Hobby vs. Printed vs Published vs. Professional Writer

When it comes to writing, there is a full spectrum you can fall on as an author. All of the places are fine, but please do understand there is a huge difference with each of these types. This is especially the case once you decide to move beyond being a hobby writer. Let's start there first.

You might be someone who just loves to write. You love going to critique groups and workshopping your story. You love just creating. You write when you want to. You may change what you are writing each week. There is nothing wrong with this. I applaud people who just love the craft of writing. If this is where you are at. feel confident to just hang out there and enjoy. DO NOT feel pressured to move beyond this. 

But what if you do want more. Sometimes, you may have just written something that you want to share with your friends. This is an awesome feeling. You created something and it is perfect for your close knit friends. This is when you can simply go to your local printer and put the book together. Put a great cover on it and share. Money is not an issue here. Please do understand, however, that if you take this approach, the product is probably far from something being worthy of being published. 

Published authors are moving on. This group "intends" to sell their book. Please note, I am really stressing sell their book. You have taken the step to get it printed up through a "publisher" which may be a self-publishing service, or a vanity press. You have an ISBN number and it may show up on sites like Amazon. Again, there is nothing wrong with this approach. You have moved on. HOWEVER... be cautious about what you start proclaiming about your writing. You may be claiming something that you are not. 

At this point, you can probably coach others for some basic craft things, but be cautious about how much career planning you trying to teach others. At this point, you writing is NOT a career. I have written two books of poetry. Yes, these are available for purchase, but I am NOT going to run around teaching people at workshops how to be a big time published poet. 

Now, let's move to being a professional writer. If you are at this stage, this is now a job for you. You are now doing more than just writing that one book. You are looking toward your next books in your career and have a clear plan on how to get there. If you are a professional writer, you are also working on marketing, networking and so forth. You aren't just showing up at local small writing conferences and slapping your book up in the "conference bookstore". We're talking about committing to a full marketing plan. You are actively on a website. You are actively promoting your book through social media and other platforms. Again, let me remind you, this is a FULL TIME JOB!!!! 

Just something to consider here on a Tuesday!

Do More Than Just Go To Conferences

Conferences are fantastic. These are chances for you to grow and learn so much as a writer. You get a chance to hear from specialists (theoretically). You might get a chance to participate in workshopping sessions. Most of all, you get to network. This is awesome.

HOWEVER...

Just going to conferences is not enough. You have to actually put all of that work into motion with your career. In other words, finish the darn book!

What I see often are authors who just keep going to conferences, learning the craft but never really moving forward with their book. Sometimes, they spend so much time just going back and revising what they have done because they just learned something new that they had not thought of before. 

This approach really leads to a spiraling decline in your career. Eventually, you have editing that story so much that it is probably not what you had intended. Even worse, each chapter or each section has a new feel to it or a new voice because you implemented a new strategy instead of working for consistency.

Now, with that said, does that mean you rush through that book. NO! You have to be ready to move to sending that story to an editor or agent. If you are not ready, then you are not ready. However, if you are ready, quit making those conferences and "what you just learned" an excuse for not moving forward.

Siri, Alexa and A.I. Cannot Help - Use Your Brain

I really felt like I had to address this after several author interactions this weekend. Most came from a conference I attended (which BTW was AWESOME!!!!) and the others came from my UCLA Extension class. I do feel like I have talked about this before here on the blog, but sometimes, repeating things is worth the time and effort.

In all of these cases, the individuals were looking for a single website, book, resource or anything that would give them the ultimate answer in everything they were looking for. These included questions such as:

• Is there a single source I can find with the exact formula for writing a query letter.
• Is there a book I can go to so I can learn how to be an editor or agent.
• I am looking for a complete resource to explain how to edit my manuscript.
• Can I find one site that will give me a list with all of the essential information I need to submit to an editor or agent. 

And the answer is no...

On a positive side, technology has really made things so much easier for us. I am not going to deny this. I love the fact that I can one stop shop at my local grocery store, hit Amazon and get dinner, a movie and a book all at the same time (woops, forgot the K-T tape for my dancer). However, when it come to doing anything in the real world with a lot of variables, it does require us to have to us our brains. A little bit of critical thinking skills are needed. 

Let's think about this for second. 

If you want to write a query letter, there are a ton of us out there who post things about query letters. There are websites (note the plural here) that talk about query letters. Use you brain. Each one works. Use those as models and create something that works for you. 

If you want to edit your manuscript, there is not a program out there that will do that for you. Read your story like a reader. What do you need to do to make the story better. It is not as if you have only one way of doing things. 

I bring all of this up because frankly, if you are getting a ton of rejections, if your self-published book is not selling at least 5 figures of unit sales, then the odds are, there is something not working. It might be time to figure that out.

Do You Hate Rejections That Are Not Personal? Consider something....

Over the weekend, I was answering a stack of new submissions. Time and time again, I received queries that were clearly the author's way of just cranking out a lot of submissions at one time. There were the tell-tale signs such as "To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Editor/Agent." Some simply left out the greeting. I get it. Writing submission letters is not as exciting as creating that story you are trying to get someone to sign. However, this is a necessary evil.

But this also got me thinking about comments I frequently see on social media, on the Internet in general and certainly at conferences. Author get pretty irate with editors and agents when they feel they are getting form letter responses or even no response at all. 

If this is what YOU want, then my question is why aren't YOU taking the time to do what you want us to do.

Now, let m stress one thing. I know when I write rejection letters, I find that there are only so many ways of saying that the story is not what I acquire, or is just not right for me because it is a subjective call. These letters will sound alike.

However, if you are trying to get the attention of an editor or agent, it is crucial that you take the time to show that you have done your research, you know why you are sending the editor or agent a project, and more importantly, to not sound like this is an A.I. generated letter.

Just something to consider.