Authorpreneurs

These have been around for a while I’m thinking, but the word has only recently been established. It describes those authors who are not only fantastic writers but who then proactively market their work. They show that they are business people in every aspect of their work.

 

Car salesman attitude

I’ve frequently said that we writers have to be quite dual-aspected; it may be fine to spend one part of the day wrapped up cosily in our garrets, penning the best work ever.  Then we have to become extrovert, assertive, strategic and maybe even a little bit manipulative. It doesn’t feel natural to a creative practitioner. But this attitude can also make a difference to how we react to rejections; we might come to regard these as rewrites. 

 

Imposter syndrome

I have to admit I’m not so keen on the marketing side of things and I know I’m not alone in this. I find it much easier to promote other people’s work than my own.  Am I really a writer? Should I really expect the public to want to pay to read my work?

Now hang on a minute. Most of my rejections these days say that the writing is good. I have more than 48 works in print and that includes a handful of full length novels. I have two post-graduate degrees in creative writing and a university saw fit to employ me full-time, eventually at senior lecturer level, and even though I’m now retired they keep getting me back for odd jobs. Come on, woman.  

Of course people should pay to read my work. As they should pay to read yours.

So what does this authorpreneur look like?

Accounting

She pays her taxes and knows when and what to claim for expenses.

 

Engagement

She engages with her readership through blogs, talks, launches, school visits and posts on social media.

 

Advertising strategies

She will use free or paid-for advertising strategically. She will keep records of this and work out which options work the best.

 

Professional help   

She knows when to get professional help with PR.

 

Genuine use of Social Media

She will use social media wisely – it is not all about “buy my book, buy my book”.  She only likes what she genuine likes and only spends about 20% of her time there on direct or indirect promotion. The rest of the time she is just herself or indeed promoting others.

Wants, needs and benefits

In her interaction with her readers she is aware of their wants and needs and offers them benefits.  What do they gain by buying her book, joining her mailing list, hosting her on a blog or attending her event? However, she is savvy enough always to include a call to action.

Building her brand, platform and mailing list

She does this more and more skilfully. Yet she works with what she enjoys most.  She is careful not to spam her readers and always to offer them something worthwhile.

Retaining objectivity about reviews and sales figures

She knows that the only valid reaction to poor reviews or sales figures is to regard them as useful information and do something to change what is happening. However, she must also learn to recognise trolls and not be over-worried by them.    

 

Discipline      

She is disciplined about ring-fencing her writing time and is consistent in demanding to be paid for her work, though also knows when a free gift may be an effective loss-leader.  

Are you an authorpreneur?

Fragile discipline

“I don’t get writer’s block. Ever. It’s a complete myth.”

I have to bite my tongue every time I go to say that.  There are a few others, too:

“Writers write every day.”

“If you’re a writer, you write.”

“If you write you are a writer.”

Oh, yes, I really believe in all of that. And then there are all the exceptions.

My own routine

I try to write for the first two hours of every working day and at some point on weekends and during holidays. Sometimes it’s not possible. Then, I’ll try and write as soon as I can.  Sometimes, like today, I can only manage about forty minutes because my day job demands that I go off and do something else. The problem then is that by the time I get to my laptop my mind is so cluttered with other thoughts that I can’t find the creative energy to write. Having a break helps usually: maybe the drive home from the office or stopping to have supper.

Some days it’s easier, some days it’s harder

I’m now confident that no matter how empty-headed I feel once I start writing the words and the ideas will come. I’m mainly right but not always. Sometimes it’s a real struggle and everything I write seems very poor and I’m dying for the two hours to go by. Interestingly, I’ve found that on these occasions I’m often actually writing better. Okay, it’s that inner critic chuntering but actually he has a point.

Some notable exceptions

Some writers I respect a lot have recently suffered from what we might call “writer’s block”. One is a well-established author who in recent years had a group of “break-though” novels.  How do you follow that? That was his problem.

A friend obtained the coveted PhD, and having gone to his personal limit on that, couldn’t work out for several months how to go on forward.

Another friend is also a brilliant administrator and organiser and full of an energy that is extremely creative leaving little creative space for anything else. He admits to not writing every day.

Again interestingly, as these three got back to work their writing was even richer and even more fine-tuned. They seem to have gone through some sort of incubation period.  

The fragile discipline

Yes we have to be disciplined. Much of the time this seems easy enough. Yet we fear losing that control. A couple of bad days and a few rejections and we might lose our will to go on. Then we must get back up, brush ourselves down and get on with it. It might be worth remembering though that the occasional fallow period can also be ultimately quite productive.     

   

  

Ring-Fencing Writing Time

I’ve been rather bogged down over the last few days marking my students’ work. Most school teachers and a few other HE teachers would say my teaching load was light. I would probably agree. But the marking is a different story. Each script takes about one hour to mark and then there’s quite a lot of admin to do afterwards. In the middle of all this, various colleagues send emails with deadlines for reply. One even sends an email asking for information they’ve already had. We do have to keep repeating the same information, it seems.

So how does my writing fit into all of this? At the moment, it doesn’t. I haven’t written since the weekend, despite this being my most important work.

No worries, though, Today is my research day and everything else can wait. Write I shall.

There is a sense, also, that reading my students’ work contributes to my writing process. As I read and find their faults and triumphs, I learn more about the writing process, including my own work.

One of my publishers contacted me yesterday. Had I had the guidelines for submission? Could she check the submission dates?

Yes, I’d had the guidelines. The submission date remains the same. I’m on schedule. In fact, I’m actually a little ahead. Just as well. The day job is taking over a little at the moment.