You see, you and I could look at each other as competitors. Everyone needs what I call a “cartel.” What Is a Story Cartel?Ī cartel sounds like a sinister thing, but the term just means this: an agreement amongst competitors. It was that no one can do this on their own. Eventually my readers.Īnd what I learned through that process wasn’t how to be a genius author. And more importantly, I had other people who believed in me. There were many times that I wanted to quit as I built a career as a writer, as I did all of those dirty jobs, as I practiced the craft, and as I was generous but felt like no one was paying attention.īut I didn’t quit. The truth is, that if I hadn’t met him, if I hadn’t asked for his help, I wouldn’t be writing to you right now. That writer eventually became a Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He also introduced me to another writer he was mentoring, who edited my first book. Later he hired me for my first full time writing job and helped me find a writing coach, a former classmate who turned out to be a NY Times bestselling writer. After a few years of emailing, we became friends. I had started out as a reader of his blog first. Fortunately for me, one of those people (besides my mom) was another writer, an author of two books. I have never written about this, but for a long time, I was a struggling writer with a bad blog only five people were reading. In fact, I could never have done it on my own. A recluse who rarely ventures into the outside world except to “research” the lives of the subjects of his stories, an entire profession of Emily Dickinsons, pale and contemplative.īut the truth is that when I finally “made it,” when I finally became a full-time writer, got my first book published, and had 80,000 people read my writing in a single year, it didn't look like that at all. When I thought of the stereotypical writer, I pictured a silent, brooding genius who keeps to themselves. I used to believe that to be successful I had to live in some shack in Mexico and just write. That's what you'll do in Foundations of Publishing, our platform and publishing course. In fact, you'll be far more successful when you join a community of writers to work together. And this one belief is limiting the careers of so many writers (perhaps yours). Or maybe you believe that you will have to do all the work of publishing, all the printing, promotion, and marketing, all on your own.Īlmost every writer I talk to, especially struggling writers, tells me, yes, they do feel like they're trying to meet their writing goals all alone. Perhaps you believe you have to hide yourself in some attic in Paris and write until you come out with a masterpiece, a book so good you can get discovered by some New York publisher who will make all your writing and publishing dreams come true? Have you ever felt that if you’re going to make it as a writer, it’s all up to you? That it's all on your shoulders to prove yourself and your talent?
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