Friday, September 13, 2019

It's All About You: You Are In The Driver's Seat

Every now and then, I like to take the time to remind people that you are in control of your own destiny when it comes to your writing and publishing. While it is really easy to blame other people about things not working out the way you want, in the end, it all comes back to you.

I often bring this up when we talk about contracts. I lot of time I hear authors complain that the publisher did things they did not like. Take a look at the contract YOU signed. Was it in there? Most likely yes. More importantly, whose signature is on that contract. It was you.

Writers do not have to sign that contract. You decide who you want to send your project to and who you want to work with. You are not being forced.

But I want to take this to those of you who might not have a contract yet.

  • YOU decide who you want to send your story to for consideration.
  • YOU decide if you want to act upon the recommendations given to you in those rejection letters.
  • YOU decide if you want to target your submissions or just send it to anyone with an email.
  • YOU decide if you want to work with a critique group.
  • YOU decide if you need to learn things about your craft and your writing.
  • YOU decide if you want to research your genre before you start submitting.
  • YOU decide if you want to make time in your schedule to write.
  • YOU decide to make the changes
In other words, if you don't like where things are going, what are YOU going to do about it? Just sitting around on social media, complaining about the industry, editors, agent, the process and so forth does nothing to advance your career.

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