Training to Be a Career Author–Writing is More than the Writing

Many of you who read this blog desire to be career authors, and kudos to you. It is a fun job and a great time. I used to be in sales. I literally hated my job so much I would throw up on the way to work. Every day I died a little more. This might be shocking, but selling cardboard had little outlet for being creative. I just knew that writing was the life for me. Ah….but how little I really knew.

I now have had two successful best-selling books, and I still have to pinch myself when I realize I have the same agent as James Rollins and Diana Gabaldon. This isn’t to brag—okay maybe a little—as much as it is to say that I feel I’m in a better position to offer advice. I have grown from clueless neophyte with a dragon notebook and a dream to a writing professional. That said, I now feel confident to tell you…

Being a career writer is more than the writing.

It is more than the book. Why do I tell you this? Because it is going to affect how you train. Yes, train. Writing is not a marathon, as many author-bloggers might have you believe. It is more like a decathlon….oh, but one of the events is a marathon.

This career is so much less about talent and far more about endurance. I have talented writers I know who will never make this a career even if they publish. Their approach will burn them out quickly or keep them trapped at a certain level.

We’ll talk about why in a moment.

In a decathlon, there are ten events from running to pole vaulting to shot put, and athletes are judged on their collective scores. This means that, not only does a participant need to be able to run distance, but he has to be a good sprinter, and also strong and flexible. All aspects of his physique are going to be tested and then judged against his competition.

Same with writing.

We have to write, edit, learn about the craft, organize, plan, run a business, read, research, market, blog, speak, and teach. There is so much more to this career than just the writing.  

I can tell writers who aren’t avid readers in three pages. I can tell writers who haven’t properly researched pretty early on, too (and I don’t finish those books). It takes me less than a page to spot writers who haven’t read craft books. Writers who refuse to do social media? Well, their days are numbered.

We have to be organized (I’m still working on this one). First of all, writing a novel requires we be organized. Any work spanning 80-100,000 words is going to need to be plotted and the right events placed at the right point. People who just sit down and write until they stop? Yeah, that ain’t a novel. Novels that do not have narrative structure—antagonists and major plot points—well, they aren’t novels. They are an entity with no skeleton. Or, if there is a skeleton, some bones are missing or in the wrong place. In nature that is called an aberration. In writing that is called Book that Won’t Sell.

Organization will also be critical when it comes to the business end of this business. Tracking sales, filing royalty statements, receipts, deductions, and TAXES. Oh my!

Don’t get me wrong. Some of those things writers don’t have to do, but it could impact their final success. For instance, authors don’t have to do public speaking, but those who can and do have an added advantage. Authors who can present at workshops and conferences stand a far better chance of meeting the right person who opens the right door to take her career to an entirely new level.

I generally work six days a week. This past week was particularly hard because I had to drive to Denton, TX to present. This means I had to be up at six in the morning so I could prepare and be ready to drive 70 miles. The interesting part was I wasn’t slated to teach until 2:00 in the afternoon. Why was I getting there at 9:00? Because there were other people speaking, and I did so to support them even though I really didn’t particularly need their classes. I know what it is like to fear an empty room. Supporting others is part of being a professional.

So I sat in workshops from 9:30 to 3:00. Then, due to a miscommunication, I wasn’t allowed to sell any books, so I had to stand out in almost 100 degree Texas heat and sell books out of the trunk of my car. After that, I drove over 100 miles home. Over a 100 miles? Yep. Three major traffic jams and it took over two hours to reach home. I spent more money in gas than I made. I finally got to settle down and rest at around 6:00 that night. Basically, it was a 12 hour day.

Today I begin teaching an on-line workshop. I also have my blog, social media and I have to do a test-run with Skype, because in July I will be teaching a class for UCLA, and the private jet is in the shop . I also have chapters due to my agent, about 50 pages of editing for other people, a mountain of laundry that won’t wash itself and a baby who loves to make even that simple chore three times the work.

Mommy, why are you crying?

This isn’t to have a pity party. I love my job. I loved every minute of spending time with my writing peeps on Saturday. I loved being able to support other speakers and learn new things. I loved being able to open up the world of social media for some newbies and make it more accessible. But I do have to say that you have to train to be able to endure this kind of schedule and still be productive.

Mommy, are you writing? I’m hungry. I need clean clothes.

Those kids hanging off our leg are still there even when we decide to write. In fact, as I type these words I have an 18 month old screaming because I won’t let him climb on the table and play with knives. The house still won’t clean itself, and apparently they can put a man on the moon, but have yet to invent clothes that never need to be washed.

