I’m working on a class about this, so that’s forthcoming, but I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about and discussing what, exactly, this means. It is, in my opinion, vitally important (as you might have guessed by the fact that I’m creating a class about it). So what, exactly, do I mean when I talk about it?
Authorship, at its core, is the state of being an author. Which I know sounds esoteric as heck, but stick with me here. For me, the defining characteristic that divides author from writer isn’t publication, it’s this: taking seriously the business of book publishing and deciding you want to make this your vocation. Whether it’s part time or full time, you are dedicating yourself to your writing and acknowledging and accepting the hard work and effort that comes with it. And not just the writing of your book.
As I’ve done a lot of blogs on lately (it’s on my mind with the release of my novel, Fallen, coming up in January), the business end of writing is a kraken we all must wrestle eventually. And authorship is part of that. The first step is to make the clear-eyed decision if you really want to do this and all that comes with it.
Before I go further, let me add something, though. There’s no shame in deciding, “Oh, I really don’t feel like marketing and business and all that is for me; I just want to write.” I will never tell you your art is a waste of time. The value of art is not exclusively in money, and doing art just for the sake of it has immense value. Please never think that choosing not to pursue a career as an author is some kind of failure. It isn’t.
Now, with that said for those of you who do want to make this a career, it will require a few things from you:
- You need to do some research on the industry.
- Cultivate contacts with other authors. (Make friends!)
- Create public-facing media accounts on social media.
- Make a website (even a free one is better than nothing!) .
- Study the craft of writing.
- Get to know your genre and learn the expectations readers/consumers of your genre have.
- Consider how to market your book and yourself.
Those seven things, done properly, will put you ahead of the curve when it comes to generating sales and interest amongst the people you want to buy your book. That last one is especially important. People cannot buy a product they don’t know exists. Even if you’re just putting your work out in the world for fun, nobody will find it if they don’t know it exists!
I’m not going to get too deep into authorship in this blog post and take away from my upcoming class, and I know this is a really short post this week. I’m sorry about that. It’s been a long week, and the change of seasons has been causing migraines and EDS pain like nobody’s business. That, and I’ve been doing a lot of technology work for my church, sending out review requests for my novel, and working on learning how to get my newsletter up and running. That’s been an adventure for sure, and it’s required a whole different kind of research. (Shout-out to the author of “Newsletter Ninja” which has been a fantastic resource.)
All of the work I mentioned in the above paragraph (sans the church and my disability issue) is related to the authorship thing, though. I am, at this point in my life, an author. I’m no longer just E. the writer. I’m E. the author, which means I have to do those things and research that stuff and start learning how to make this a thing. For the first time in a long time, I’m very grateful for that (almost) associate’s degree in business management. I was a few credits away from it when I swapped majors, but I learned more than enough to be able to understand what I’m doing now.
Mostly.
E. Prybylski has been in the publishing industry as an editor since 2009, starting at Divertir Publishing and eventually partnering with her close friend Richard Belanger to begin Insomnia Publishing.
Ever since childhood, E. has been an avid reader and writer of fantasy. The first chapter book she remembers reading is The Hobbit, followed swiftly by most of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series. In high school, she perfected the skill of walking while reading without slamming into anyone. Mostly.
When she isn’t reading or writing, E. is an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism and has a B.A. in European history from SNHU. In addition to her many historical pursuits, E. is a musician of multiple instruments, a cat mom, and a loving wife to her husband, J. E. also speaks out for the disability and chronic illness communities being a sufferer of chronic migraines and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
