11.12.15 - On The Writer and ROI: Return on Investment

I was talking to a writer friend the other day about the sacrifices we have to make in order to have long and storied careers as writers. I mentioned the idea of a Writer's ROI, that everything we do is adding another quarter to the piggy bank of our careers, and she asked me to write more about it. I think it's a useful topic to think about, so here goes. 

ROI, or return on investment, is a common financial term. Its formula is thusly explained: ROI= (Gain from investment — Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment.

In other words, it’s very easy to gauge how much money you’ve made on an investment if you subtract the gain from the cost and divide it by the initial cost. Positive ROI means you’ve made a good investment. Negative ROI and you’ve messed up somewhere.

So how does this term apply to the writer’s life?

In simplest terms, your publisher is certainly running ROIs on you. They look at a book, run a P&L (profit and loss statement — excellent examples here from Jane Friedman) decide what it’s worth to them to publish you, make an offer of advance against royalties (which you will either accept, negotiate, or reject.) Assuming you come to terms, you then need to help sell said book in order to make their investment worth it.

The way you do this is by writing a kick ass book, obviously, but also in the courtship of readers: through direct means (social media), through booksellers, conferences, and the like. All the while, you’re writing a new book for them, one that will get an even bigger advance, and so on, and so on. Every sale counts against that advance you were given, in the general range of 8% - 12% of cover price for physical copies, and 25% of net for an ebook. The readers are investing in you just as the publisher is, helping you grow, to earn out those contracts, and keep getting new contracts. (The goal of your personal ROI is to keep you writing, in case you hadn't picked up on that.) 

Everyone at some point in this process has the moment of — OMG, my book is going to make the New York Times list, become a blockbuster film starring Angelina Jolie-Pitt, be publishing simultaneously in 50 territories, and I will retire and rest on my laurels forever!  This happens, sure it does, but if you’re approaching your writing career thinking you’re going to write a single book and the rest will take care of itself, you’re 99.9% in for a rude awakening.

The sad thing is, many truly excellent authors get discouraged if the scenario doesn’t play out the way they’ve envisioned. Or this scenario *does* happen, and then they’re paralyzed to create anything new, so they do rest on their laurels, and find out the universal truth of life — this too shall pass.

So for the rest of us, thinking about your career, your trajectory, your responsibilities to yourself and your readers, can be looked at in terms of your own personal ROI. You invest in yourself. You build your career, one word at a time, one deadline met at a time, one book sold at a time. You stay humble and focused and write hard. You help other authors by shamelessly promoting their work; you mentor newbies. If the big breakthrough doesn’t happen immediately, you still know that you’ve done it all right, and you’re going to keep plugging away until you do have that breakout book.

Building isn’t always fun. It’s hard. There are many sacrifices. Trips to conferences take time away from family and cost a lot of money. Honoring your writing time can be seen as being selfish (especially for women.) Books are published poorly, or orphaned. Life gets in the way.

But if you take this career seriously, if you take yourself and your art seriously, you will plan for these inevitabilities. You will make the appropriate sacrifices, at the appropriate times. You will manage your expectations. Your investment in yourself will begin to grow, to show fruit.

Your next book advance might be a little bigger. The reviews might be a little better. The publisher might ask you to meet with some booksellers, or attend a trade show. And you’ll do it, willingly, because you take yourself and your craft and your career seriously.

And so on.

Maybe another term for ROI, one creatives may be more familiar with, is *paying your dues*.

You pay your dues in this industry so you’re not a flash in the pan. You became a writer because you wanted to write, not because you thought you’d be feted in Hollywood. Right? *Right?*

So you write. And you sacrifice. And you recognize that you are climbing the mountain, one glorious step at a time. You are earning your way to the top. Your ROI is growing a nice little nest egg by the point, too. The money is getting better. The work is getting harder, though — something you must prepare yourself for.

Let me say it again. **The work gets harder**. The more your ROI increases, the more demands there will be on your time. The more the publisher will ask for, the more your readers will expect. You have to juggle the career, the social media and marketing and conferences and bookseller meetings and tours, with writing another book that surpasses the one you’ve just been out selling to the world. It can be rough. It can seem nigh on impossible sometimes.

This career — earning the moniker of author — it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s hard. There are speed bumps. Careers wax and wane. The industry shifts. Genres that were once wildly popular fall out of favor. Editors leave to have babies. There are takeovers and mergers. Publishing is cyclical if nothing else, and understanding that is the key to having a long, fruitful career.

And as for your ROI, you might not have a lot to show for it right away.

But if you keep investing in yourself, in your art, in your career, one day soon, you will hit the mark you’ve set for yourself.

So write hard, my friends. The world is your oyster, and you, you are the shining pearl. (A black pearl, of course, because if you’re a writer, you’re a damn renegade, so own it!)

10.29.15 - On Trying To Be All Things To All People

On Friday mornings, when I go to the coffee house with some writer friends to socialize myself, I’m only supposed to be writing blogs. 

But once again, my day got away from me and here I am, with nothing to show for it except a wad of business done.

