“The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.”
—WILLIAM FAULKNER
I’m an author stalker.
Can’t help it. There’s something about coming face-to-face with a favorite author. I feel my breath catch, my heart speed up, and my fingers shake. I’m afraid to approach, but I introduce myself and thank them for their work. My words are polite and dignified. If they only knew I wanted to hug them fiercely with fan devotion, it would scare the crap out of them.
Listening to best-selling authors gives us hope. Many times, we think these writers carry the keys to breaking out. As a proud author stalker, I’ve followed poor Susan Elizabeth Phillips into the ladies room at JFK International Airport, just to be close to her and her shimmering magic aura of creativity. I’ve attended almost a dozen of her talks, because I learn something new each time.
Allowing yourself to be open to advice or ideas from other authors is important for growth.
Writing comes in stages. At one point in my career, I listened to a workshop on theme and walked out halfway through. Simply put, it was over my head. I wasn’t ready. But a few years later, Suzanne Brockmann delivered a talk on theme that blasted my writing to the next level. It was like a million lightbulbs exploded, and I finally got it.
As my career grew, I was lucky enough to be the one behind the table, sharing my knowledge and advice. Throughout my travels, I’ve gained valuable friendships that have been critical to keeping my sanity. I also learned that after talking to numerous best-selling authors, many of them brought the same lessons to the table. It became fascinating to me, and the idea of combining all of these amazing lessons into one streamlined list was exciting. After all, we can’t always travel to all the conferences or read individual author blogs daily. I always dreamed of gathering a huge group of authors I loved and respected in a room and picking their brains, authors who had hit the best-seller list and carved out a steady career in an industry filled with uncertainty, authors who had guts and vision, and were savvy and able to write on a full-time basis.
I decided this would be a workshop I wanted to present at conferences. I surveyed over fifty best-selling authors whose books made it onto best-seller lists like The New York Times, USA Today, or both. These authors go beyond the Top 100 on an Amazon category. They’ve been able to sell the necessary number of books to hit the list, which is extremely difficult to do. Most of them have achieved this numerous times.
In doing research for the workshop, I asked these authors to rank the major components they believed were critical to not just reach best-seller status, but to maintain it. In addition, they added individual, specific advice and comments they believed were necessary for the journey to success.
The results were turned into a workshop called “The Trademark Secrets of Best-Selling Authors. ” I’ve taught this workshop with Laura Kaye at RWA, where we broke the secrets down into the following categories: Writing, Publicity & Marketing, Networking, and Approach to Business.
I’ve listed the breakdown in this chapter, but I also dive deeper into some of these categories, which I’ve made into individual chapters in this book. You’ll also find tons of quotes that I share from some of the best in the business.
I had so much to discuss about writing great characters I dedicated an entire chapter where I give my personal viewpoints. Here are some thoughts from a few authors:
“Building powerful characters is something I hear echoed again and again in reader mail. In fact, I’ve just begun a mystery series with a character I first introduced in a romance series nearly ten years ago, simply because I kept hearing over and over again that readers wanted to see more of him. This made me want to see more of him, and gave me an idea, which built into an entirely new series. My books are all character driven, and it’s the characters that keep readers coming back for more.”
—Alyssa Day, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Characters are the vehicles that transport emotions—we feel what they feel. Characters should be relatable but interesting and fantasy fulfilling. Even with stand-alone books, if readers know that you, as an author, are capable of giving them enthralling characters, they’ll be eager to read any book you write next.”
—Emma Chase, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I caught a trend. I have a unique voice. I found a publishing house that truly saw the potential in my books and put their publicity and marketing powers into supporting me. Those are the things that launched my full-time writing career. What keeps my books on the best-seller lists boils down to one thing and one thing only: I work very hard to create characters that enthrall my readers. When writing suspense or romantic suspense, most people want to talk plot. And that’s important. The plot is what moves the story forward. But you can have the greatest plot in the world, and your book won’t sell diddly-squat unless readers become invested in the characters that plot is centered around. Big, bold, complex characters keep readers coming back for more. And more. And more …”
—Julie Ann Walker, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“You’re watching trends, ready to jump on the bandwagon of billionaires, military heroes, and bare-chested covers! I highly suggest slowing down, stepping back, and figuring out what you are most passionate about writing. Passion conveys on the page, and your strongest writing will come through in the stories you want to tell, rather than stories that fit a current (ever-changing) trend. If you’re writing romance, and you don’t fall in love with your characters, how can you expect your readers to?”
