Linda Nelson

Do you belong in this day and age as a writer? Do you feel comfortable being an author of the 21st-century?

Over the past five years the face of publishing has changed drastically. Gone are the days where writers wait years to find a publisher who will like their work and see to it that it makes it into print.

We have entered into the age of instant gratification. In this day and age we want it and we want it now. Long gone are the days of having to search a street for a payphone to make a needed call. Almost everyone has cellphones.

Then there is the internet. In the beginning it was all dial up. At first it seemed instant but as time went on we learned that there were faster methods out there for us to use. That gave way to the birth of DSL and broadband.

Social Media began to develop next. We began to reconnect with friends we hadn’t heard from in ages. My Space was one of the first, quickly followed by Face Book and Twitter.

How has all this affected publishing in the 21^st century?

Our Instant Gratification has led to an army of self-publishing authors who are taking the writing world by storm. They are like the zombie armies in the movie World War Z and they can climb over giant walls to get their books published and out there for their readers to find.

Being an author in the 21^st century means you need to learn how to do it all. You need to learn to be your own marketer, your own publishing house and your own cheerleader. You have to be bold and persevere.

You need to learn that even though we are in a time period of instant gratification you need to learn to wait. Selling books to readers who do not know you exist does not happen overnight it takes time.

So if your book sales are not where you think they should be then do something about it, but make sure it is the proper thing to do.

You ask, what should that proper thing be? Well – just write another book and after that write another and then another and so on, eventually they will find you.

How are you surviving as a writer in the 21^st century? I would love to hear about your trials and travails.

25|6 Weekly Writing Challenge: Love in the 21st Century (familyphotosfoodcraft.com)

Do you have morals you adhere to as a writer?

I know I do.

It is tough to build your morals as a writer/author when you go it alone and there is no one out there to teach you right from wrong. You scan the internet looking for ways to publish your book and get it to sell, but of course you will make mistakes. When you first start out you will stumble a lot along the way.

I’m sure you will do stupid stuff too. It is all part of the learning process.

The morals I have developed over the past few years have come from bits and pieces I have learned on many different blogs I follow. It might be from given advice in the blog or by seeing what another author did that they shouldn’t have done.

No one wants to be an example. Why? Because it is embarrassing, but once you learn to move past the embarrassment it takes you down a whole new path and a learning experience happens.

Examples can be:

poorly edited books you have published
over reacting to bad reviews
becoming offended when you can’t find readers
being offended at a critique session
stalking editors
stalking agents
Putting down other writers books in hopes of making your own look better.

After you get over your embarrassing moment you begin to enter your learning experience. There is no telling how long a denial period is for a newly published author. Some can take years before they are ready to grow from their experience, just like life in general.

Learning experiences can lead to:

Making multiple revisions of your published works until you can’t revise them anymore. Then waiting two years to go by and then taking another look at that story and attempt to revise it once again.
Learning to laugh at reviews or if they still bother you then don’t look at them. A negative review can be used as a heads up saying that maybe you need to return to that story and take another look at it to see if you can make it better.
You can’t shove your story down someone’s throat. If they want to read it then they will read it. Just accept the fact you don’t write for everyone. If you did then you would be God.
Learning that critique sessions are in your best interest. It is a good place to throw out your ideas and maybe brain storm with your colleagues. That is how some best sellers are formed.
If you write it and write it good the editors and agents will come.
Putting down another person’s book is not in your best interest. We all want to be liked and have our stories liked. If you really have found fault with a particular story then don’t leave a review. Give the author a chance to learn to make their story better. Send them an email instead letting them know what they might want to look into to make their story better. It is called paying it forward. Help them to become better writers.

Do you practice a writer’s creed?

Tell me about it. I would love to hear it.