{"id":1726,"date":"2021-04-20T14:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T14:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:wordpressblog.draft2digital.com\/am-i-a-real-author\/"},"modified":"2022-07-22T18:08:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T23:08:59","slug":"am-i-a-real-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/am-i-a-real-author\/","title":{"rendered":"“Am I a REAL author?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve followed D2D online, tuning in to our livestreams and podcasts,<\/a> you\u2019ve heard me mention my co-worker, Elyssa. She\u2019s brilliant, and I honestly don\u2019t know how we\u2019d get anything done around this place without her. Today happens to be her birthday (happy birthday, Elyssa!), which is kind of coincidental to me writing this particular post. Because it was Elyssa who suggested this topic, just a few days ago, and I knew as soon as I heard the idea that it was going to be the next thing I wrote.<\/p>\n

Because sometimes we forget who we really are.<\/p>\n

In the self-publishing space, there\u2019s always been a nagging, pestering question hanging right at the edge of our awareness. It plagues some of us, to the point of causing the dreaded \u201cimposter syndrome.\u201d It makes us question not only our work, but ourselves. We wonder if we\u2019re legitimate. We wonder if we\u2019re real.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I a real author?\u201d<\/h2>\n

I get why this question would come up, believe me. Every real author runs into this sense of doubt. For many years (decades, really) I wrote and published in near obscurity. What few readers who did pick up my books were usually related to me or went to high school or college with me. My mailing list hovered at 60 subscribers for so long, I was starting to think that MailChimp had set that as the limit on my account.<\/p>\n

For those decades I tried everything to get my work noticed by a larger crowd, to make more than a few measly bucks per year on these books I\u2019d labored so long and hard to drag into existence. The work, as you know, can be exhausting. But more exhausting is the work\u00a0after<\/i>\u00a0the work\u2014the incessant, unending push to market and promote, to figure things out, to get better, to\u00a0sell, for the love of God.<\/i><\/p>\n

If writers face an existential crisis any time they sit in front of the blank page, that crisis is no less dampened once they\u2019ve actually finished the book but can\u2019t find anyone willing to read it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s daunting. I know. As a matter of fact,\u00a0we<\/i> know\u2014everyone here at Draft2Digital knows exactly the struggle you face, and how draining and painful it can be. Some of us are writers, just like you. Some of us work in different silos of the publishing world, but we have those same struggles, and we see your pain every day, too. It\u2019s one of the reasons we work so hard\u2014so very hard\u2014to eliminate as many of those pains in your life as we possibly can. That\u2019s our job. We build things to make the author life as pain-free as possible.<\/p>\n

But before you get to D2D, you have to face down the demons and the Herculean trials awaiting you as you start and build and grow this author career that\u2019s made you so passionate, you\u2019re willing to work at it with no promise of reward.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I take that advice?\u201d<\/h2>\n

As if simply finding the time to sit down and write each day wasn\u2019t hard enough, there\u2019s all the \u201cadvice\u201d that comes at you from everywhere. Podcasts, YouTube videos, books, articles, blog posts, social media, author groups, well-meaning friends, even more well-meaning family\u2014you have no shortage of people telling you how things work. Or how they think they\u00a0should<\/i>\u00a0work.<\/p>\n

Who do you listen to? How do you sort out the good advice from the bad? What is it, ultimately, that you really and truly need to know? And what is it that you should really and truly ignore?<\/p>\n

First, breathe\u2026<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve embarked on a fairly arduous career path, in deciding to be an author. And I can tell you from experience, you\u2019re going nowhere if you can\u2019t slow down and collect your thoughts and center yourself. Writing is a \u201cflow\u201d activity\u2014meaning, it\u2019s the kind of thing you do by getting into the zone, letting your mind relax enough that the good stuff starts rising to the surface, flowing out through your arms to your hand, through your pen or keyboard and onto the page.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t achieve \u201cflow\u201d if you\u2019re so stressed you can barely think. So breathe. Relax. Take some time to meditate a bit, to pray, to sing, to listen to some uplifting music, to take a walk. Whatever puts you in a better state of mind will serve you pretty well when you start spilling what\u2019s in your mind onto the page.<\/p>\n

