Success

If you’ve ever confused “a penny for your thoughts” with a job offer, you might be a writer.

There are more dangerous ways to earn a buck, but barring those with a high potential for personal injury, few are tougher than writing. The odds of “hitting it big” as an author rival those of doing the same in professional sports. The upside for writers is that the way is open for anyone wishing to take their best shot at it.

For the few who actually finish the job of writing a book, it can be a relatively simple and inexpensive matter to publish it. It can be, but often it isn’t. I have talked with authors who have spent $5,000 to get a book ready for publication. An entire online industry has sprung up to relieve the would-be author of the duty to edit, proofread, design a cover, and market his book. Many in that industry are there to relieve the desperate author of his money.

A positive outlook is a good thing to possess. Every author should think his book is a masterpiece. He also needs to realize, whether he has a publisher or not, that he has just become a businessman. Factors like the return on investment for production costs, advertising, and promotional events must be considered. Creative writing class didn’t teach such things.

Unfortunately, neither do those classes teach authors how to think about success. For all practical purposes, for most writers there is only one measure, a Superbowl ring, an MVP award, and a signing bonus. The trouble with that is that writing is an individual effort. Players really only compete against themselves. Every race is an effort to do better than the time before on the road to reach their best time ever.

Turning thoughts into money is a difficult talent to learn, but it can be done. You can do it.