So sometimes we neglect parts of our work that we should not be neglecting. Like this blog for example. And sometimes we put parts of our careers on hold in exchange for others—others that are less profitable and more time-consuming.
Sometimes, as an entrepreneur (for, dear reader, that is what an author is) we take gambles, and sometimes that gamble on a series, a career change, or something else, does not pay off. In other words, sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose.
That’s life, right? And our fiction, too, mirrors that.
I recently learned more of these lessons while writing Teaching Moments (the sequel to my Max Boucher novel Harvested), pursuing a series I should be spending way less time on, and starting my own publishing company, and watching it take off in interesting ways.
Here are some of the lessons I learned, and how you can apply them to your business and what you do every single day.
Distraction vs. Opportunity
This is big and for another blog post all its own. For every potential task or project that comes along, you need to ask yourself if it is an opportunity or a distraction. An opportunity, for most of us, is something that has a pretty definable benefit that will manifest itself quickly. For example, a job opportunity yields you higher money, better benefits, or a better quality of life.
One simple way to do this is to ask yourself, “and then do what?” So, the idea of “let’s sell the house and move to Ohio” deserves an answer to “and then do what?” Is there a better job, housing situation, entrepreneur community? What will you do to stay connected with family and friends, reconnect with a new circle, etc.?
The same can be said for your writing thoughts as an author: “I’m going to write a romantic comedy next.” Ask, “and then do what?” Will you sell that work to an agent? Does it resonate with your current audience? Will you publish under a pen name? How will you promote that book alongside your others? Will it make you money, or are you doing this just for fun?
It’s okay to do things for fun or to relax. Everything doesn’t have to have some noble purpose, but even a vacation can come with consequences: “I’ll take three weeks off in June.” Ask, “and then do what?” When you return will your office or business be in chaos? Do you have a recovery and reentry plan when you get back? Is this vacation really an opportunity or is it a distraction that will cause more issues for you? Would a shorter absence be better?
You get the idea. If you ask yourself this before every major decision, you will make better ones.
Show me the Money
There may be an opportunity to relax. Cool. Take it. However, as an entrepreneur or authorpreneur if that is you, you have to think about money. You can just write for fun as long as you have a day job supporting your needs at some point (and you have defined your needs well, another discussion for another time).
This means you need to think about and pay attention to what makes money for you. What activities are “losers” and what ones are winners? How long do you keep investing in “losers” before you move on to another project, book, or series?
This is where your return on investment comes in. That return can come in the form of other things: exposure for your work, personal satisfaction, etc. But eventually, you need to make money from your work to survive. Evaluate every project for the monetary potential it has. If the answer is “none” or worse “negative” you need to evaluate how much time you will give to that effort.
Focus on What’s both Profitable and Possible
Just because you had the idea does not mean you want to be the one who is executing it. For instance, if I have a great idea for an app for authors, maybe a time management app or something, I am not the one to create it. I would be better off sharing the idea with someone who has expertise I do not. To learn to create an app, upload it to the app store, sell and market it would take a lot of time away from what I really need to be doing: writing. That’s my primary job, along with editing and educating other authors. Those things are profitable.
As an example, I love the software Plottr and even provide education and resources for writers using that software. However, I didn’t create it. I didn’t write a single line of code, because I don’t know how, and I am not going to learn. It would take way too much time away from my primary mission (you could say it would be a distraction).
I ask myself, Am I Better off Writing (AIBOW)? If the answer is yes, then this is a distraction and NOT an opportunity. Instead, I focus on what is profitable.
With that is also what is possible. I need to know my limits, how much I can write with the time I have available to me, and how I can balance that with editing and other tasks I do. If I don’t have time for it, I have to evaluate if there is something else I can remove from my schedule to make room for what I want to do.
If I can’t, it falls into the “I would love to, but it is not possible” category.
Get Help Wherever You Can
There are some aspects of any business that you can do, that should be done, but that you should not be doing yourself. Really, an author’s job involves three main parts: writing more stuff, marketing, and administration of your business. It is really similar to any other business:
- Production – writing
- Distribution – administration of how your books are delivered and ensuring that process is working
- Marketing – giving people an avenue to discover your work through organic marketing and paid ads.
At different times in their career writers struggle with more than one of these things, sometimes all at once. The key is that as you start to make money, you take some of the more mundane of these tasks off your plate. There are things you can outsource:
- Social Media (some)
- Ad management (some)
- Administration (sales and numbers gathering and analysis, etc.)
- Back matter updates
- Distribution management
- Email management
The thing is the more of this you outsource, the more you are paying others, the deeper that cuts into your profit margin. That means you need to sell even more books to break even or be profitable, and again you must ask yourself, “and then do what?” Will you really use that extra time for more writing, or will you binge Netflix and spend time with your dog (or cat)?
You have to have a plan. One of the best ways to figure out what help you need and what you can afford is to talk to other writers who are doing this for a living. Find out what they do, what they don’t do, and who they hire to handle those tasks for them.
It also goes beyond people. There are programs that will help you manage your social media posting and schedule, keep you on task, speed up your accounting process, and more. Get help wherever you can means adopting new technology, reaching out to others, and hiring help when you need it.
Finish in a Timely Manner
I can’t say enough about this. Each project you undertake should have a timeline, and you should do your best to complete it in that timeframe. The longer it is drawn out, the more likely you are to make mistakes you will have to fix later. It just makes your life harder.
Besides, most often you can’t get paid for a project until it is done. A book can’t sell until the production process is complete, including writing, editing, formatting, cover design, and so much more.
The sooner you finish that step, the sooner you can move on to the next project, and the next, and so on. The more projects you complete, no matter what you do with them once they are done (again another discussion for another time), the more you can earn.
Every one of these lessons I learned through writing Teaching Moments. Some of them were hard, and they have informed my ideas about what is next for my writing career, my career as an editor, and my desire to do a better job of educating writers (so they don’t make the same mistakes I have).
So take your teaching moments and your learning opportunities seriously. Until next time!
Troy is a freelance writer, author, and blogger who lives, works, and plays in Boise, Idaho with the love of his life and three very talented dogs.
Passionate about writing dark psychological thrillers, he is an avid cyclist, skier, hiker, all-around outdoorsman, and a terrible beginning golfer.
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Passionate about writing dark psychological thrillers, he is an avid cyclist, skier, hiker, all-around outdoorsman, and a terrible beginning golfer.
