Thinking about becoming an author?

So, you're thinking about becoming an author…

Before you do anything else, you should ask yourself WHY you want to be a writer.

It's important to be brutally honest when doing so. As with most things in life, there are multiple paths and means of getting from point A to point B, and becoming a successful writer is no different.

Your definition of success is directly related to your WHY.

Writers write for many reasons. Some feel they have a story in them and are simply compelled to tell it. Others use writing as a form of self-expression, wanting to share their thoughts with the world. Many wish to share some unique knowledge or perspective they have with others and feel that writing a book is the best outlet for that. Some write for therapeutic reasons, putting their thoughts down on paper to help them overcome trauma or negative experiences. Others write to gain public awareness or to establish themselves as an authority on a given subject. Many write for financial gain only and search for topics and genres that are focused on that outcome regardless of their own personal interest in them. Some authors are legacy authors, writing from a desire to leave their mark on the world or to pass down their experiences to their children. Whatever your motivation might be, the result is written content, and that content needs to be read.

Writers may fit neatly into any of those possibilities or even several, but if you are reading this you are probably motivated by a desire to tell stories. Stories similar to the ones that you read as a child and still read today. That and the fact that you love the craft of writing. For you, it serves as a creative outlet that simply needs to be let out. The process alone gives you joy. You write because you cannot not-write.

And if you can make a little money by doing so, well that's okay too.

Financial gain is a strong motivator. Who wouldn't love to make a living doing what they would gladly do for free? But most writers who are just starting out view the income from their writing as a nice bonus, and not the end goal.

Your motivation for writing will play a large part in both your level of proficiency and your financial success. Finishing chapter seven because you wrote chapter six yesterday should not be what gets you out of bed in the morning, but rather rushing through your morning routine so you can get to your desk and find out what happens next to your main character.

When it comes to writing, it's not what you do, it's WHY you do it.

"You don't write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.  F. Scott Fitzgerald"

What's your WHY?

It's important to be honest about your motivation. Many would-be writers embark on the journey because they wish to be famous, rich, or a version of themselves that they always dreamed of being but never took the steps to be. They wish to be writers the same way they wish to be movie stars, Olympic athletes, or business tycoons. They focus on the end result and not the work that needs to be done to get them there.

They aren't being truthful about WHY they want to write a book.

Starting is easy. Finishing, not so much.

Let's look at some statistics:

For every 1,000 people who start a book, only 30 will go on to complete it.

Of those 30 people, only around 20% will go on to publish their work.

This means that out of those original 1,000 people, only 6 will end up with a published book.

That's the bad news.

Being one of those six writers does not require a herculean effort, a total recalibration of one's life, or the ability to go days without sleep, it simply takes a realistic view of the steps required and putting a solid plan in place to reach them. If you're reading this you are already on your way to accomplishing both.

The good news is that there is now NOTHING standing in the way of you the writer getting your book into the hands of the millions of readers out there. The process involves some study, some patience, and some work, but none of it is insurmountable, nor does it require permission from anyone. The days of gatekeepers ruling the publishing world are over. If you wish to be a published author, you can be.

But back to your WHY.

Knowing what you are up against.

Reading the above statistics, knowing that there is actual work involved, accepting that it will take a significant investment of both your time and your money, and then deciding that you will write your book anyway, is the first step.

So be honest with yourself and set the correct goals.

• Is writing something you wish to make a career?

• Is it a hobby that you wouldn't mind making a few extra dollars a month doing?

• Is it a springboard that will help establish you as an expert on a given subject or field of work?

• Is it something you wish to add to your resume to get a leg up on the other candidates?

• Is it a way to immortalize your life story for your family to read after you have passed?

• Is it a way to acquire fame?

• Is it an item on your bucket list that you wish to check off?

• Is it something you wish to try and hopefully continue?

All of these reasons are fine, but they will each require a different approach.

"A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage.  Lorrie Moore"

What's required?

Let's look at the basics of a novel and outline what it takes to produce one.

The average novel can range anywhere from 60,000 to 120,000 words. I say average as they differ by genre with Epic Fantasy coming in at well over that for several volumes and Young Adult averaging much less at around 50,000.

The rule of thumb for estimating words per page is 250.

So a standard thriller of 100,000 words would be about 400 pages*.

*While traditionally published authors are held quite stringently to these parameters indie authors can venture outside them to their heart's content. However, trade publishing houses have decades of data to draw from and know what length readers expect from the genres they purchase. The wise author knows to stay within those expected word counts.

If you intend to write a thriller you'll need to come up with 100,000 words. You can do so 1,000 words at a time, or 5,000 words at a time, it's entirely up to you and we'll discuss output in future posts. These numbers are mentioned here to give you an idea of what is involved in writing a novel.

Whatever your writing output per day, that's the denominator in your timeline to completion. One thousand words a day means your 100,000-word novel will take 100 days to write. At 2,000 words a day, your novel will be complete in 50 days.

Understanding this math will help you set your writing goals. Most indie authors set goals based on either time (I will write for 60 minutes a day) or output (I will write 1,500 words per day). Some do both. You may need to experiment to discover what works best for you.

The four basic components of the indie author business are:

1. Write the Book

2. Publish the Book

3. Market the Book

4. Manage the Business

This is an oversimplification of what is actually a very complex business, but it's accurate in terms of priorities. Your ScribeCount Author Resources library covers all of the above in the sections available to you.

Writing a book is no small feat, but it is achievable. It starts with a commitment and a plan. We discuss the plan in the Your Indie Author Plan article in this section.

So, what's it going to take?

There is a lot to learn and if you are just starting out I urge you to not let the volume of material overwhelm you. Take it one step at a time and in the order presented. Work your way through the articles in each section and you'll find that things naturally progress from start to finish, giving you a solid base of knowledge to work from.

How will you learn?

The best way for ME to learn is by reading, so I do as much of it as possible. I've tried every other form of education on the face of the earth and reading has always been the best for me when it comes to absorbing and retaining knowledge. Others prefer video. Others still prefer the lecture and one-on-one instruction. Some people love podcasts and watch or listen to hours of them. You should know what works best for you and find the best resources to fill that learning need. If you are reading this you already know that ScribeCount offers a large library of articles covering every aspect of the indie publishing world. Those articles get updated regularly as the landscape changes and you can see that update at the top of every one. How much time do you need to set aside for learning?

Writing communities are another source of free information and guidance. Many, such as the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), Novelists Inc. (NINC), and the Romance Writers of America (RWA) offer some form of free access to their online communities. Authors who are just starting out should take advantage of these.

Whatever resources you use to educate yourself, take them in and then apply them. Reading about writing and actually writing are two different things, but both are necessary and complement each other well. A writer who never reads will never improve beyond their current level. A writer who only reads will never produce anything to improve upon.

So the answer to the question at the start of this article is yes, you absolutely should think about becoming an author. And then you should stop thinking about it and start writing.

Conclusion

Whatever your WHY, the path to becoming an author has never been more accessible. The tools, platforms, and communities available to indie authors today would have been unimaginable to writers of a generation ago. Take the first step. Write the first word. The rest follows.

Welcome to indie publishing,

Randall