I am here to change your perspective and make those challenges your triumphs. Learn to do it anyway. Those kids that interrupt you every thirty seconds are a blessing. Think of it like running pulling a weighted sled. This is author training. If you can learn to maintain your focus despite all of life’s distractions, think of how amazingly productive you will be when one day you do have that private office and can afford a meth-addicted howler monkey with a sidearm to guard your writing time. Heck, you will probably be twice as productive at least.

Successful authors are a multitasking MACHINE. This is one of the reasons it is SO vital for us to brand our name when it comes to social media. We already have a lot of responsibilities, so streamlining becomes paramount. Spreading ourselves too thinly can be a formula to give up.

I see a lot of writers who will not make it in this business. Why? Often they aren’t doing the tasks that are vital to writing a great book—reading and learning the rules of the craft. This is like wanting to win a decathlon, but eating pizza everyday and not going to the gym.

These days, everyone can get published so a new benchmark of success is becoming book sales and list rankings. I watch a lot of writers who are too obsessed with the marketing side of things. They are banking everything on the success of ONE book and aren’t getting back to the computer and working on the next book and the next and the next.

Other writers are blogging machines. Blogs are GREAT for branding….if done properly. Many writers are wearing themselves out posting blogs that will do very little to brand their names. They are writing thousands of words a week that do…almost nothing. Or they are blogging, but never getting to writing the actual book.

These types of writers are only focusing on ONE aspect of their careers. They are like the participant in the decathlon who only focuses on one event. It is a recipe to lose.

Athletes who compete in decathlons use a lot of different skills—speed, endurance, strength. They walk this fine balance of giving an event their all….without really giving it their all. They still must have energy left to effectively compete in the other events and outpace the competition.

We writers must learn to give it our all….without giving it our all. The better we get at balancing our duties, the more successful we will be in the long-run. Writers who fail to appreciate all this job entails won’t be around in a year or three. They are like a runner who sprints at the beginning of a marathon. They will fall by the side of the road, injured and broken.

So today when you have to squeeze in that 100 words on your break from work, think I’m training. When your kids hang off you as you write, picture that weighted sled. Play the soundtrack to Rocky if you must.

What part of your life are you now going to view as author training? What setbacks can you reframe in the positive? What commitments are you going to make to be successful for the long-term? What have you been doing wrong? What problems are you having? What do you now think you could do differently?

I love hearing from you! And to prove it and show my love, for the month of June, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

I will pick a winner every week for a critique of your first five pages. At the end of June I will pick a winner for the grand prize. A free critique from me on the first 15 pages of your novel. Good luck!

Note: I am keeping all the names for a final GRAND, GRAND PRIZE of 30 Pages (To be announced) OR a blog diagnostic. I look at your blog and give feedback to improve it. For now, I will draw weekly for 5 page edit, monthly for 15 page edit.

Important Announcements

I will announce last week’s winner on Wednesday. 

Make sure you join our LOVE REVOLUTION over on Twitter by following and participating in the #MyWANA Twibe. Read this post to understand how this #MyWANA will totally transform your life and your author platform.

Together Everyone Achieves More!!!! SUPPORT THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF AMERICA! Spread the word and save a life. Sigma Force saves puppies and kittens, too. Ahhhh.

In the meantime, I hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . Both books are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in th biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left over to write more great books! I am here to change your approach, not your personality.

Happy writing!

Until next time….

Death and Taxes–A Writer’s Guide to Keeping More of What You Make

Two things we cannot avoid? Death and taxes. Death I cannot help you with. But taxes? Maybe I can. As a quintessential optimist, I would like to believe that almost every writer aspires to one day get paid for doing what they love. The bright side of that? You will get paid to write. The down side? So will Uncle Sam. How much he gets paid will be up to you. After almost ten years of writing for a living, I can honestly say that self-employment can be a blessing or a nightmare depending on how well you learn to handle the business side of your craft. Best to get in good habits as soon as you possibly can.

There are so many workshops and blogs dedicated to the fun stuff…the writing. The craft. Frankly, characterization sounds way more exciting than itemization any day. Yet, ignorance is costly. How many talented actors, musicians, artists and athletes ended up going from multi-millionaires to using a squeegee at a car wash because they failed to understand the business side of their business?

My last two blog postings have been geared to help writers understand that there are two sides to the entertainment business. The entertaining is fun, but the business? Let’s just say us artsy creative types often find it more than a little intimidating. In fact, most of us would rather get major dental work while being forced to listen to Paris Hilton’s CD set on repeat. A lot of us have a tough time with spreadsheets and business plans. We struggle to be organized and think that Excel takes all the sparkle out of life. But, alas, we do wish to be successful at our writing business. So if we must gut through the not-fun stuff, we might as well make it as painless as possible.

