Every writer, by simply putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, embarks on a journey. A quest, even. To somehow convey the thoughts, stories, characters, and ideas living in our imagination into the heart and mind of another person—namely, readers.
We’ve all heard it said that life is about enjoying the journey, rather than focusing solely on the destination. This is especially true of writing, but also particularly difficult for writers to embrace. We don’t want to journey, we want to have arrived!
Writers who are just beginning the journey believe the destination is simple: get published. Oh, dear ones. As one who has been published dozens of times, I assure you—publication of your book (or an article, or a chapter in an anthology) is not the end, but simply a milestone along the long and winding way. It doesn’t make you rich, it doesn’t erase your insecurities. It is exciting, but the shine wears off quickly, especially when you learn that once you’ve published, people expect you to do it again and again.
But you’re here for advice on writing and publishing, not just philosophizing about it. So I want to share two simple things with you today: why you should seek publication, and how you should seek publication.
Why to seek publication
I’ve written in this space before about the importance of knowing your own motives—why you write. What is your why? (Click to read more about that)
Writing is an end in itself. Just playing with words, honing our own thoughts, is a worthwhile endeavor. But if you want to share your thinking with the world, you want to let readers know that you see them and share their experience, the best way to do that is to publish your work.
I’ve written many times also about the differences between various publishing paths. You can self-publish, or seek a traditional royalty publisher. You can also fall prey to vanity publishers who will exploit your desire for a book with your name on it.
This is why you need to be honest with yourself about your why. If you simply want to have a book with your name on the cover, there are countless companies who will gladly take your money to print your book. They’ll likely charge you a lot, but not really help you sell books. The more enticing their promises, the less likely they are to deliver on them.
Vanity publishers are called that for a reason. They are not interested in selling books to readers, but selling dreams to authors. If your “why” is about you and your belief that publication will validate you as a writer, or make you famous, or finally resolve all your anxiety, you’re more vulnerable to taking the wrong path to publication.
But if you have a message or story that you want to share with readers, you want to reassure the reader that they are not alone, that’s a different why. If you love writing and want to get better at it, so that you can connect with readers, that’s a motive that will put you on a better path. Your writing is not entirely about you—though there will always be that tension, of course.
In today’s strange publishing world, an author looking for a traditional royalty publishing deal (where the publishing company pays you) needs to bring evidence of an audience to the table. They need to show that they are already connecting with readers.
Writers who don’t have an audience already may quickly turn to self-publishing, unhindered by gatekeepers. They can hire an editor and designer, teach themselves how to use Kindle Direct Publishing or Ingram Spark, or Apple Books, or any of the other platforms that will allow you to send your work out into the world. But they soon find that without marketing and building an audience, they don’t sell a lot of books. Yes, they are published. But they still have to find readers.
How can you do that without a book? This is where some writers get hung up. They think it’s similar to the “can’t get a job without experience, can’t get experience without a job” conundrum that faces new graduates. But it is not. You don’t need to have published a book to gain relevant experience. But you need experience to publish a book—especially if you want readers to buy it. Thankfully, there are many steps you can take to move toward publication.
How to seek publication
Today’s publishing world also has countless opportunities to get writing experience before you get to the part of the journey where you might publish your book. Getting published (especially by a royalty publisher) is like landing an upper management job in the corporate world. Consider the possibility that you may have to start with entry level opportunities.
So what does that look like? Whether you want to self-publish or seek royalty publication, here are a few early steps on your journey:
Take a creative writing class at your local community college. Or an online writing class. Especially if you did not major in writing or journalism, learn to write properly. Even if your high school English teacher praised your writing talent, you still want to hone your craft. Submit to critique and editing, a difficult task that every published writer must learn to endure.
Read great writing, in the genre you want to write it. Notice what makes it good. Talk to other writers about what makes writing good.
Read good books on writing. Two I always recommend: Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and Carolyn See’s Making a Literary Life.*
Hand copy passages from great books. This is a weird but useful way to teach yourself the cadence of good writing. Just as piano students play other musicians’ pieces, and artists imitate the masters, copying by hand a page or two from a well-written book will familiarize your brain with what good writing feels like as it flows from your pen. It goes much deeper than simply reading. This helpful article by Antonio Rengel explains.
Launch a newsletter (like this one). Pick a topic you find interesting. Invite friends to subscribe, share it on social media, send it to your relatives. This is a great way to connect with an audience and get feedback on your writing. Setting up a Substack is free (as are many other newsletter platforms). I recently launched a second newsletter on hospitality and travel, because I want to write about those topics and see if there’s an audience for that. I may someday write a book on the topics I explore in that newsletter, but for now, I am just trying out ideas and exploring, while clarifying my thinking about those topics.
Seek out freelance writing opportunities. I’ve written about this before—read this past newsletter for details. This allows you to build a portfolio of shorter pieces and gets your work in front of an audience. And again, provides the opportunity to be edited. Long before my first book was published, I had written hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines and websites.
Set up a simple writer website, where you can feature your work, blog, and tell people about yourself.
Attend a writers’ conference. Conferences provide classes, meeting with editors or agents, and wonderful opportunities to network and build friendships with other writers.
Join a writers’ group. Meeting regularly with other writers to learn, receive feedback and be held accountable will help you grow as a writer. By the way, registration for the Powerful Story Online Writers’ Group is open now—details are here.
These are just a few steps on the path to publication. Keep writing, keep learning. Enjoy the journey!
*I include affiliate links here and on my blog, which allow me to earn a small commission with no additional cost to you. It’s one of the ways I point you toward great resources and keep this newsletter free.
P.S. If you found this newsletter helpful, please forward or share it! Thanks!