Posted: January 28, 2022

The Writer's Other Work

One of my favorite vintage bookstore finds is two volumes (out of three) of a 1742 translation by Rev. Philip Francis of the complete works of Horace. It's interesting not so much for the translations (Francis turns Horace's simplicity into contrived eighteenth-century rhyming heroic couplets) but for the technique Francis used to get it published. At the beginning is a list of subscribers -- famous and/or rich people who paid a fee to be publicly seen as supporting the author. Among the viscounts and bishops is one "Deane Swift, Esq." That would be Jonathan Swift, of Gulliver's Travels.

Of course, writers today don't have to persuade subscribers to pay for publication, selling their work on the same model that PBS uses to fund Masterpiece Theater. But from what I've seen of my clients' experiences, being a successful writer nowadays involves a lot of skills that have nothing to do with actual writing.

Editing, for instance. This comes in roughly two different flavors -- conceptual editing, which critiques how well your plot and characters work, and copy editing, which deals more with correct spelling and usage. (Full disclosure, conceptual editing is what I do for a living.) A lot of writers hire this out, especially the conceptual part, since it's all but impossible to fairly critique your own work.

But good editing can be pricy, and many beginning writers on limited budgets have to learn to do it for themselves. There are a lot of good books on what to watch for as you rewrite. Critique groups, where writers trade critiques on one another's manuscripts, can be a help. But editing, especially copy editing, is a very different skill from writing, and it's one you may have to teach yourself.

You've also got to learn some of the basics of book design. Even most self-published writers will hire this out, since it is best done by professionals. But you've still got to know what makes a book design function in order to judge the work the professionals are doing for you. I've frequently had clients send me published books adorned with cover art that looks like it could have come from the notebook of a relatively talented high school junior and pages of too-small print with narrow margins that made the text almost undreadable.

Once you've got the manuscript together and the book designed, it's time to teach yourself marketing. Even if you have a string of successes and a major contract from a large publishing house, you still have to spend a fair amount of time on the road, on book tours, readings, and signings. And that's if you're lucky. If you've been published by a small publishing house with limited resources, you might have to not only go out for book signings but arrange them yourself.

This means learning how to spot and connect with markets, how to get the most bang for your advertising buck. It means building a relationship with bookstores who will feature your book and perhaps host a book signing. One client who lives in the Boston area and writes noir crime has a good relationship with several local bookstores that specialize in the genre. Another writer I know, who writes mysteries centered around a knitting club, arranged to have her book sold in yarn stores.

You can always hire out your marketing, of course, bringing in a professional publicist to guide you past the pitfalls and help you find your market. This still means you have to commit time and money to the project, but it might be easier than learning a new profession on top of writing.

Choosing and entering contests are another needed skill, since placing a story in a well-respected anthology volume can boost sales and recognition. A caveat here -- there are plenty of contests that prey on a writer's need for recognition. I know from several clients' experiences that these contests usually involve an entrance fee and not a lot of prestige -- the equivalent of offers I used to get to be included in Who's Who among American Literary Professionals. I had a chance to order my own personal copy for only $69.95.

The better contests are those sponsored by longstanding literary clubs or magazines, like the Mystery Writers of America Anthony Awards or the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest. If a contest's past anthology volumes contain well-known writers, and they don't require a substantial entrance fee, then you're probably safe.

A lot of writers try to build an internet presence, either to help sell their self-published works or to build a platform that will make them more attractive to mainstream publishers. I've had at least two clients who have started blogs about their chosen genre, to try to get their name out to fans. They quickly found that promoting a blog is every bit as much work as promoting a book. Both build their readership slowly, and a blog requires frequent updating to keep readers interested. So, I'd recommend against it unless writing your blog is a labor of love.

If you've just put the finishing touches on the final draft of your new novel, you may want to prepare yourself. You may have finished the job of writing. But now it's time to begin the job of being a writer.