—Melissa Foster, New York Times Best-Selling Author
This is another important topic that I dedicate a whole chapter to. Enjoy these great quotes:
“If you deliver an intensely emotional experience for your reader, they won’t forget. Personally, the books I love the most pack a wallop—I laugh, I cry, I get angry, I sigh. And I don’t forget that author. I’d rather read one highly emotional book a month than ten books that just don’t go deep enough. I spend more time trying to examine character emotion than any other aspect of my stories.”
—Kristan Higgins, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Infusing emotion helps create the experience for a reader.”
—Brenda Novak, New York Times Best-Selling Author
This is another topic that I’ve included as a chapter in this book, but how about an example? Let’s take this particular chapter. The title is Trademarks of Best-Selling Authors. The hook is that I’m going to reveal the special secrets that best-selling authors know. Exciting and juicy, right?
When a reader gets to the end of this chapter, she will decide if I kept my word. If I delivered on my hook, the reader will feel satisfied. But what if I gave her a few bullet points, no quotes, and no real explanation?
Well, she’d be pissed off. She’d say, “That Jennifer Probst promised me something, and she didn’t deliver.” And I bet she wouldn’t buy any of my books. So, delivering on a great hook is just as important as offering one. If you promise a reader a story with lots of juicy sex, and you give them closed-door bedroom scenes, readers aren’t only going to refuse to buy your other books, they’ll make damn sure to tell all their friends.
“An effective opening hook can make the difference between a reader staying with your book or putting it down. Before I started writing fiction, I worked as a newspaper reporter. My entire first year, the news editor drilled into me the importance of grabbing the reader’s interest early and not burying the best information deep in the story.
What makes a good hook? It doesn’t need to be a gimmick. The key is to convey tension and conflict, even if it’s subtle. It needs to be just enough to snag the reader’s attention. By the end of page one—or better yet, paragraph one—you want your reader to sense that something is amiss in the character’s world. Plant that seed of curiosity early so the reader will turn the page.”
—Laura Griffin, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I think if I wrote more books with a hook in mind, some delicious encapsulated conflict or idea that makes the book impossible not to buy, I’d sell more books. You can hang a lot of things on that—great characters, rich emotions. But a hook that helps marketing sell the book—helps sell lots of books.”
—Molly O’Keefe, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“For years, I’ve studied some of the truly impressive best-selling authors and I’m convinced that the secret to an incredible, lasting career is to not just write a great book, but to write a ‘sticky’ book. Some authors simply know how to keep a reader glued to the page and hungry for more when they’ve finished. Frequent releases with gasp-inducing hooks and eye-catching covers all backed up with expensive and extensive marketing efforts can and do rise to the top of the charts. But the real trick is to get that reader to come back again and again, and that secret is buried in compelling storytelling, unforgettable characters, and a compulsively readable voice. Some people might even argue that the writing isn’t ‘quality’ or the craft isn’t ‘perfect,’ but the fact is, readers gobble up every word, talk about it to their friends, and wait impatiently for the next book. That’s the secret to success!”
—Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times Best-Selling Author
1. What is your goal?
2. Who are the readers who will likely buy your book?
Know thy reader. That’s my contribution. But these authors say it much better:
“One of the things I’ve learned in building my own series is that consistency is the key. I write genre fiction—specifically romantic suspense. I set out to write a series, but also to build a brand. I never finish a book without beginning the next one. My ‘epilogues’ are truly a preview of what comes next. They feature the next hero and a glimpse of the adventure to come. Not only does this tell the reader what to expect, it hopefully leaves them wanting the next book in their hands. Be constant in the material you give a reader in the course of a series. I’m not saying write the same story over and over again, but there are a few elements that should remain the same when writing a romance series. There should be a happy ending. There should be roughly the same level of sex in every book. If you’re writing erotic and suddenly the next book in your series contains nothing but a kiss, readers notice. The same is true of a sweet novel that suddenly has a ton of exotic play. You will get letters about that and not the nice kind. The last thing I’ll say about consistency concerns release schedules. I try to be consistent in when I release a book out into the wild. For the last several years it’s been February and August. Readers know that’s when they’ll get a big book from me. I put out release dates well in advance and I do everything I can to make them. This is my business and I attempt to run it in a consistent manner. One of the things I’ve learned in the last five years is that hard work trumps talent. When you combine the two, you can have a career to be proud of.”
