It is Time to Get my Act Together #amwriting

The past five years have been a whirlwind of chaos and confusion, excitement and drama for me and my family. During this time I quit my safe, full time office job in order to pursue my dream career, I got married, I got pregnant, and now I am a housewife with two young children. There was lots of other stuff as well, but I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say, I have been very busy.

Now, because of being busy in my domestic life, I have neglected to devote the proper time and attention to developing my writing career. There have been lots of ups and downs while I alternately celebrated my successes, and commiserated my failures. It is an endless cycle in the world of small business, and especially so when it comes to the modern world of book publishing and writing.

I envisioned a career where I could spend my days writing my stories, and where I could earn a comfortable income from book sales. This was a very naïve vision, as I now understand. I waded blindly into my new dream without assessing the situation, and I am not a natural  business person. But I am willing to learn. And I am always learning.

All the advice I receive tells me to set up a business as a writer of some sort, whether it be ghost writing, proofreading and editing, technical writing or similar. So I have tried it. I have drifted from one part time job to another during the past few years, and all have the same basic catch: they do not pay. Most internet based companies will try and persuade a new writer that they can build their portfolio by writing articles for free, or these companies pay an absolute pittance that does not constitute a living wage here in the Western world. I have done my work experience. My portfolio is healthy. Now my wallet needs to catch up.

I need to get my act together. I need to assess exactly what kind of writing I want to do for my career. My personal life is also a very big distraction. We cannot afford external childcare in order for me to go out to work (I know, crazy!). But we hope to send our toddler to preschool in September when her older sister starts primary school. Then, perhaps, I will find time to settle down and actually write all of the stories that I have scribbled in snippets in my notebooks. That is where my heart lies. That is my career dream. I cannot be an author if I do not continue to write (and publish) new stories. So I will knuckle down, stop being distracted, and write. I will!

Let's Get These Stories Written!

During the past four years I have been on an exciting journey as I became a wife, a mother, and a published author. It has taken me until now to realise exactly where my writing career is likely to advance. I hadn't really considered the possibilities of how to earn a regular income and how to make my business viable. I am still figuring that out. True to my creative nature, I try not to think about facts and figures unless I need them in a story. I much prefer the freedom to follow my heart and go where my spirit takes me.

But, needs must, and we live in a society that is reliant on monetary income. It is time I returned to the land of paid employment. At the moment I am still working out how to do that as a self-employed businesswoman. My business is writing. I just have to establish which forms of writing I want to focus on. I had tried a little freelancing, and I secured a few jobs writing blogs for obscure websites in countries I have never visited. The pay was low, and after almost a year I decided it wasn't really worth my time and effort.

I have four published novels, and three published short stories that are all widely available for sale both online and in bookstores. My problem is advertising them effectively when I have literally no budget and no means of marketing beyond what I can manage for myself. It is very hard to rely on word-of-mouth sales when my friends and family rarely talk about books. I am still trying to get the word out, but I am not what you would call a vocal person, and I find it quite difficult to confidently sell myself to strangers without feeling nervous and self conscious.

Anyway, aside from that, I need a regular income. My book sales barely cover the cost of a pad of paper at the moment, and the freelance article writing I had considered just doesn't sit right with me. Now I have decided to start entering story competitions. I have entered a few in the past; indeed that is how I got my very first short story published, in the teen anthology Devils, Demons and Werewolves. But then I trailed off. I entered a few more competitions without success, but then allowed myself to be distracted. Now I need to get back on it, so to speak. My stories must be written, and I will earn some money from them so I can promote my novels and support my family. Let's do it!