Though professional behavior should go without saying in your field of work–in this case, publishing–you’d be surprised just how damned infrequent it is. It’s important to remember, people perceive who you are as a person as well as who you are as a writer by your behavior. Like it or not, them’s the breaks. Here are a few tips:
Writing what you want versus writing what will sell
Most writers have at least one idea—well, let’s be honest, we likely have many ideas—that aren’t all that viable for the marketplace for a variety of reasons. The reality is, a working writer who becomes a part of the “publishing machine” very often must limit their scope to the brand they are establishing. Narrowing our scope isn’t something we like to do as creatives, but it’s an essential part of reaching your developing fan base. This is what publishers are concerned with. If we reach our fan base with a reliable brand, we all make money. If you want to go outside of that brand and you’re anything less than bestselling, opt for a pen name.
Leave a Reply