—Lexi Blake, USA Today Best-Selling Author
“Readers know what they want. If you listen to them, then they have respect for you, and they are more forgiving when you want to try a new adventure. Remember your fans. They can make or break your career.”
—Melody Anne, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Bottom line? No one will buy your book if they don’t know about your book. Getting the word out there is important. When I switched genres to erotic romance, I shared six chapters of the book on my blog and Facebook. It got people excited and talking about the book before it was out. The book was my first New York Times bestseller. Hopefully readers would have found it anyway, but that early buzz was especially helpful during release week.”
—J. Kenner, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I’d say that getting to the top and staying at the top require different strategies in this day and age. There are so many books, so many authors, that great publicity and marketing skills are a huge plus. To make your mark, you need a constant, consistent marketing effort.”
—Rachel Van Dyken, New York Times Best-Selling Author
Rachel’s right. It’s hard enough to get there, but staying at the top is even harder. A mix of marketing is critical. Tracking what works is also important, which is easy to do with technology. Boosting posts, social media ads, and Book Bub ads can give you solid numbers to look at. You’ll also want to stay in the spotlight between releases, so readers don’t lose touch with you. Engage in social media as a person, not just an author.
There is a key difference between marketing and publicity. Marketing focuses on specific ways you reach readers to sell your books. Publicity is gaining awareness through the media and is a subset of marketing. Using both of these methods in various ways is important in growing your audience.
Looking for ideas? Try reading your first chapter as a video on YouTube or Facebook Live. Create a Goodreads Q&A. Attend a Skype book club session. Sign up for an author takeover at a popular blog. Book unique print or online ads at various outlets.
New York Times best-selling author Ruth Cardello once told me she tries something different once a week. She wrote a letter to Ellen (DeGeneres) one day. She introduced herself to a library on another day. She threw a party for her street team. Her point is to think outside the box. You have little to lose.
Many business strategies work well for authors, but making the first book free in a series still remains a popular strategy. New York Times best-selling author Marie Force says, “Other than writing engaging books that connect with readers, the most important thing I did to put myself on the best-seller lists was to offer first-in-series books for free. Nothing I’ve done has resulted in the kind of residual sales that free books have provided. The ‘loss leader’ is a well-regarded tactic in business, and it applies to our business as well. Free books introduce you and your work to readers who never would’ve tried you otherwise. Freebies often result in readers who go on to read your entire catalog and buy every new book the day it is released. I never feel like I’m ‘losing’ anything by giving away a book for free and then collecting thousands of follow-up paid sales.”
If you’re going to try this strategy, be sure to have at least three books in a series before making the first book free. Many authors say this is the best way to achieve results.
Let’s be honest. When you’re asked to write a blog and make book recommendations, you have a few go-to books you always cite. I round out the list with books I purchase by authors I know, or authors who I feel like I have a real relationship with. It makes my connection to the book stronger. I’ll recommend them over someone else’s book every time.
Boxed sets are a great indication of what good networking can do. Pooling talents of other authors and bundling stories is a brilliant marketing tactic. Networking is one of the most important ways to build and maintain a successful career. Networking doesn’t have to be sleazy. It’s not, “Here’s my card, call me,” or boasting about how you’ve met so-and-so. Networking is about maintaining the relationships with the people you meet. Let people get to know you, and they’ll recommend your work when opportunities arise.
Make sure that if you use an assistant, you still remain the principle voice of your social media outlets. Readers who are consistently blocked by an assistant may lose connection to the author, and therefore, have less interest in purchasing books. Asking your assistant to reach out to network with another author is not as powerful as making the initial introduction yourself. Be smart about when to use your assistants to increase productivity, and when it’s best to take the time to make your own outreach.
