Lance Oren's Blog - Posts Tagged "aspiring-writers"
New Writers Beware.
Recently, I was approached by a young aspiring writer with a question, "how do I become successful as a writer? And what if readers do not like my work?"
All aspiring writers have dreams of writing the next best seller or having it listed on the New York's Times best reads list. The real truth is…it's highly unlikely. The best case scenario is you sell a few to several hundred copies a month at a severely reduced price, say $2.99. I highly encourage all aspiring writers, no matter of age, to follow their dreams by creating their imagination journeys to the printed page, allowing the rest of us to journey with them.
Now, a word of caution, not all your readers will like or enjoy your journey, in fact, some may criticize your work. It's a gauntlet all good writers must endure, either they like it or they don't. It doesn't mean it's not any good, it means it's not their genre or their cup of tea. I recommend that you write to satisfy your own desires of expression, placing your inner feelings upon the printed page, incorporated within villains and heroes, nearby or far away lands.
Polish your work to the best of your ability and have family, friends, and neighbors read it. Hiring editors to polish you work is risky, since they make mistakes as well. A quality trade novel has been proofread, edited and polished by at least ten to fifteen professionals, and still mistakes slip through. Why? They were engrossed in the story; they were sucked into plot, a true sign of a well written story.
Every day eight thousand new novels are presented to the public worldwide, via publishers, internet, or self printed material. So remember your novel, although unique, will enter a sea of written titles. Advertizing is the key to setting your work apart from your competitors. Amazon.com has twenty to thirty million books, more or less, and yours is located where? If readers cannot find it, they cannot but it.
Just remember where would we be without writers, really.
All aspiring writers have dreams of writing the next best seller or having it listed on the New York's Times best reads list. The real truth is…it's highly unlikely. The best case scenario is you sell a few to several hundred copies a month at a severely reduced price, say $2.99. I highly encourage all aspiring writers, no matter of age, to follow their dreams by creating their imagination journeys to the printed page, allowing the rest of us to journey with them.
Now, a word of caution, not all your readers will like or enjoy your journey, in fact, some may criticize your work. It's a gauntlet all good writers must endure, either they like it or they don't. It doesn't mean it's not any good, it means it's not their genre or their cup of tea. I recommend that you write to satisfy your own desires of expression, placing your inner feelings upon the printed page, incorporated within villains and heroes, nearby or far away lands.
Polish your work to the best of your ability and have family, friends, and neighbors read it. Hiring editors to polish you work is risky, since they make mistakes as well. A quality trade novel has been proofread, edited and polished by at least ten to fifteen professionals, and still mistakes slip through. Why? They were engrossed in the story; they were sucked into plot, a true sign of a well written story.
Every day eight thousand new novels are presented to the public worldwide, via publishers, internet, or self printed material. So remember your novel, although unique, will enter a sea of written titles. Advertizing is the key to setting your work apart from your competitors. Amazon.com has twenty to thirty million books, more or less, and yours is located where? If readers cannot find it, they cannot but it.
Just remember where would we be without writers, really.
