How Do Writers Get Derailed?

This time last year, I was getting ready to speak at an event in Denver, Colorado when a blizzard came in. So, there I was stuck in Kansas, waiting for the highway to clear again.

In life, we can think that we’re going in one direction and doing all the right things, but one thing can happen and completely change our plans. The thing about writing to publish is having those contingency plans so that you can get where you want to go, even in those moments where there are bumps in the road. 

I want to point out a couple things I notice from writers that keep them from being published and successful.

1. They are not investing the time on their writing.

Many would-be authors think that they can just write a first draft, call it a book, and then start collecting checks. Because of the digital age, this is very possible. You can publish your book on amazon just for bragging rights but it will not lead you to the road you want. That is, you won’t experience a successful author’s lifestyle involving book signings and having a large fan base with a $0.99 amazon book. 

2. They are not willing to invest the resources.

Many writers come to me with plans of becoming best-selling authors. They know that they’ve got a story to tell and what kind of people it will appeal to–but they want to do this as cheaply as possible. And they wonder why their manuscripts keep getting rejected over and over again. It’s because they don’t invest in the right resources. You get what you pay for. 

3. They think that publishing a book is a DIY project. 

Writers can be super independent people and this is all well and good. The downside of this attribute is that these writers think that they don’t need any help to publish. Out of all the mistakes this is the one that brings the most wasted time and disappointed. Writers see their publishing dream sink because of this mistake. Of course, writers can publish independently and still find success. However, this is an anomaly. 

Let’s take an example: I can try to fix my car without being a mechanic. Sure, I can go on YouTube and see how they do a certain thing and see which parts go where. This may work but is this time efficient? I can spend all this time looking up how to fix my car when I can make my life so much easier by going to a mechanic. If I have gone to a professional in the first place, I would have gotten to where I needed to be much sooner. 

Writers who make all the mistakes I’ve mentioned above are the same writers who end up leaving their publishing dreams. On the other hand, writers who get the process right and who don’t make these mistakes finish and publish faster. They enter the publishing process with confidence and with the knowledge of what the publishing standards are. 

The question is: which writer do you want to be? The one who makes the same mistakes over and over again? Or the writer who gets published and moves on to write and publish their next book. 

If you are serious about publishing and tired of spinning your wheels, let’s talk about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there.