“Readers come first. Then fellow authors. Then people working in the publishing side of the industry. Connecting with fellow authors grows an author’s reader base and keeps them up to date on industry changes. Connections with key people in the industry can increase the author’s visibility and therefore gain the author a larger audience. But it all starts with the readers.”
—Ruth Cardello, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Bloggers are the new gatekeepers of romance. In order to be successful you need to network with the bloggers [and] also participate in blog tours, cover reveals, blitzes, etc. Networking with other authors is just as important. Where one of us succeeds we all succeed. It’s about sharing, supporting, and encouraging one another. The business is big enough for everyone.”
—Rachel Van Dyken, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Build and nurture relationships. Publishing is a long-term business and writers should focus on the next book, but also on building relationships for long-term. Nurture relationships with your readers. They are precious! Take care of bloggers and reviewers who support your work. Foster healthy friendships with fellow writers. And, absolutely, positively, work to develop strong partnerships with retailers. By that I mean be a good team player! Have something to offer a retail partner, and strive to take time, care, and energy when reaching out to your partners. Those relationships will pay off over the course of your career.”
—Lauren Blakely, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I remind every author I meet that it will take a reader seven to ten times to hear their name before they pick up their book. How many times did you hear their name ... see their name ... talk to them at a conference before you actually cracked the book? Networking starts from the moment you decide to be a writer. Because writing for yourself is kinda like daydreaming. It’s nice and all, but if you do it too often, people are gonna think you’re crazy! ’Nuff said.”
—Catherine Bybee, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“After starting the next book, and the one after that, it’s most important to honor your contract. If you say you’re going to get a book turned in on a certain day, ensure that happens. Also, know when to pick your battles. Authors have to understand what leverage they have and when. Making too many demands early on, whether justified or not, only gets you negatively labeled.”
—Lori Foster, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“From the very beginning, I decided I would treat my writing as a full-time job—because that’s what I wanted it to be. I wouldn’t wait for an elusive muse to inspire me. I would write whether I wanted to do so or not, until I met a daily goal. In doing so, I trained and prepared myself for the deadlines I would one day have.”
—Gena Showalter, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“In October 2013, I released the seventh, and supposedly final, book in the Songs of Submission [series] (turns out I had two more in me). I had a full-time job as a knit technician. I was making $75,000 a year and was so good at my job I could get in at 10:30 A.M. and leave at 4 P.M. without missing a thing. I loved my boss and my co-workers. If I was going to stay at a job until retirement, this would have been it.
But every hour I spent talking about sweaters with someone in China, I was losing money, and when that sunk in I hung up my tape measure for good.
Some people don’t have the luxury of leaving their job, but for me, once the stakes were raised on this career I stopped futzing around and got real.
For me, that meant sinking money into the business.
When I quit in December 2013, I probably hadn’t done more than four giveaways. I didn’t have many romance writer friends. I designed my own covers, had a fan do the formatting, and didn’t have a website. I designed book covers on the side, because I was terrified. Ecstatic, but terrified.
I can’t tell you everything I did, because I barely remember, but as I’ve gone on, I’ve become better at seeing this as a business. Yes to giveaways. Yes to marketing. Yes to advertising. About 20 percent of my gross income goes back into the business in the form of marketing and advertising.
I hired people. I fired them. I change daily.
Maybe you can’t quit your job right now. That’s totally cool. I know very successful authors who keep their jobs for all kinds of reasons. But you can still set aside a portion of your gross income for your books. Whatever it takes. No amount is too small. Spend it. No business can run on one person’s energy alone.”
—C.D. Reiss, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I’ve learned a lot of great advice along the way, some from my peers, and others from failure. My most recent aha moment is that it’s okay to say no. Setting boundaries early on with everyone—colleagues, friends (new and old), spouses, publishers, editors, agents, and readers is not only okay, it’s empowering. Say no to distractions. Say no to any outside influences of your manuscript that don’t feel right to you. Say no to others dictating your characters’ journey. Say no to any demands for your time. Say no to expectations of perfection—especially from yourself. Say no to allowing others to take advantage of you, your hard-earned money, or the money-making power of your audience and your brand. I was raised in rural Oklahoma, and I’ve felt until recently that saying no was an insult. Turns out others rather respect you for it. If you cross paths with someone who’s upset by the word no, it’s likely they didn’t have your best interests in mind, anyway.”
