What is it like to be an author?

I imagine this is normal for most, if not all professions. Maybe you’ve even found it’s true for events like going to college, having your driver’s license, or getting your first phone. You thought you would feel a certain way, or have some kind of specific freedom, but the experience is different.

In my post last week, I made the statement, “I had spent all these years learning how to get published, but I didn’t know a thing about how to be an author.” Melanie left a comment asking, “Any advice on how to be an author?”

I had already planned to talk today about life as an author but I had really struggled with the post, honestly. I wrote a thousand words that bounced all over the place. Until Melanie asked her question, I just couldn’t figure out how to approach what being an author is like. So, thank you, Melanie!

***Quick note about my use of the terms “writer” and “author” throughout this article. I chose to use writer when talking about being pre-published and author when referring to someone who is paid for their writing.***

The obvious piece of being an author is the writing. This is the reason we wanted to be an author in the first place, our love of writing and stories. As we did all our striving to write a book that was good enough for others to want to read, we kept thinking, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if I could get paid to write stories?”

It is amazing. I feel grateful nearly everyday that writing stories is my job.

But what does the reality of it actually look like? I’ve said it before that when I originally imagined my life as an author, it meant living in NYC, writing when I felt like it, sending my finished manuscript to my editor, and then starting on the next one.

It’s certainly not that, so what does the writing piece of being an author look like?

Selling your ideas: One thing that surprised me about being an author is the need to sell my stories. My first taste of this came in the form of describing the story I had already written to agents in a way that I hoped would convince them to represent me. Then later, it was trying to describe my story in a way that would excite editors enough to ask to read more of my book.

I thought after I received my first contract, my days of trying to sell my story were over, when actually they were just beginning. I needed to learn how to sell my novel to potential readers, whether it was on my website, on social media, or in person at signings or my day-to-day life.

Maybe you’ve heard the hardest book you sell is the first one, but I don’t think that’s true. With every book you want to write, you have to convince your agent and your publisher that this book is worth their investment.

Juggling projects: Another piece of the writing life as an author that surprised me was the need to juggle projects. Before I received my contract, I had trained myself to stop chasing shiny new ideas and focus on one manuscript until it was completely finished. This discipline served me well for learning how to finish a book.

My first contract was for a three book series, and since I hadn’t planned on the book being a series, I had two books that needed to be written from scratch. As I was writing book two, my editor got back to me with content edits for book one, and they were due in a few weeks. So I set aside my draft of book two and made the changes she requested to book one.

Then I got back to working on book two, only to have my agent ask me to put together a few more contemporary YA ideas that she could pitch for after this series released. Again, I paused work on book two to brainstorm new ideas. Then while I was editing book two, the copy editor sent me line edits for book one, and again I had to stop to pay attention to those.

Sometimes (often, it seems) when you have a deadline you have AN AMAZING STORY IDEA and you want to go run after it so badly. But you can’t because you’re lucky enough to be an author, and you have deadlines.

You’re not just writing stories: In addition to writing stories you love, you now have lots of other things you need to write. Including, but not limited to:

• Your author bio: Before I became published, I always thought authors had assistants who did this for them. Nope.
• Back cover copy and a hook sentence: Back cover copy is self-explanatory, but a hook sentence is your book boiled down to a sentence or two. Like for The Lost Girl of Astor Street, mine is, “When her best friend is abducted during the spring of 1924, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail will hunt for answers amidst the corruption that strangles Chicago, but she will have to decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the truth when her amateur sleuthing skills lead her back to her own front door.” If you’re traditionally published, these things often get tweaked or rewritten along the way, but you’re still responsible for providing it. If you’re self-published, obviously this is up to you unless you outsource it.
• Story synopsis: When you’re pitching a book, whether to agents or editors, this is often the first thing you’re asked for. Even if you’ve written multiple books for them. My editor likes me to turn in 2-3 page synopses. Not everyone in the publishing house is able to read every book, so sometimes this is all they have to familiarize themselves with your story as they put together marketing campaigns and sales copy.
• Social media posts: Content for Twitter, Facebook, or wherever you like to hang out online.
• Blog posts, articles, and interviews
• Website copy for your author site
• Classes: I teach at several workshops throughout the year, and those all involve writing out my talks.
• Emails: With my agent in Portland, my editor in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and my closest writing friends living everywhere from Calfornia to West Virginia, I write a lot of emails. Writing good emails is also important for asking for favors, like endorsements or help from other authors.

Money is inconsistent: For most authors, it takes several successful books before checks start showing up on any kind of regular schedule. Even then, a lot of publishers only pay out royalties 2-4 times a year. Indie writers get paid much quicker, of course, but they’re also fronting the money for cover design, editing, formatting, and so forth.

Being published doesn’t cure insecurities: Every writer I know has similar insecurities to what they had before being published. Sometimes, if you’ve had a book do really well, insecurities only grow. (What if they don’t love the next book like they loved this one???)