Not Getting What You Want From Your Writing? What Are You Doing About It?

I have a lot of small pet peeves like the rest of you out there. One, in particular, is something I hear a lot from writers. They simply are not getting the results they want. It might be sales figures. It might be publicity. It might be finally nailing down that first contract with an editor or an agent. In many of these cases, writers get online and rant on about all of their woes. The complain about the industry. They complain about the "stupid editors and agents who don't have a clue about the industry."

And yet, there are others who seem to be doing just fine.

Is it favoritism? Nope. It is, for many, a situation of those being successful actually going out there and doing something about it.

A great friend of mine, author Cathy Clamp is a great example of someone who I know always took matters into her own hands. I remember hearing her talk to other authors about marketing several years ago. Her publisher, at that time, was marketing her books, but not at the level Cathy really wanted to see. So she put in her own hard earned money to take care of that. I remember one year, she had a series of books coming out, and there was not a conference I attended where there was a flood of her marketing material, even at conferences where she was not at. Why? She took charge.

We see the same thing with other authors who always seem to have "luck" on their side. They get the contest wins. They get new deals with editors. They get the higher advances. Why is that? They put in their time to insure their writing is ALWAYS fresh and new. They insure they do their research to know exactly what those editors and agents want. When there is a group project coming up within the publishing house, they are the first to step up and offer their services.

For those of you still trying to make it to that first contract, you have to ask yourself, what is it that you are doing to make the success happen? Are you taking courses from experts. Are you pushing to bring those experts to your writing chapters? Are you researching successful authors and then taking an honest look at your writing to make improvements?

I know I have several authors who are always submitting projects to me, and every time, I end up rejecting them. Is it that I hate the author? No. They get rejected because every story, every time, makes the same mistakes. I give feedback. I make suggestions. And yet, they do not do anything to take care of the problem.

I saw an episode of Chopped Junior on the Food Network yesterday. These were kids who had won a prior competition, and were not going against each other. One girl really stood out. In one of her "asides" where she explains what she is doing noted that one of the judges, who was again judging her complained about her plating of a salad. She took that note and immediately went out to prove she learned. She advanced to the next round. She took charge.

Look, I fully get there are somethings out of our control. But when you can make a difference and you can do something about it, then quit complaining and do something.