How Can You Grow Your Writing Career?

 

Writers just want to write. It is what they do and who they are. They think about it when they are not writing. They believe the day was a waste without writing. Whether or not they get published or compensated, writers write. Words are their oxygen.  

So, how can they grow their career? First, let’s understand the mindset of today’s writer.  

Authors see words in everything they do. They envision other times and places, often mapping out story lines. Pieces of dialogue are whispered to them in their dreams. They toggle between worlds of the mind and the very real one in front of them. They always imagine how things can be different, better, or perfect.  

Writing gives them power, confidence, hope, love, wealth, laughter, and possibility.   

But with one’s ability and desire to write, come the needs and responsibilities of getting published, promoted, read, and sold.  

Just how can writers grow their career?  

First, they must determine if they can afford to 

write full-time or part-time. Writing doesn’t pay a lot of bills for most of its practitioners, so write your fate with your eyes wide open.  

Next, you need to determine how you will get published. Determine how much time you need to research the book publishing landscape and how much time you will dedicate to contacting and following up with literary agents and book publishers. If you seek a publisher, you need to produce a query letter, several sample chapters, an outline or summary of your book, and a book marketing plan. If you self-publish, you wear the hat of publisher, editor, writer, cover artist, and book layout designer. Or, you need to locate qualified and reasonably priced experts to help you in some or many of these areas.   

Third, you need to establish and build a brand and forever grow it. It is not a one-time activity.  

Fourth, you will need to market that brand and promote your book (s).  

Fifth, you need to monetize your content, which includes selling copies of your book, and selling various content rights such as foreign, film, and audio. You also need to ride your book’s success to create new opportunities. Maybe you launch a sequel or series. Perhaps you invent a game, product, or service that relates to your book. Exploit your ideas and commoditize them.  

Getting your ducks all in a row is as hard as never planning at all. Sure, make a plan for your writing career but be ready for things to change at any time, either because you reacted to shifts in the marketplace, need to tend to personal needs, or are confronted by life’s demands. And always have an opportunistic mindset, one that initiates and creates an opportunity, not just one that recognizes a new situation has arisen.  

Develop and build up your ability to: 

* Sell and promote

* Grow a network

* Think in an opportunistic way

* Retain a skillset

* Question and analyze

* Act and pull the trigger

* Honor deadlines 

* Plan with detail and contingency plans in mind

* Believe you will succeed

* Know there is a path to victory

* Assess, anticipate, and act on opportunities

* Hold convictions, standards, and ethics that ground you, but that are not rigid

* Live with contradiction, uncertainty, and setbacks  

Of course, while all of this is going on — along with everything else in your life that begs for attention, consumption, pleasure, and rest — you need to keep up with your growth and development as a writer. You may hire or seek out various coaches, consultants, editors, marketers, and writing mentors. You might network with those who can give your career a boost. You may take courses and seminars, attend writer conferences and writer association events, or consume helpful blogs, podcasts, books, and magazine articles. 

You may just need time to cool down and relax—  as well as recharge your creative juices.  

So, how will you manage to grow your career?

 

 

Please Contact Me For Help

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres.

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2022. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This blog, with over 4,000 posts over the past decade, was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.