Feeling more Zen? Good. Let\u2019s talk about how to suss out the good advice from the bad.<\/p>\n

Since there\u2019s no shortage of advice out there, finding the right bits really comes down to two things:\u00a0Your<\/i>\u00a0personal goals, and\u00a0their<\/i>\u00a0achievements.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Your goals as a “real author” can be literally anything. I won\u2019t preach to you about keeping your expectations realistic or making sure you\u2019re not overreaching. Sometimes the extreme goals and the crazy overreach end up pushing you further along, even if you don\u2019t achieve everything you\u2019re after.<\/p>\n

But what I will tell you is this: If you shoot for the stars and fall short, don\u2019t punish yourself over it. Take stock of where you\u2019ve landed, and what you learned from your attempt, and then use all of that to set up your next launch.<\/p>\n

Know your goals and you\u2019re halfway to achieving them. Having a destination always makes the road trip easier to plan (a little sage wisdom learned from the #VanLife that my wife and I have been on).<\/p>\n

The second bit, though, is where you\u2019ll be able to filter the good advice from the bad advice, in the deluge that sweeps over you.<\/p>\n

When someone is giving you advice, they usually speak with some authority. They\u2019re often pretty firm in their perspective. It\u2019s up to you, then, to determine whether their confidence is justified, and whether they are the authority they claim to be.<\/p>\n

Has this person actually accomplished the thing they\u2019re advising you over? If they\u2019re telling you how to sell a million copies of your book, have they sold a million copies of theirs? If they\u2019re telling you how to make a living from book sales, what\u2019s their own income situation look like?<\/p>\n

For sure, people are capable of offering solid advice on things that they, themselves, have not yet achieved. There\u2019s an entire coaching industry built around the idea of certain fundamentals of success being \u201ctransferrable skills.\u201d So even though a coach or advisor may not be a\u00a0New York Times<\/i>\u00a0bestselling author, they may not have had that as one of their own goals. They might still be able to point you in the right direction, simply by coaching you in techniques and methods that lead to general success.<\/p>\n

In that case, what you\u2019re looking for as you examine this prospective advice-giver is whether they have demonstrable success in their life, and whether it was the application of their advice that led them there.<\/p>\n

My general rule: I study people who have done what I want to do, and I try to replicate what they did. If it works, then it becomes part of a process. If it doesn\u2019t work, I try something else.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m open to advice from people who are doing something different from what I\u2019m trying to achieve, but only in the sense that you never know what new ideas can be transferred over to what you\u2019re doing. When someone who has not done what I\u2019m doing tells me with great specificity what I\u00a0should<\/i>\u00a0be doing, I\u2019m become wary and cautious, and I\u2019m a lot slower to simply accept the advice as written in stone.<\/p>\n

When someone offers you specific advice, look for that specific success in their life. If it isn\u2019t there, you can freely ignore them.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cDo I need to know how to do that?\u201d<\/h2>\n

Along with free advice, there\u2019s no shortage of recommendations for software, services, and skills in this business.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll confess\u2014I\u2019m guilty of being one of the \u201cpushers\u201d for certain things. Obviously, I think you should use Draft2Digital for all your formatting and distribution needs! I am the most biased of biased prescribers, on that one.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve also, in the past, pushed certain pieces of software, admonished that you need a minimum set of skills, and generally recommended more than strongly that you should be using X or doing Y. Some of these things really\u00a0are<\/i>\u00a0quite valuable and would help you as an author. But if I\u2019m being completely honest with myself, and with you, I\u2019m forced to admit that there aren\u2019t so many \u201cmust have\u201d resources for authors. It\u2019s a pretty flexible and wide-open career, when it comes down to it.<\/p>\n

So do you\u00a0need<\/i>\u00a0to know how to use Photoshop? Or Scrivener?<\/p>\n

Must<\/i>\u00a0you use Vellum to do your layout and conversion from manuscript to ebook? Or save up and buy a Mac so you can even use Vellum in the first place?<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

All of these things could be useful, and you gain a certain amount of increased empowerment and capability, and even self-confidence, when you learn how to use them. But they aren\u2019t\u00a0necessary<\/i>. Just\u00a0helpful.<\/i><\/p>\n

The same can be said about social media.<\/p>\n

Do you need to post on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram? Pinterest? TikTok? YouTube?<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

