years, I only started blogging as an author around 2015. Wish I’d found you back then when I was clueless and naïve enough to believe all the ‘wrong’ ways for authors to build platform etc. What I do need to do is persevere with social media. Never was a big fan of FB and have recently deleted my account; am now dipping my toe in Twitter. And thanks to your superfab book, ‘The Author Blog’, I’ve polished up my Google+ account. Thank you so much for writing that book; it went a long way in helping me relax and feel ok with my ‘bad’ decisions (and the money down the drain!), and to realise that I’ve inadvertently done certain things the right way.
Joy–You are not alone. I know so many writers who have self-published, and then regretted it. There’s so much hype telling you to throw your money at this or that gimmick, but the only way to make money self publishing is to have a lot of books, so we need to save our money to pay the bills while we write them.
I’m so glad to hear my book helped you! You’re just the kind of writer I was hoping to reach. We can be forgiven for those “bad” decisions. Pretty much all the info on blogging is aimed at monetized blogs. But isn’t it fun to find out that your “bad” decisions were mostly right?
It certainly is fun! One of my mantras is now ‘Define success in your own terms’ – something I so easily forget. You’d think having reached mid-50s, I’d know better, but I still fall into the ‘comparison’ hole every now and again. But you’re here to pull me out again! Yaay!
Hi Anne. I’m currently in the ‘2nd Draft’ stage, so I have a lot of work to do, including reading up on self-publishing. This post has helped steer me in the right direction. Thank you!
Debbie–I think the concept of 2nd Stage may help a lot of writers. You don’t have to go from A to Z in one leap. Self-publishing can be a good choice for some authors, but it’s too much work for others. So it’s good to educate yourself first, instead of after having a first effort tank.
Wonderful advice, as always. I’m a starry-eyed beginner, so I hungrily consume all posts like this to make sure I don’t make too many mistakes on the way.
One thing I wish someone had warned me about was how damn long it takes from “I’ve finished a book!” to actually seeing it on the shelves. I thought the longest part was writing the book – it certainly seems like it should be the longest part. But it is going to be over a year and a half for me between completing the ms and seeing it on shelves. If I’d known it wasn’t going to be available to buy on Amazon a few months after I pressed Save and exited the Word Doc, it would’ve saved me much gnashing of teeth.
Irvin–As Ruth and I say “we made the mistakes so you don’t have to.’ Although I suppose we all have to make our own mistakes to a certain extent.
It does take a much longer time to publish a book than to write one. Especially if you go the trad route. It can take many years just going through the query process. Then it can be up to three years between signing the contract and seeing the book on the shelves. With self-publishing, you still need to go through an editing and revision process, then get the cover design, formatting and plan your launch strategies.
The way to deal with the wait? Write the next book. Blog. Build your social media platform. There’s plenty of work for an author to do to get ready for a launch. You’ll be glad to have the time. 🙂
I sure have found that there are scams galore out there. I’m beginning to believe that more people are making money off of writers trying to gain fame than than the writers themselves. It’s getting tougher out there. Thanks Anne!
Very interesting post, thank you. 🙂