Careers as an Author-Part I

Have you always dreamed of writing a book?  Are you procrastinating in getting started?  This article will inspire you to start.   I will base the information on my experience in writing and getting “99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Landing Your Dream Job” published as a non-fiction book.

1. Writing: Many books win awards for being best written but more books get noticed for being best selling.  Doubts and fears around getting published will stop you from getting started.  You do not need a publisher to write a book.  My first book, “Land Your Dream Job in 12 Weeks of Less” was self-published.  To self-publish purchase an ISBN number which can be found below the bar code on all published books.
2. Selling: According to Daisy Maryles of Publishers Weekly, an estimated 200,000 books are published each year in the United States, and less than 1% achieves best seller status.  If you sell 5000 copies in Canada you are considered a best seller.  I make $1 for each book that I sell-which is standard.  As a best seller I make $5000 for two years work.  Bill and Hillary Clinton received advances to write their books which means they were payed before the book was written or sold.  They got 12 and 8.5 million dollars respectfully.
3. Why write? The odds suck.  Very few authors make sustainable income.  You write because you have no choice.  You absolutely have to.  There is a voice inside of you that has to come out.  You MUST express yourself.  It is a matter of life and death.  To write is to be you.  You cannot imagine how crappy your life will turn out if you do not share what is inside of you.
4. Progress: Your first book will not be your last.  As you write you mature as a communicator and you find your style and equally important your audience.  Your followers will find you.  They have been waiting for your message.  You cannot grow if you do not have other people reading your work.
5. Humility: You may not believe that you have something worth publishing.  The definition of humility can be described as not being better than anyone else, or worse.  To compare yourself to others, not from a competitive perspective, but from a better than or worse than perspective will destroy your confidence.
6. Getting noticed: Fill a need.  Peter Drucker went to the library in 1954 to find a book that would help one manage a business, “but there was nothing,” which is “why I had to make it up” (jeffreykrames.com, 2009).  His book is still in print today.  When I visited the library and did a search online there was not one book on how to find work in one day.  That is why I wrote my second book “The One Day Dream Job Challenge”.

To learn how I landed a publishing deal please read next weeks article.

Philippe Desrochers, known as Dr. Career is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.

 

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