Five Publishing Personas
#2. Author-first authors
Author-first authors (I'll just call them authors...
Five Publishing Personas
#2. Author-first authors
Author-first authors (I’ll just call them authors because alliteration bothers me) view modern publishing as a business venture. It may not be all about the money, but the ability to make (or at least probability of making) make money at their craft is of primary importance to the author.
Previous posts in this series:
▶ Preamble (http://goo.gl/dZoZcQ)
▶ RFAS (Reader first, author second) (http://goo.gl/uVkvRs)
Note the word probability in that statement. Not possibility. Not promise. Probability is calculated and measured and requires the author to change the conditions in his/her favor to get to the outcome. But more about that in a moment.
Authors are motivated by paying the rent. This is their job, or they want it to be their job. As such, they know when to abandon sunk costs and slay sacred cows. They dedicate time and money to improving their craft. They associate themselves with professionals who can help and further their careers. They track — and therefore trend toward — success.
To that end, authors have a time-horizon that extends beyond _right-now_ and what’s-next. They spend time considering and contemplating emerging and disruptive trends, looking for natural fits in surging genres, changing consumption habits (audio books, ebooks, books-in-browsers, etc.,) and trans/cross/multimedia opportunities for existing and future works.
They are focused on outcomes more than outputs. Of course they need to finish their book, work with their editors, engage with fans and do all the other things necessary to a modern author. But these outputs are part of their daily/weekly/monthly routine that, when well-scripted and well-orchestrated, lead to real outcomes. They focus not just on what they want to write, but what they need to write in order to stay relevant and in business. Experiments are fine, but continuing an unselling series of Victorian-themed hard boiled novels because you have a story to tell isn’t a smart business move.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about Publishers. The people, not the industry.
Current posts in this series:
▶ Preamble (http://goo.gl/dZoZcQ)
▶ RFAS (Reader first, author second) (http://goo.gl/uVkvRs)
▶ Author-first authors
Creative commons photo from Flickr: http://flic.kr/p/2kaJWL
#2. Author-first authors
Author-first authors (I’ll just call them authors because alliteration bothers me) view modern publishing as a business venture. It may not be all about the money, but the ability to make (or at least probability of making) make money at their craft is of primary importance to the author.
Previous posts in this series:
▶ Preamble (http://goo.gl/dZoZcQ)
▶ RFAS (Reader first, author second) (http://goo.gl/uVkvRs)
Note the word probability in that statement. Not possibility. Not promise. Probability is calculated and measured and requires the author to change the conditions in his/her favor to get to the outcome. But more about that in a moment.
Authors are motivated by paying the rent. This is their job, or they want it to be their job. As such, they know when to abandon sunk costs and slay sacred cows. They dedicate time and money to improving their craft. They associate themselves with professionals who can help and further their careers. They track — and therefore trend toward — success.
To that end, authors have a time-horizon that extends beyond _right-now_ and what’s-next. They spend time considering and contemplating emerging and disruptive trends, looking for natural fits in surging genres, changing consumption habits (audio books, ebooks, books-in-browsers, etc.,) and trans/cross/multimedia opportunities for existing and future works.
They are focused on outcomes more than outputs. Of course they need to finish their book, work with their editors, engage with fans and do all the other things necessary to a modern author. But these outputs are part of their daily/weekly/monthly routine that, when well-scripted and well-orchestrated, lead to real outcomes. They focus not just on what they want to write, but what they need to write in order to stay relevant and in business. Experiments are fine, but continuing an unselling series of Victorian-themed hard boiled novels because you have a story to tell isn’t a smart business move.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about Publishers. The people, not the industry.
Current posts in this series:
▶ Preamble (http://goo.gl/dZoZcQ)
▶ RFAS (Reader first, author second) (http://goo.gl/uVkvRs)
▶ Author-first authors
Creative commons photo from Flickr: http://flic.kr/p/2kaJWL
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