Info for the Wannabe Author

I stumbled upon this article by Mary Demuth, an amazing Christian author. Some of you out there are in the writing business, and some of you secretly want to be published. whatever the case may be, I found this to be an informative and light hearted article and thought some of you might benefit from it. Enjoy!

10 Things I Learned as a Newly Published Author

October 14th, 2010 by Mary DeMuth

I found this article I wrote two years ago and thought it would be fun to share with you. I learned a lot as a newly published author, and many of those lessons are still valuable today.

What about you? Can you think of ten things (or four or seven) that you’ve learned since you’ve been published? Share them; we’d all love to hear.

10 Things I’ve learned as a newly-published author

I’ve learned a lot of surprising things as I’ve realized the dream of being published. For those of you in the midst of the pursuit, I offer a few snippets of advice that may help you along the journey.

1. Make friends. When you go to a writers conference, be more consumed with making relationships with other writers who are in your stage of publication. These dear folk will become some of your closest friends. As you get published, you’ll be able to seek advice, ask for prayer, and kindly request endorsements.
2. Get used to rejection. It happens on every level of the publishing process. You’ll be rejected by publishing houses, agents, magazine editors, people who DON’T want you to speak. And as you get published, there’s more rejection heaped on. Now that I’m a “midlist” author, I experience yet another level of rejection, getting messages like, “Well, we’ll talk to you in a few months, when we see whether your numbers are up.” Ouch. Repeat to yourself: rejection is normal; rejection is normal; rejection is normal. Rejection is the air you breathe in this crazy business.
3. Realize that publishing is a BUSINESS. Though you may view your writing primarily as a ministry, the folks paying you advances see it in bottom-line terms. Be prepared to be a part of that. Realize that a lot of the onus for marketing will rest on your shoulders.
4. Kindness will preserve you. Don’t burn bridges. Don’t be petty. Shun gossip. Yep, this is a weird business populated by all sorts of people. Realize it’s a small community and word gets out.
5. Do your best NOT to be difficult. Meet deadlines. Answer emails promptly. Listen, really listen, to your editor. Unless it’s deeply important to you, acquiesce to their changes. That will allow you to go to bat for the things you think really shouldn’t change. But always, always communicate with kindness and respect.
6. Make friends with folks in the industry whether they help your career or not. I’ve made some lovely, lovely friends who I will probably never publish with. The fun thing, though, is that this is a fickle industry. Editors and agents and publishers move hither and yon all the time. Connect with all sorts of folks, not for the sake of your gain, but because Jesus is fascinated by people and you should be too. Pay attention to the people God puts in your life. Perhaps that editor will become a lifelong friend.
7. Don’t become so hootie-tootie for your own britches that you are beyond editing. Make it a goal to write a better book (or article or column) each time. Be teachable. Become a lifelong learner of the craft. Go to conferences.
8. Give back whenever you can. Teaching enables you to learn more. Consider that helping other people become better writers is a gift you give to the future. You never know the impact Jesus will make through another writer.
9. Get rid of jealousy. Life’s way too short to brood on someone else’s talent or success. Rejoice with those who succeed. No sticking pins (or pens) into the hands or brains of successful writer voodoo dolls. (Say THAT ten times fast!)
10. Continue to read widely. Read different genres, classics, poetry, pithy articles, writing books, comics, and, of course, Watching the Tree Limbs. (Sorry, I’m simply obeying number 3 . . . yeah, baby, the marketing onus is on my shoulders!)