Writing is communication. It requires a giver and a receiver. A writer and a reader. While there’s a lot to be said for the value of private writing—diary and journal-keeping, therapeutic ventings on paper, and the like—writing, at its heart, is meant to be shared.
So you write, and then you send it forth.
When new writers ask, “How do I succeed as an author?” the advice they most often receive is, “Write to market.”Popularized by Chris Fox’s 2016 book, Write to Market: Deliver a Book that Sells, the strategy requires authors to pick a genre to write in, study the tropes of that genre of books that are currently selling, and then write a book in that genre that fits all the existing tropes. While many authors struggle to embrace this concept, by changing our perspective on it, we will find it empowering rather than limiting.
“I’m a teenager. Am I too young to write a book?”
I get this question a lot. The answer is no, you’re not too young to write.
The fact is most writers wish they had started younger. If you can string sentences together, you can write.
You love to write. People have told you you’re good at it, and you sense they’re right.
But writing is one thing. Writing for a living is another. How do you know the time is right, or whether you really have what it takes?
You’d better be certain you know what you’re getting yourself into before you take the leap. Full-time writing is no hobby. And it’s not easy. But if you’re called to it—oh, the rewards.
The point of writing, for most people, is to share that writing with the world. The problem is getting your writing into the hands of readers can be such an intimidating and confusing process that a lot of writers simply give up. This month’s interviewee talks about one option for sharing your writing: working with hybrid publishers.
Are you making the most of your writing, sharing it in all possible formats and getting it in the hands of readers? Your writing is more expansive than you might imagine. Here’s how to make the most of it.