No fiction words, no worthwhile non-fiction words. Nothing but sheer annoyance at myself for letting this happen — again — and a vague unease that permeates everything I’m doing these days. 

I have a lot on my plate right now. This is not a surprise to anyone who knows me. I usually function well in this construct. The pressure works for me, most of the time. It keeps me focused, and allows me the freedom to do what I long to do most: say No to things.

Saying No is very, very hard for an author.

There is a so much more to writing now than simply writing a book. You must wear a million hats: writer, marketer, bookseller, social networker, publicist, travel agent. I’m not complaining (well, maybe a little) because the hats I wear outside of being a writer are fun for me. I am a small business owner; my business being my writing, and there are things that must happen outside of story to help that business grow and flourish.

In the course of helping my business flourish, I read a lot of marketing and promotion tips. I read this article last week. The headline grabbed me, as it was meant to do: 4 Ways to Market Yourself As A Writer and Author. 

When I decide to read something, my thought process is affected by short, pithy pitches. (Let’s not even talk about the 140 unread articles in my Instapaper.) This particular pitch sounded quick and exciting. I clicked on the link, read the article. There were some excellent ideas in it. Things I’m not doing. Ways I can reach more people. 

I immediately tried to figure out where these new options could fit into my retinue of social media outreach. The train of thought made it all the way to “I could have Amy do . . . ” when I cut myself off with a resounding NO!

Amy is my assistant. She’s extraordinary. She’s helping me with things that take a huge amount of my time — like editing, formatting, and self-publishing my short stories (more news on this next week), handling requests from three publishers, updating my websites, keeping me sane . . . all the awesome things great author assistants do to leave writers more time for writing. 

Amy has a lot on her plate, too. My business schematic is something of a hydra right now, and Lord knows SHE doesn’t need more work. I don’t need more work, either.

But these are great new ways to reach readers . . . 

And it hit me, yet again.

*You can’t do everything, JT. You don’t WANT to do everything. Why in the world would you add in MORE?* 

Because, like all writers I know, I am trying to be all things to all people. 

Do you know why publishers have been encouraging writers to engage in the social media arena? They figured out early on that personality sells books. (Some people call this a "platform.")

That’s why they send authors out on tour — so they can make a personal connection with booksellers and readers. That’s why the author website became so important. Why the Facebook likes and Twitter follows and the Instagram clicks and the Pinterest pins and the Tumblr reblogs became such an integral part of the marketing plan. 

Only one thing: there’s a B.I.G. problem with this approach. 

An author has a single job: write books. Write kick-ass, unputdownable books. But now that the author’s personality is being used to sell books, I’m worried the writing isn’t as important anymore.

It’s readily apparent in the writing world, where a kick-ass Twitter feed can outshine the quality of the work, or finding a cool kid on YouTube channel with a huge following, somehow means that having them write a book is appropriate and worth doing. It’s happening in YA, leaking into the thriller world, and finding it’s way into romance. Sci-Fi is overrun with it. Literary — well, there seems to be a modicum of "FU" going around there — sometimes, the more people think you're a jerk, the better the books do. Not sure I get that one . . . 

For so many years, the story was paramount. The voice, the story, the characters: that was how a reader judged the author’s personality. Visually, at most, you got a photo on a jacket cover to go on, though many didn’t bother, and those that did had photos that were sometimes decades out of date. And those small things used to be more than enough to hook a reader. 

Now, authors are expected to do a lot of their own marketing. We have indie publishing, which uses a huge amount of author personality to drive the success or failure of book. Social media has gone from being a great tool to spread news about your latest novel to a way for readers to decide if they actually like the author as a person. And if they like the author, then they’ll buy the book. This worries me greatly.

As more and more of my time is spent trying to make sure readers like me as a person, fewer and fewer words are being written that will hook them for life.

(Don't worry, I am remedying the word count situation. Never, ever will I take off three months from writing again.)

I don’t know the solution, or that there is a real problem here. I love my social media feeds. I love that I can talk to my readers directly. I've had a great time building this network, and it sure as heck helps me sell books. All I know is I won’t be adding in anything more to how I market my books to readers. And there’s a certain relief in that. 

Am I crazy? Is it just me who sees this happening?

10.22.14 - Why Do You Write?

I find the following question to be one of worth to all writers, at every stage of the game, from aspiring to NYT bestseller:

Why do you write? 

I admit to a deep interest in the question. I have a number of author friends whose opinions matter to me a great deal, and I’m curious to see if any of them will stop by and share their answer.* 

I ask also because I recently had the pleasure of attending a writing retreat with a number of brilliant, talented writers, and we touched on this, albeit briefly. I came out of the discussion with this -- I think it’s one of the hardest questions a writer can ask themselves, and truthfully answer.

Because there are a million answers to the question of why create art. Especially when there’s quite a precedent that shows creating our unique “art” does not guarantee fame, fortune, or self-actualization, as so many of us are hoping. On the contrary, it often leads to rack and ruin, unhappiness and divorce, even, at its worst, death.

So why do we keep at it? What is it that drives us?