Will posting content on these channels help you sell more books?<\/p>\n

Maybe\u2014but maybe not. And frankly, that\u2019s the\u00a0real<\/i> question you need to answer. None of these things define you as a “real author.”<\/p>\n

Two Rules<\/h2>\n

The two rules I recommend following<\/b>, when it comes to learning software, buying equipment or products, paying for or subscribing to a service, or posting on social media and other platforms are these:<\/p>\n

Rule #1:<\/b>\u00a0Do what works for helping you sell more books.<\/p>\n

Rule #2:<\/b>\u00a0Do what you\u2019re going to be comfortable doing, and only for as long as it lends itself to your success.<\/p>\n

Similar to the rules for which advice to follow, these two are all about knowing what you want to achieve and doing only the things that move you toward that goal, while stopping anything that moves you further away.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I really a writer?\u201d<\/h2>\n

Self-published indie authors have a perception problem.<\/p>\n

In some respects, it\u2019s public facing: Despite success stories, indie authors hitting bestseller lists and getting TV and major motion picture deals, there are still some folks who believe that self-publishing is for people who couldn\u2019t really \u201cmake it.\u201d The people who think self-published authors aren’t “real authors.”<\/p>\n

They think that if you didn\u2019t go through the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing world, you\u2019re just playing make believe. You weren\u2019t validated. You\u2019re lacking your medallion, your punch card, your chip.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re never going to convince those folks, so don\u2019t bother. They want to play in the walled garden. You\u2019re out hiking in a national forest.<\/p>\n

The second perception problem, though, is inward facing: We sometimes allow ourselves to doubt what we\u2019re doing, and whether it\u2019s \u201creal.\u201d We hear criticism or just well-meaning advice from friends and family, trying to help us keep our expectations from being too high, to keep our feet firmly on the ground. Sometimes we just whisper those things to ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat am I doing? Do I really think this is going to work? No one\u2019s buying my books. No one\u2019s reading. Every review is terrible. I don\u2019t have the money to pay for ads. I can\u2019t afford that writing software. I\u2019m awful at social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no enemy more vicious and capable of tearing us to shreds in the shortest time possible than we, ourselves. We\u2019re merciless with ourselves.<\/p>\n

We have to start with a decision.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0are<\/i>\u00a0real writers, because of one simple fact: We write.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0are<\/i>\u00a0real authors, because of the fact that we\u00a0have written<\/i>.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0are<\/i>\u00a0real publishers, because we have done the work and put out the book.<\/p>\n

If we aren\u2019t doing those things yet,\u00a0we\u2019re<\/i>\u00a0committed to getting them done<\/i>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s who we are. We don\u2019t quit. We just\u00a0do<\/i>. And we succeed, even if that success is a tiny spark at the start. Every flame starts as that tiny spark. Every raging inferno starts with a tiny flame.<\/p>\n

You are the real author you pretend to be, because it turns out you haven\u2019t been pretending at all.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what software you use. Authors have written Pulitzer Prize winners with nothing but a stub of a pencil and some scraps of napkin.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter whether you can design your own covers in Photoshop\u2014apps like Canva<\/a> can help you design a cover with a few clicks.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter whether you can afford to or even figure out how to run ads. There are gloriously successful authors who find their audience using nothing but word of mouth.<\/p>\n

None of the things that feel intimidating or scary or overwhelming to you can stop you\u2014because\u00a0you are a real author<\/i>.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Write, and you are a writer.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s as simple as\u00a0anything<\/i>\u00a0gets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve followed D2D online, tuning in to our livestreams and podcasts, you\u2019ve heard me mention my co-worker, Elyssa. She\u2019s brilliant, and I honestly don\u2019t know how we\u2019d get anything done around this place without her. Today happens to be her birthday (happy birthday, Elyssa!), which is kind of coincidental to me writing this particular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[469],"tags":[510,272,509,508,58,493],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-1726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author-how","tag-daily-writing","tag-discipline","tag-encouragement","tag-imposter-syndrome","tag-inspiration","tag-motivation"],"yoast_head":"\n"Am I a REAL author?" - Draft2Digital | Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Imposter syndrome is a challenge for many, and writers are not immune. 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