Building a Successful Writer’s Life

So you’ve sold a book. Congratulations! You’ve achieved your dream, right? Well, yes and no. Because you didn’t just want to sell a book; you wanted to be a writer. That means building a successful writer’s life—doing what you need to do to stay in the game, year after year, and enjoy the writing career you worked so hard to achieve.

How to do that? Follow these guidelines.

Keep balance in your life. I have known writers who spent so much time writing and promoting their books that their marriages ended and they wound up on depression medication. I have known writers who, more in love with the idea of writing than with actually writing, let years pass between manuscripts, until no one in New York was much interested. Strive for something in between. Set a reasonable schedule for your writing and promoting, but remember that when all is said and done, your family and friends come first . . . and that a happy, balanced life makes for the best writing.

Keep the best counsel. The writer’s two most important business partners are her agent and her editor. Your agent must be enthusiastic about your work. He must provide career guidance and strategizing that will help you achieve higher and higher career goals. He must be effective at getting the most out of your publisher in terms of editorial attention, publicity, and promotion. Your editor must be as enthusiastic about your work as your agent, if not more so. She must be your champion in house, constantly pushing to raise your stature in the company.

If at any point either your agent or your editor is not performing these functions for you, it’s time for a change. When you change, do so judiciously and professionally, so that you will not be labeled fickle or difficult.

Never stop learning and improving. If you want readers to keep buying your books (which in turn makes publishers want to keep buying your books), you’ve got to keep giving them what they want–not just the very best quality entertainment you can produce, but stories that improve from book to book. Readers who feel a writer isn’t getting any better usually lose interest and find new writers to read. Don’t ever stop trying to top yourself.

How?

1. Keep writing. Some techniques and abilities are only discovered in the actual act of writing. Writing makes you a better writer.
2. Consider joining a critique group. Many writers find the support and guidance of their groups invaluable.
3. Keep attending writers conferences and conventions. Not only will you get to enjoy communing with other writers, you’ll also stay current on trends and developments in your genre.
4. Read periodicals (print and online) about books, such as The New York Times Book Review or The New York Review of Books, and specialized fanzines such as Romantic Times BOOKreviews and Locus, depending upon your specialty.
5. Keep haunting bookstores. Attend readings and book signings, especially if the author writes in your genre. Keep yourself immersed in the world of books.

Promote. Do as much self-promotion as your time and budget allow. The days of just writing the novel and then sitting back and letting the publisher do the rest are over.  At the very least, set up book signings in your area, and send postcards notifying family and friends when your novel is published. If you have the inclination, become more innovative and aggressive in your promotion efforts. Self-promotion not only helps you sell more books; it also increases your value to your publisher.

Adapt. Reading tastes seem to be changing faster than ever before. If you keep writing exactly the same kind of book, without regard for these changes, you may be writing yourself into obsolescence. When you spot a new trend, read a book or two that exemplify it, if only to stay aware of what’s being published. Who knows—you might want to try your hand at it yourself. Because eventually you’re going to have to change in some way. Certain artists in all fields have survived for decades because they are so adept at reinventing themselves. (Think Cher.) You may have to do the same thing in your writing career.

I have represented writers who landed six-figure contracts at the height of their careers. Twenty years later I can’t give their books away. Why? Because they got caught in a literary time trap; they were neither aware of nor cared about how tastes were changing. Others who suffered this fate were victims of their own egos. “Why,” they asked, “should we change how we write, when at one time we were so successful? Our fans will always be out there.” No, they won’t. They’ve grown tired of reading the same book over and over while the world continued to change. They’ve moved on to writers who have changed with the world.

Keep reading. This one’s a no-brainer. Of course you’ll keep reading, first and foremost because you love it. What writer doesn’t love to read? Then why am I even bothering to suggest it? Because many writers get so busy writing that they stop reading—they don’t have time, they say with a laugh. But it’s not funny. To do this is to close yourself off not only from what your own fans are buying, but more importantly from the competition. You’ve got to know what you’re up against. You’ve also got to know what kinds of stories are being written, or else a novel you’ve got in mind that you think is fresh and different may actually be trite and overdone.

Here’s a tip: Every so often, read something completely outside the genre or genres in which you write. Good writing is good writing, and we can all learn from one another. Reading outside your genre keeps your mind nimble and fresh. You’ll also find yourself borrowing the most effective techniques from other genres and thereby improving your writing.

Understand and accept the ups and downs. This one is difficult. It involves understanding and accepting that very few writers rise steadily to the top and stay there.  More often a writer will rise and fall, or perhaps rise, stay there awhile, and then fall. By “fall,” I don’t mean not sell—though that can happen. More often a writer’s sales decline, and her advances against royalties follow suit.

Publishing is a difficult business. Publishers are more profit-oriented than ever before. Publishing is no longer a gentleman’s business. Develop a rhinoceros hide. If your material is rejected (and you will get rejected from time to time, even after you’ve made that first sale), forget it and move on. If you are offered a lower advance than you received for your last book because your sales have dropped, resolve to write a better book that will cause your sales to rise again. Redouble your promotion efforts. You’re a writer, right? In good times and bad, high advances and low, you must keep writing. You never know—your twentieth book might be the one that hits national bestseller lists. It happens all the time. One thing I can guarantee: Stop writing and you’ll have no chance of hitting any lists at all.

These, then, are my guidelines for building a successful writer’s life. Follow them and I believe you will achieve not only success but also longevity. Isn’t that every writer’s true dream?