Here’s a top of mind list of why we write (and by write, I mean create, in any form):

• To be read
• To make a living
• To win awards
• To become famous
• To get a job
• To tell stories that need to be told
• To entertain
• To affect change
• To give people something to think about
• To alter the course of humanity
• To show someone you can
• To get rich
• To win over a love interest
• To get revenge
• To chase away demons
• To satisfy some indefinable inner urge to write
• To heal thyself

There are many more reasons. What do you think, fellow scribblers? Are you willing to share why you do it? I’ll go first. 

I write to entertain, to affect change, to make a living, to chase away demons, to heal my soul, and because I can’t imagine doing anything else.

What about you?

*The comments section of the blog is back open! All previous issues with SPAM have been fixed, and I’ve discovered I like having the conversation here. So feel free to join in, writer and reader alike!

Best Links of the Week

Settle in, because there are lots of great links to read this week, starting with what's possibly the most important advice for writers wanting to get published:

Writer Unboxed » The Biggest Mistake Writers Make and How to Avoid it  ("Writing is taught everywhere, but not story.")

And we all have these moments, when it just doesn't work. I Hate It — But I Wrote It | Writerly Life 

On The Kill Zone, James Scott Bell tackles A Writer's Ego, which is absolutely excellent. 

From Information Diet, some truth - Notifications are evil  I have all my notifications turned off. Why be a slave to them? Which ties right into the next wonderful observation, Today's Technologies Need an Off-the-Hook Option  The new iOS6 operating system on my phone has a Do Not Disturb option which can be tailored however I need it. If I could only do this with my home phone....

My friend Barbara Claypole White blogs about OCD and Believable Characters. Her new book, THE UNFINISHED GARDEN, is wonderful.

Author Bryan Hall writes a very provocative, and pretty darn true essay on The Lazy Writer 

In the age of Facebook, how do you keep you manage to stay friends with people you don't agree with politically? How to Use Mindfulness to Keep Your Friends During the Election  I loved this - and it applies to much more than just politics

This essay cracked me up and made me sd at the same time. Just Freaking Call Me It's so true, too - 20 minutes of texting can be eliminated if you'd just pick up the phone! It's good to see that our texting generation is realizing that phones do work. ERMEGERD!

And from the super cool category: Far From ‘Junk,’ DNA Dark Matter Proves Crucial to Health Can you imagine - all that DNA junk they thought didn't matter, does. Pretty soon they'll figure out why we need a spleen.

Are You Really A Writer?

We are our own worst enemies when it comes to taking ourselves seriously.

We want to be writers. We want to share with people that we're writers. We want to sell a gazillion copies of our books and be lauded for our efforts. But when it comes down to it, to that butt in chair, time to get to work, we ... fall away.

Ooh, look at that! Shiny objects! Magpies! RSS Feeds! So many people out there saying so many things and I might miss something if I don't pay attention to everything all at once and what happens if I really try this and what if no one likes it is that a reflection on me do they hate me why won't anyone take me seriously I better go eat some worms.

Yeah. The writer's mind is an ugly place sometimes. We writers are damn good at finding ways to talk ourselves OUT of success.

So I'll say it again. No one will take you seriously if you don't take yourself seriously.

I read this great essay last week on the Writerly Life blog called Be Proud of Your Writing. It's about the bizarre self-deprecation we do when we share about out art. We talk around it, like our passion for it is a bad thing. But without passion, what else do we have? Passion equals drive equals success.

I think the difference between the one-offs and the glory seekers and real writers is our unique brand of passion. For literature. For books and bookstores and readers. For creativity. For living on the soul-sucking edge of the pit of despair and dancing with fairies on the tips of the Himalayas - which is basically how we spend all of our days, teetering between the two. For the words, man. The words.

I've been on a Hemingway kick lately, and one thing you can NEVER accuse that man of is lacking passion. He lived for his words. His words made his life bearable. Even through the alcohol and the women and the eventual pain that chased him into the grave, the words were what made him complete. And tore him apart.

Done by twelve, drunk by three.

It might not be healthy, but it's a schedule. Find a schedule, and stick to it, no matter what. Schedules become habits. Habits create consistent output. And consistent output allows you to have a successful career. No one can buy your brilliant novel if you don't sit down and write the thing.

I realize this is sort of two topics in one - but I think the two issues are inextricably linked. Passion in and of itself isn't enough. You have to have skills too. And skills are born of good, healthy habits, habits that include believing in your work. Believeing in yourself. Not allowing the brown noise that oozes through the internet to leak into your delicate ears. Tune it out. Tune out the naysayers, and the shouters and the chestbeaters. Don't let them influence you. Write for you, not for the market. Write what you're passionate about. Do it well, and it will find a home.

The next time you catch that urge to demean your writing, or your writing life, or distract yourself because you're scared, stop. Remember the passion that drove you to write in the first place. Embrace it. Give thanks for it. Take it out for dinner. Maybe even buy it a new pair of shoes. Never, ever, EVER, put yourself and your writing down.

Because if you don't take yourself seriously, then who will?