Preparation - A-Z Challenge, Starting & Sustaining A Writing Career

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Are you prepared for the big times?

What big times? you might ask.

I'm thinking about the day/s to come when you've published a book or two and people begin to find your work. Readers can be voracious and once your story hits the right spot with a fan, he/she will go searching on Amazon to find what else you've written.

It's tempting to slack off when that first book doesn't yield an immediate best-seller or more than a few sales, but come the day readers start finding your book/s, you'll regret your lack of preparation.

As I've noted before, the time to buckle down and get your stories written is before you have that publishing contract or before you self-pub that first book. Writers seemingly have a bottomless well of stories to draw from and with that kind of creativity, it makes sense to those stories flowing from your fingertips.

This is where some of the things we've discussed will start coming in handy—creativity, discipline and fortitude. You don't want to be caught in a situation where one of your books is selling well and you get in a hurry to write the next one because readers are tweeting and Facebooking you asking, when? When? When? And yep, it's possible because in 2015 when readers have direct access to authors, you are only a message away from your fans.

Are you working on your next opus?


Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.    
                                                                            - Confucius

You have to rely on your preparation. You've got to really be passionate and try to prepare more than anyone else, and put yourself in a position to succeed, and when the moment comes you get to enjoy, relax, breathe and rely on your preparation so that you can perform and not be anxious or filled with doubt.


                                                                           - Steve Nash

10 comments:

  1. My motto has always been "Preparation is the key to success".
    I'm great at prepping, not so great with the follow through. I'm obviously not as good a prepper as I thought I was. I need to work on my discipline, like you say!
    Good post.

    Bushman
    2015 A to Z Challenge Ambassador
    @jwb81074



    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for dropping by The Den.☺ So glad I followed you here! Publishing a book is something I've always wanted to do. I will bookmark your site, so I can go back and read the whole series. Sounds like a wonderful tutorial! The lesson I get from this post is you can't rest on your laurels once you've published something.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Lord, I'm never prepared! It has never been one of my strong-suits. So I guess I better get busy and start writing!
    Michele at Angels Bark

    ReplyDelete
  4. Catching up on your posts, all useful and super relevant. Jeremiad was a new word I learnt. Never really talk about writing, either to complain or to ask for help. I should learn to do it (the latter, not the whingeing) Thanks.

    Nilanjana

    ReplyDelete
  5. I know, I know! I should've been working on something last year...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have never thought of writing, though I want to... And yes preparation is required... :)
    http://shinningappy.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  7. That was one of my rookie mistakes. I got a book out and didn't have another one anywhere near ready to go. Trying not to let that happen again.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I liked the quote by Confucius about success. He is Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher. I have read about Confucius in admission essay writing service.

    ReplyDelete

Don't be shy, I'd love to hear what you think.