Ten Things About LM Preston

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When I first started on my writing journey, I was extremely naïve. If I had it to do over again I would have researched the publishing business inside and out, hired a writing coach if I had the money or taken some classes before I sat down to write the first word. It would have saved me a school full of hardknocks 😀

Here’s my list, read it, breathe it, learn from it.

1. Being a writer means being able to take rejection, critiques, and to grow and thrive in spite of it.

2. Being a writer means I have to sell myself, learn how to, and it all starts with selling your stuff to a beta reader, then to a lit agent, a publisher, a reviewer, and then to your audience.

3. As a writer, I’m a business owner, and my business is my career.  My product is my works. 

4. Being a writer opens doors that you wouldn’t believe! And you don’t even have to be published to get those doors opened! There are tons of soon-to-be published authors doing amazing things that they only would have pursued if they were writers.

5. I wished I would have researched the publishing business from the author side, the publisher side, the indie publisher side, the promotions side, the marketing side – doggone it – every side!

6. Being a writer means having a platform – yep, friends on twitter, a meaningful blog, involvement in a writers’ organization – as an active member.

7. I can market my book before it’s even published! Create a book trailer, share teasers, promo samples on twitter, do contest, and get myself out there!

8. Conferences, pitch sessions, agent inboxs are great places to get face time with agents. I should have hung out there.

9. Use Beta Readers, Critique Partners and Writing Groups to build a better product. As the writer, you want to know what the reader is getting out of your work.

10.Realize that anything I write is marketable (once it’s edited professionally, beta read, critiqued and flushed out) I need to figure out what that market is and not be afraid to go into unknown territory to promote it and myself. (i.e., anthologies, magazines online or print, or even sell it myself.)

I end this list to say, once you learn the business, you’ll know how you fit in, how many ways you can create your own success, and you’ll know that giving up simply isn’t an option when YOU decide your destiny.

By LM Preston