Author As Entrepreneur

Category: Personal Growth and Development

  • Attend A Writers Conference to Expand Your Opportunities

    I’ve been writing for most of my life, albeit, entirely without income or notoriety to show for it, but I’m embarrassed to say that I had never taken the time to attend a writer’s conference until last year. I finally took the plunge at the 2024 Blue Lake Christian Writers Conference because I was familiar with the location, since I had attended many other retreats and conferences there in the past; it was within a relatively short driving distance from where I live, so I could drive to it without having to resort to commercial travel; and an esteemed author/blogger and acquisitions editor, Terry Whalin, whom I greatly admired, was going to be on the faculty. Even then, due to my job constraints at the time, I was able to attend only two of the four days. That will be different in 2025, as I intend to take full advantage of the entirety of the conference’s offerings.

    It isn’t that I didn’t see the value in it throughout my lifetime, but I simply didn’t make it a priority. The hindrances (excuses) were either justifying setting aside the time on my schedule as a full-time pastor (or as a full-time active duty Army Chaplain for over nine years at one point) or having the personal finances to spare or any number of other seemingly “good” reasons for postponing or procrastinating.

    Procrastination–yeah, that’s a big one for me. I could always find a good reason why “now is not the time.” Meanwhile, I shelved my dream of writing a book “one day” until I had more time or more money or more success at being published. After all, I believed I should have had some publishing success before I dared to mingle with other accomplished writers. However, that simply is not a prerequisite for attending a writers conference, because writers conferences are as much about helping aspiring writers get into the business as they are for helping established writers improve their skills and find fresh opportunities.

    I did finally make the time to write not only one but six books to date, but I chose the independent publishing route because of my lack of success in grabbing an editor’s interest theretofore and my lack of any network connections with anyone in the industry. Had I attended a writers conference sooner, I might have gained both of these greatly-desired outcomes long ago. Though I had amassed a nice collection of books personally autographed by the authors over many years, I was not personally acquainted or even professionally acquainted with any of them. However, in just two days at the Blue Lake Christian Writers Conference, I managed to make multiple connections and glean an immense amount of information for improving my writing and publishing opportunities.

    If insufficient personal finances is one of your hindrances, as it was for me for many years, consider getting an extra part-time job to save up the funds to pay for it. If other commitments prevent you from taking on another job, consider gathering up a bunch of used items you no longer need from around your house and put them up for sale on eBay or Craigslist or even by hosting a garage sale one or more weekends. I don’t advise taking out a loan, including adding it to your credit card if you don’t have the means to pay the bill when it comes due, but perhaps you might suggest to your family members and/or friends to give you cash instead of other gifts for special occasions such as your birthday or Christmas to help you fulfill your writing and publishing dream. I’m sure you can come up with a few more ideas of your own to accomplish this goal.

    Determine right now to attend at least one writers conference sometime within the next year or two. It has the potential to supercharge your dream and propel your entrepreneurial writing career far beyond your expectations. If you don’t know of any writers conferences, do an Internet search and narrow the list down to those within driving distance to save a little on travel expense.

    Don’t make the mistake I’ve made by procrastinating and making excuses for delaying your dream any longer. Take action now. You’ll be glad you did.

  • New Goals for a New Blog in the New Year

    New Goals for a New Blog in the New Year

    Happy New Year, everyone! With a new year comes a another chance for a fresh start. Whether or not you like to set New Year’s resolutions, you can set new goals for yourself nonetheless.

    I stopped making New Year’s resolutions years ago because I never seemed to stick with them. I realize now that the problem was not with failing to stick with my resolutions so much as failing to exercise self-discipline in my efforts to fulfill them. I still decline to make “official” New Year’s resolutions anymore, but I continue to set goals for myself throughout the year. I encourage you to do the same.

    I think perhaps the two most important aspects of effectively setting personal goals are as follows:

    1. Make them attainable. If they are too lofty–or unattainable–you will easily discourage yourself and give up too soon. Focus initially on lower-ranking goals that you feel very confident in achieving in a relatively short amount of time. Accomplishing just one goal will give you the personal satisfaction and encouragement you need to spur yourself on to the next goal. There’s nothing quite like having just a little success to instill confidence to try to accomplish the next important goal.
    2. Make them measurable. If you don’t establish a reasonable metric for identifying when you’ve succeeded, how will you know if you’ve reached your goal? If your goal is one that can be reached in one step, the metric is simple: you know you achieved your goal when you complete the task. However, if your goal requires completing multiple steps, then use each step as another metric in the process to fulfilling the ultimate goal. For instance, if your goal is to walk a mile, then you can count everything from putting on your walking shoes to returning home and removing them as individual steps in the process. Choosing a writing or publishing goal can be measured in much the same way.

    To be an author entrepreneur, you need to determine a list of ways you can use your writing skills to attain income. Following are just a few examples for you to consider:

    1. Write an article for a magazine
    2. Write a serial short story or novel for a magazine
    3. Write a blog post about the craft of writing
    4. Write a blog post about choosing the right publishing method
    5. Write a blog post about hiring an editor, cover designer, and/or manuscript formatter for publication
    6. Write a blog post about how to find a literary agent
    7. The list could go on, of course, but I think you get the point.

    Setting either of these tasks as a personal goal is attainable and can be measured by the steps required to achieve it. You simply have to select it and then map it out step by step.

    During the coming year and beyond, my personal goal is to continue adding meaningful articles to this blog that will help writers of all sorts achieve their dreams of becoming the author they wish to be. The entrepreneurial aspect of being a writer simply cannot be ignored, however, whether you intend to be a completely independent author and publisher or you intend on landing a big deal with a major, world-renowned publisher. Therefore, I intend to include articles on this blog that will enable every sort of writer to attain various aspects of his/her dream of becoming an accomplished author. I will write many of the articles myself, but I will also welcome articles from other authors, both well-known and unknown, who can provide their own insights into how to succeed in the world of writing and publishing.

    If you wish to submit an article detailing your own personal knowledge and experiences about writing and publishing, simply use the contact page on this blog site to make your pitch. All I ask is that you make the article you submit exclusive to the Author As Entrepreneur blog site. You may retain your copyright ownership of the content, but you must grant reprint rights to the Author As Entrepreneur site to use in perpetuity for as long as the Author As Entrepreneur site continues to exist. You may include links to your own blog site(s), website(s), and any other sites with which you may have an affiliate partner relationship. There will be no financial compensation from Author As Entrepreneur for accepting your article, but the reciprocal internet traffic, search engine optimization, personal notoriety, and potential for sales of products or services you may offer on your site(s) will hopefully make up for that shortfall.

    I look forward to engaging with you as we embark on this magnificent and mutually beneficial endeavor. Here’s to glorious success for one and all!