—Jamie McGuire, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Write down your goals and check in with yourself once a month. For me, writing them down is like a commitment to myself, and when I reassess every month, I have to be honest with myself about what I accomplished and what I didn’t. And I’ll add that if you share this list with a trusted friend, there is even more accountability for you”
—Robin Covington, USA Today Best-Selling Author
“Don’t wait for your muse. She doesn’t write the books. You do.”
—Shayla Black, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Most writers write every day. Or at least every weekday, or some set schedule. And since this is a job, I also make it a requirement that I spend some time each week doing nonwriting related stuff, like promo and networking. I have to be careful to not mix that up with just chatting with writers online. I have to do some focused chores, like getting a newsletter done. I’m constantly learning, evaluating, and re-evaluating what works and what doesn’t.”
—Tracy Brogan, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“If authors stop treating their book as a popularity contest, and think of it as their living, they will do things differently. Making the top one hundred on Amazon for a day or two with a ninety-nine cent book does not a writing career make.”
—Raine Miller, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Trusting the right people, making decisions based on my own criteria not others. Making decisions based on information instead of emotion. Consistently handling myself as a professional.”
—Molly O’Keefe, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I’m a firm believer in the saying ‘the imagination is the preview to life’s coming attractions.’ I knew right from childhood that I wanted to write, but let reality get in the way for years. When I finally started writing, I sucked. Terribly bad. I read the book Think Rich, Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and a lesson really stuck with me. He said to write an affirmation about what I wanted most in life and what I would do to achieve it. Then I was to repeat that saying over and over again throughout the day. I did. It took a few years before I saw results, but my affirmation was, I am determined to have wealth through writing. I’m prepared to give my utmost into books that people enjoy and won’t stop until I’ve achieved my dreams. Even to this day, I still repeat it. It’s become second nature and trained my brain to remain positive, focused on my business, and confident that what I can dream can be achieved.”
—Pepper Winters, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I think my success was kind of a perfect storm of things. For one, I wrote to entertain myself (and still do) because I figured if the story kept me reading, it would do the same for others. Second, my business model is based on something my father taught me a long time ago: Scared money never wins. You have to be willing to take risks in order to reap rewards. Doing my own audiobooks was a big investment, as was the coloring book, but those things have not only paid off, they’ve increased my brand. Which leads me to the third element: branding. I am my brand, and my voice is authentically mine. I believe that resonates in the writing. Lastly, I genuinely love my readers. They are the reason I write and I do my best to respond to each one who takes the time to contact me.”
—Kristen Painter, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Believe you are going to succeed. Which means having a positive attitude in the face of overwhelming odds which say you should and will fail.”
—Bob Mayer, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“There are multiple paths to the same place. You have yours. If someone else’s seems to be smoother and sunnier and lined with more roses than yours, it’s only because from where you’re standing you can’t see their rough spot and rainy days and steep hills and dark valleys. Just stay on your path, wear good shoes, carry an umbrella, and keep your eyes on where you’re going.”
—Erin Nicholas, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.”
—Dita Von Teese
“Protect the Muse, give her time to give birth to your ideas, and nurture them before you seek the opinion of others. Your book is yours. Own that always! And remember no one can ever be better at being you than you can.”
—Katy Evans, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Be unique: I firmly believe that by embracing what makes us and our writing different from everything else, we create a market for our books that only we can fill. When people ask me what they can do to help ensure their success as an author, I tell them to find what makes their writing unique ... and be bold with it. Give readers something only you can give them, whether that means your distinctive voice, your unique fictional world, or your exceptional ability to evoke emotion. Whatever it is that makes you stand out, use it, own it, and go all out. You want your name to be one people associate with witty dialogue or demon-run hospitals or historical accuracy ... find your ‘thing’ and corner the market!”