One bright side to being a writer is that it is shocking how many things are tax-deductable. Thus, it is a good idea to get into the habit of collecting receipts. And don’t wait until you are published or making decent money or any money for that matter. Do it now. Depending on tax laws, you can use several years of expenses (more on that later) once you do get to the point that itemizing makes sense. I am not an accountant and the tax laws change every year, but I have been self-employed for a very long time. Thus, the greatest advice I can offer is save everything. Now, that said, how do you keep it all organized? Yes, that $3000 computer, the writer’s conferences, and even your cable bill are all deductions…if you can find the receipts.

Back when I was in corporate sales, I had a nine-state territory and northern Mexico. That meant I was on the road almost 100% of the time. When you are on the road that much, you can quickly be up to your eyeballs in little slips of random papers. Everything went on the expense report, and I was almost always reimbursed exactly what I had spent. It was shocking, however, how much money my fellow salespeople basically threw away because they didn’t effectively organize receipts. Okay, I’ll confess. It was shocking how much money I threw away before I learned to effectively organize my receipts.

Since tax laws are changing continually, I advise saving everything you can, then let a professional accountant tell you what you can and cannot deduct. And then keep a record of all these receipts in case you get audited (the IRS tends be more apt to hassle self-employed people).

A simple way to keep up with all these little slips of paper? Ten easy steps.

1. For ladies? Carry an envelope in your purse. Every receipt goes into the envelope. When it gets full, empty into a large manila envelope in your office area marked with the current month. Guys? When your wallet fills with receipts, just dump them in the big folder.
2. It is a good idea to write a name on any receipts for meals you would like to deduct as business meals. Who were you at lunch with and what was the purpose? An extra step, but one that will make life easier later on.
3. At the end of the month, it is time to sort. But before doing anything else, take a black ballpoint pen (NOT BLUE! AND NO HIGHLIGHTERS!) and underline the following information on every receipt: date, amount, place of purchase, type of purchase.
4. Sort. I sorted chronologically into one pile.
5. Get a big stack of cheap copy paper (legal size is good for this) and some Scotch tape.
6. Start taping the receipts in chronological order down the left side of the paper, leaving room to write on the right side.
7. Once everything is taped, go back to page one. January 1, March 1, whatever. Remember the stuff you underlined? Now WRITE it out to the side in clear bold letters in black ballpoint pen. Blue will not photocopy and highlighters can smear your original receipt and make it illegible.

 

Your information will look something like this:

 

May 1, 2010

$43.85

Exxon

Gasoline

 

May 3, 2010

$39.14

Barnes & Noble

Research Materials for Article

 

May 4, 2010

$29.32

Chilis

Business lunch with Joe Schmoe to discuss Writer Workshop Agenda

 

8.  Once all this information is noted, make two photocopies of your original documents. One for your accountant and another for back-up just in case.

9.   Clip your originals together with a large alligator clip and then slide back into the large manila envelope you originally used to collect them.   Make two more envelopes. One for back-up copies and one for your accountant.

10. File. I recommend that originals go in a fireproof safe. In the digital age, you may also wish to scan the pages into your computer and then save them on a flash drive or server.

Also remember, once you are self-employed, a portion of your utilities, cable bill, cell phone bill, Internet service, car payment, and even your mortgage can be possibly deducted. It is a good idea to photocopy these monthly bills and then file accordingly. The original bills can go in the folder with the original receipts. Copies in with the copies, and another set put together for your wonderful accountant. Keep these receipts for ten years ideally. Laws change, so I like to err of the safe side. You might keep only hard copy for the past five and digital for the five years prior to that. As I said earlier, tax laws are always changing. You might not make a dime from writing until three years from now, but the computer you bought at the 2009 After Christmas Sale might be  a deduction in 2012.

Now when your accountant goes through your receipts, he or she will no longer be desperately trying to make up from down out of a shoebox of coffee-stained slips of paper. He can just scan through the pages and circle the items you can deduct or mark a big X through items that might make Uncle Sam take an unwanted interest in you. Since the information will be chronological and organized, you will find that your accountant will be able to help you keep a lot more of your hard-earned cash.

I recommend saving everything. Never hurts. That Jones of New York suit you bought to teach at a writing conference might not be a write-off, but then again? Maybe it is.

Collecting receipts in this manner offers a number of benefits. Since you will lose far fewer receipts, you will be able to possibly take many more deductions. But the biggest benefit? You can sort when you feel like it. If you toss all receipts into a monthly file, they are contained. No longer wandering in the bottom of purses or junk drawers. If you are super-disciplined, feel free to organize and file once a week or at the end of the month. But, if life explodes, or you naturally tend to procrastinate? No worries. You can just sit and organize three months at one sitting. Since the receipts are corralled by month, feel free to organize when it suits your life and schedule.

For more on the business side of the entertainment business, I recommend NY Times Best-Selling Author Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer Workshops (bob@bobmayer.org) which are designed to teach writers how to be commercial savvy.