E.G. Rand’s Advice: 6 Tips for New and Aspiring Authors
I get asked a lot about how to get into writing. For me, writing wasn’t something I “got into.” My earliest memories are of writing or reading… listening to audiotapes on old headphones while wandering the Pennsylvania woods, reading through the entire Goosebumps catalog, or scribbling out short stories at my grandparents 17th century farmhouse, while ghosts peered at me over the top of the spiral staircase.
I’ve always been writing, and I went to college at Hofstra University for Publishing and English Lit. My whole life has been engineered to be writing. But that doesn’t have to be the case for everyone. Many successful writers started out later in life.
If you are looking for advice on writing, here is what I’ve got:
If you don’t read books, don’t bother
This is harsh, but this whole thing is harsh, so I am just going to shoot straight with you guys: If you can’t be bothered to read a book, you have no business writing anything.
If you want to make movies, or video games, look into doing that. Writing a book is not a “shortcut” to creating other media. There are no shortcuts here. The first, last, and only step to being a good writer is reading good books. So if you want to be a writer but can’t remember the last book you read, get a library card and get to work.
2. Don’t expect money
If you are interested in writing, expect that you are going to do if for free for a very, very long time.
Sure, we’ve all read Stephen King's On Writing. We all know the story of him getting the phone call: Congrats, you’ve sold your book! The first book you’ve ever written! 200,000 dollars for you! No more working at a shitty high school in Maine! You will be lifted out of poverty and now you're a famous novelist, YAY!
Well, that was in the 70s, and none of us are Stephen King. No one gets 200,000 dollars just dropped on them. Unless you win the lottery, you are going to write for free for a very, very long time. Possibly forever.
3. Be ready to wait, wait, and wait some more
The publishing industry moves at a glacial pace. It just does.
Every part of the process, from querying agents, to getting edits, to getting paid takes several weeks, if not several months. So, get comfortable, you’re going to be waiting for a long time.
4. The cavalry is not coming
The only person promoting your work is you.
You are going to have to be pushy: marketing, getting beta readers, getting any readers really, buying ad space, promoting on podcasts and in-person, you are going to be doing all of it alone and almost entirely out of your own pocket.
Maybe, at some point, you will get access to the holy grail of paid marketing from a publishing house. I want that for both you and I. But for people just starting out, know that you are going to need to get in there and push for people to read your work.
5. Scams are everywhere
Keep your head on a swivel. There are lots of legitimate services that can help you gain views and traction with your novel, but there are even more scams.
I started out by self-publishing Tombstone Teeth and Other Horrors with Book Baby and I had a great experience.
However, there are also lots of scams designed to separate aspiring authors from their money. Be wary of so-called “vanity presses” that charge massive fees. A real publishing house never charges their authors. Use resources like Writers Beware and Authors Publish. Remember, publishing is slow. If something moves too quickly, or seems too good to be true, it probably is.
6. Don’t expect validation
Do you feel like your life is out of control? Lost touch with yourself and your purpose? By all means, you should write that book.
But it's not going to fix you. It’s not going to make you feel any better, either.
There is no adoring public and no round of applause for just writing a book. Don’t enter this field expecting validation or gratification of any kind. It isn’t a beauty contest or a sports game. When the book is done you’re still you, there is just now a book you wrote that you have to deal with.
Oh, and if it's your first book, it's probably not very good. My first book I wrote, the Rise of the Black Dawn, ended up in the trash. You will probably write and finish several pieces before finishing one that anyone would want to look at. There is nothing wrong with that, it's just the way life works. It’s important to get the “bad art” out of the way to make way for the good stuff.
I do not want to put anyone off of pursuing their dreams. I genuinely believe that most people who love literature have at least one good book in them, and if you have a pulse, you can pull that book into the world.
However, I think I would be remiss to not be honest: being a writer in today's world is humbling. Just because it's you sitting in front of a computer alone doesn’t make it easy or even satisfying. To be a successful writer, you need to ask yourself:
“Would I keep writing, even if it's just for me?”
If no one ever read your writing except you, would you still do it? For me, the answer is yes. I’ve always been writing. I’m never going to stop. As I am fond of saying, I am going to hurl myself at this wall until it breaks or I do. Hopefully that leads to success, I’ll let you guys know!
So, aspiring and current writers, did I nail it? Anything I am missing? Leave a comment below!
