When you’re someone that wants to write, it can consume you. You may find that you just have to write. That the process of putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) is therapeutic to you. Maybe you have these characters in your mind that are bursting to come out? When that’s the case, you absolutely have to make sure that you write. Yet, you have to realize that you really do not need to ask for permission for this. You do not have to wait to ‘become’ a writer, or ‘feel’ like a writer. You can just write – and there you are, you’re a writer. But sometimes, that’s not enough.
Because when you love to write, you may find that it’s just not enough for you to be able to play writer or write in your spare time. Instead, you want to be a published writer and you want to get paid for your writing. Yet, that takes an agent and a publisher – and most importantly of all, courage. And so, this can seem like a huge and scary step for you to complete. But, if you really want to do it, and you really want to find success, then you’ve come to the right place – because we’re about to walk through what you can do to make that happen.
Work On Your Craft
To start with, you’re going to want to try and get better. Because if you’re not getting signed or any interest in your book proposals, it’s time to make some improvements. Lock yourself in your office and practice. Do writing exercises. Take courses. Read. Write in new ways. Just try different things so that you’re always improving.
Have An Audience
But then also, you may find that at this point, you might want to consider building up a bit of an audience for yourself. This won’t always be the case, but if you have a following on social media or readers of a blog or subscribers to an email, then you are showcasing to a potential publisher that you already have an audience, and this can be a selling feature for them.
Write!
From here, something else that you absolutely need to do – above all else, is just write! You cannot worry so much being a writer or getting a deal, you have to just write. So do it. Write as often as you can and make it a habit! It’s so important that you can just actually create, rather than just get the work done!
Publish What You Can
When you want to be a writer, it can often seem as if you should only be writing books. And that all of your time should be allocated to that certain style of writing. But that’s not true. You may want to think about blogging and publishing whatever you can online. You really don’t have to wait. Because publishing and writing as much as you can will help you showcase your stuff and improve your craft.
Market Yourself
The next thing that you might want to think about doing here, is to make sure that you’re marketing yourself enough. Because if you’re not trying to show off what you can do, or get readers, then it’s so much harder for them to find you. For this, you’ll want to advertise and promote what you do. And you may need to utilize anything from Adwords automation script tools to Display advertising to do this. Even social media can be powerful – so make sure that you are putting yourself out there.
Sell Yourself
Next up, you have to make sure that you can sell yourself too. And it’s often tough to do this, but it can work too. Because if you want that agent or to get a book deal, you need to put yourself out there. Yes, your work needs to be good – really good – but it needs to be relevant and it needs to sell too. And for this to happen, you need to put yourself out there, have a selling feature, and to just ask for the chance.
Keep Going
Finally, above all else, you absolutely need to keep going. It’s essential for you to build a thick skin and not stop or worry about being set back. Because we will all get different ‘no’s’ in our lives. But just because one person said no, it doesn’t mean that you have to stop or that you’ll never get published. Just keep writing, keep asking, keep trying. Because you never know when that yes, or which book it will be for, will come!
