Aspiring Writers Info: Bob Mayer Offers Up Seven Suggestions for Newly Self-Published Authors

[alfreda89]

This is probably the best advice I've seen in a long time, from a recent hybrid (both traditionally published and self-published) author.  It's good advice whether you are currently an author, are trying to become an author, or just want to be an author.  A lot of it is good life experience, because Bob is a man with a HUGE energy level, and he has lived big in his life.

For example:

"Be open to change. I love Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Ramsay.  He gets invited to a restaurant that is failing, by the owners.  Yet, most of the time, they won’t take his, the expert’s, advice.  They invited him, yet they fight him.  They’re failing, yet they fight him.  It wasn’t easy for me to go from traditional publishing to indie publishing.  I’d made my living as a writer for 20 years, so I was putting my livelihood on the line when I made that decision. I wasn’t even close to a level where I could make a living self-publishing.  But I made the decision and committed to it."

I'll note that I haven't been able to be as committed, because I a) have Life, Interrupted to deal with unexpectedly b) job hunting c) school.  So in my case?  Triage.  You may need triage, too.

But you need all of what Bob is talking about, in some amount.

Check it out.

Comments

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I love that his first point is to write really good books, and that it takes time and practice to do that. (And, for most of us, editorial feedback.)

My first professional novel sale was actually the 6th or 8th novel I'd completed, depending on how you count (drafts/revisions/novellas). I have no idea if I'm a slow learner or whether we just don't talk about all those sub-publication-threshold books we struggled through. Nowadays, far too many young writers skip this apprentice stage and leap into self-publishing. Once they get the egoboo of being published, they lose the drive to get better and better. Writing itself can help a writer improve, but not if they are convinced they've "made it."

Really good books, think long-term career. Yep.