—Larissa Ione, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I think an author has to write what scares them. The more you dare yourself, the less likely it’s the same song and dance the readers have encountered before. The hero in one of my novels is a homeless man, and it’s by far my most successful one.”
—Debra Anastasia, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I have a friend who said, ‘Self-delusion is so much more productive than self-doubt.’ If I had looked at the odds, I would have given up before I even started. But I dared to take a risk. It’s the only way to make it.”
—Tracy Brogan, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Write stories that excite you, even if they may not be popular, even if there’s a chance people won’t ‘get it.’ Like Marilyn Monroe said, ‘It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.’”
—Emma Chase, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Taking risks is rewarded in publishing. Playing it safe rarely is. Write the book you are passionate about. No one else will be passionate about your book unless you’re passionate about it first.”
—Tiffany Reisz, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“I think one of the keys to being a successful, long-term writer is having a distinctive voice—something that makes an author’s prose, dialogue, and characters feel fresh and stand out from other books. If readers can open up a random book and recognize the author after reading just a page or two, that’s a sign of a distinctive voice.”
—Julie James, New York Times Best-Selling Author
Examples of career risks vary from moving from a traditional publisher to an indie publisher, or from indie to traditional. Or becoming a hybrid. Or getting an agent. Or signing with a small press. There are endless choices and endless options.
Content risks include changing genres, moving from one length of book to another, putting out more books, creating a serial, writing fan fiction, or writing a book with a cliff-hanger.
I think taking one career risk per year is important to growth—as both a writer and a person.
Oh, I know. I can hear the groans echoing right now. That’s the big secret? I hear that all the time. Every day. Blah, blah, blah, we kind of all know that.
It needs to be said over and over for many reasons. Most of the time when I hear things, I’m not ready for them. Or they don’t resonate, or the lightbulb isn’t ready to click on yet.
More great products mean more great opportunities.
New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Armentrout once said to me there are too many writers who have started series and never finished them. Maybe that’s due to lack of interest, low sales, or something else. But beginning a bunch of new series without finishing the ones already out there is disrespectful to the readers you do have.
There was one item that didn’t show up on the list, but it is my own personal number one secret for becoming a best-selling author.
“The best advice I ever received was from Mariah Stewart (a New York Times best-selling author): ‘It doesn’t get any easier.’ It doesn’t matter if your first book hits the New York Times list, each book is harder than the last because you want to write a better story for you and your readers. Recognize the challenge. Embrace it. Someone once told me that to ‘get published,’ you need talent, perseverance, and luck. I think there is some truth to that. To be successful, you need talent (work your craft, create strong characters and interesting stories, and never publish or submit anything subpar), perseverance (don’t give up, take risks, be bold), and luck (right place, right time for your story). But I believe you make your own luck by always improving your craft (no matter how many bestsellers you’ve written) and never giving up. Successful writers are successful because they love what they do with a passion so strong they refuse to stop even when faced with obstacles.”
—Allison Brennan, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“Success is relative. Decide what that means for you, not using the guideposts others do, but whatever you feel would satisfy you and your ambitions. If you can make goals within your control, even better. In other words, you can say: I’ll write four books this year because you control your schedule. You can’t say: I’ll be number one on the New York Times because many factors go into an author’s inclusion on that list, most outside your control.”
—Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling Author
Few people become a bestseller with their first book. When we asked authors which of their books propelled them onto a bestseller list, I received answers that ranged from their first to their forty-ninth.
Another question I never posed? How many rejections did authors deal with before they even got their first book published (or decided to self-publish)?
Me?
Too many to count.
If you’re not writing, submitting, or publishing, you have no opportunity to reach greatness or achieve a personal satisfaction of saying you finished your book.
I go back to these highlights many times when I need to remind myself what is important to being in a long-term career as a writer.
Go through the list and pick out the top three items you feel are critical to being a writer. Then see how you can make sure you are meeting your goal, in either business or craft. If you see a gap, do one positive thing to close it. Take an online writing class. Subscribe to Writer’s Digest magazine, or start reading blogs. Take a public relations risk or a career risk. Or start your next book.