Another Writer

Great strides have been made in recent years toward the development of self-publishing tools and outlets that enable authors to easily reach an audience.

No more traversing the rocky path to finding an agent and then a publisher. No more rejection (except by the reader). Just write, click submit, and you're words are there for all the world to see. Now anyone can be a published author.

The downside to this?

Now anyone can be a published author.

Anyone can write. But not everyone is a writer. Anyone can self-publish. But few are truly "authorpreneurs."

Authorpreneur is a term that reflects the changing times of the writing and publishing industry. Independent authors not only write, they publish, market, and sell their work, too. For the past year, I've spent as much time defining my author platform and rebuilding my website around it as I have writing my second novel. I'm no longer focused on getting the attention of an agent or publisher. I'm trying to find readers, directly. And I'm trying to create a product worthy of the bar long established by traditional publishing.

In a favorite review of my book Gospel for the Damned, the reader writes, "There is also more than a little touch of professional writing to be found in this book, the type of writing that is usually found in traditionally published novels." I can't tell you how much it meant to me to read that, because it did not come without conscious effort. It took numerous revisions. Collaboration with an editor. Two, in fact. Then there was the tedious, mind-numbing task of laying out the interior. I listened to readers dis the cover, and so hired a skilled designer to re-do it. And what I've learned I will apply to subsequent works, just as I have with the website you're currently visiting. When it comes to authorpreneurship, there's no write and click submit.

All too often I've started reading a book by an indie author only to quickly put it down, never to pick it up again, because of thin characters, ineffective dialogue, weak descriptions and settings, and predictability. Too many self-published books read like a first draft. No depth, no nuance. Flat.

Don't wanna be just another writer? Then you have to be a publisher, as well. Pay to have your manuscript edited by an impartial professional who won't tell you only what you want to hear. Hire someone to design the cover. But don't leave it at that. Study and discern for yourself what makes a good cover good. If you have to, bring a skilled copywriter on board to spruce up your book's summary and blurbs. Do whatever it takes to make your book the best it can be. Because that's what a traditional publisher would do. Their business depends on it, as so should yours, Mr./Mrs./Ms. Authorpreneur.

And don't even get me started on marketing! To that, I defer you to Tim Grahl, author of Your First 1000 Copies: The Step-By-Step to Marketing Your Book.

The takeaway here is this:

While there's plenty of room in the world for another writer, make it your mission to not be just another writer.

Gordon Gravley