Authorship is fashionable. When I started writing, I didn\u2019t know another writer\u2014let alone author. Now, practically everyone I know has produced a book or is working on one.<\/p>\n
Thousands of ordinary people from many walks of life are penning their memoirs, novels, business or children\u2019s books or some other type of book. And few of them understand what it takes to be an author. Are you writing a book? Do you know what will be required of you in order to succeed as an author? <\/p>\n
1: First, you must have some writing skill<\/strong>. This may seem like a \u201cduh\u201d statement, but there are a whole lot of people writing without much grasp of the English language. The art of communicating through the written word simply escapes them. They don\u2019t understand what it takes to tell a good story or to get their point across. <\/p>\n 2: You need to know how to conduct research <\/strong>and it\u2019s a real bonus if you actually enjoy the process. I\u2019d say that an overwhelming percentage of writing projects require some research, even if it is reading children\u2019s books in order to help you understand what goes into one or learning more about a certain city during a particular period in history for your novel. And every author must first research the publishing industry before getting involved.<\/p>\n 3: You should have a business head <\/strong>to help you through the publishing process. Otherwise, you are at risk of making decisions that could be detrimental to your project and your pocketbook.<\/p>\n 4: Authors must be schmoozers<\/strong>. Initially, you may be pitching your manuscript to publishers or agents. Later, you\u2019ll need a knack for schmoozing booksellers, reviewers, librarians and individual customers.<\/p>\n 5: The most difficult aspect for most authors to develop is that of promoter<\/strong>. Yet it could be the second most important (after good writing). You will be required to promote your own book and this takes creativity, determination, persistence and tons of energy. The alternative is to hire someone to market your book for you.<\/p>\n 6: This brings us to another requirement that\u2019s important to the success of a book project, at least for some authors. And that is money<\/strong>. You need money in order to hire an editor once you\u2019ve put everything you have into your manuscript. You may decide to pay to have your book published\u2014many authors do today. And some authors pay publicists and other marketing professionals to help them sell their books.<\/p>\n Other assets I like to see in an author include public speaking skills, the ability to multi-task, organizational skills, a sense of follow-through and a tendency toward a deep commitment to their project. <\/p>\n Does this describe you or are you lacking in some areas listed above? If you thought you could simply write a book and all of the pieces to the publishing puzzle would miraculously fall into place, you\u2019re a dreamer of some magnitude. That\u2019s exactly why so many professionals are writing blogs like this one, articles and books for you. <\/p>\n Yesterday, I listed some of the books I\u2019ve reviewed this year for SPAWNews<\/em>\u2014the free newsletter from SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http:\/\/www.spawn.org<\/a>. If you can\u2019t honestly check off all of the requirements on this list, you need to be reading some of these books. I recommend that you start with my basic, all-inclusive lesson in publishing savvy, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em><\/strong>. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n This book has every aspect you need in your quest for writing and publishing success and it will guide you in honing the skills and acquiring the personal assets you need in order to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of publishing.<\/p>\n Publishing a book does not mean putting your thoughts down on paper, paying to have it produced into book form and then sitting back and collecting huge royalty checks forevermore. Publishing\/authorship is a serious business for which you must appropriately prepare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Authorship is fashionable. When I started writing, I didn\u2019t know another writer\u2014let alone author. Now, practically everyone I know has produced a book or is working on one. Thousands of ordinary people from many walks of life are penning their memoirs, novels, business or children\u2019s books or some other type of book. And few of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t