I was talking about writing recently and had someone comment that she wanted to be a writer because she “hated sales”.<\/p>\n
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Free advice to aspiring professional writers:<\/p>\n
First, you must learn to write well.\u00a0 The way to do this is really simple.\u00a0 You sit down and write every single day without exception.\u00a0 Write something every single day.\u00a0 It doesn’t have to be great.\u00a0 It doesn’t have to be profound.\u00a0 But you must practice your craft every single day with no exceptions at all.\u00a0 If you’ve never read Harriet the Spy<\/a> by Louise Fitzhugh, do.\u00a0 That’ll give you the general idea.\u00a0 Get used to getting your thoughts out in text form.\u00a0 Get used to trying to get the rhythm of your thoughts across in words.\u00a0 Get used to plot, get used to pacing.\u00a0 For heaven’s sake, learn appropriate spelling, grammar and punctuation.<\/p>\n Second, you must learn to sell.\u00a0 I know a lot of you are thinking that’s what an agent is for.\u00a0 That’s not entirely the truth.\u00a0 Yes, indeed, if you get a book contract, you want someone to help you out and make sure you’re not getting screwed.\u00a0 Chances are almost nil that the book contract will happen without knowing how to sell.\u00a0 Oh, the publicity articles about the Cinderella stories never mention it.\u00a0 It makes a poor story.\u00a0 It’s much more exciting to read about luck than hard work.<\/p>\n Learning to sell isn’t about learning to be Leisure Suit Larry.\u00a0 We have a skeezy image of sales and marketing these days that doesn’t really fit with the reality of making it work.\u00a0 It’s about finding out what a potential client needs, then giving them that.\u00a0 It’s about making contacts, meeting people, hanging out and just getting to know what people need.\u00a0 If it becomes about putting one over on someone, you’re really doing it wrong.\u00a0\u00a0 You have to have something of genuine value to deliver.<\/p>\n