Sunday, April 26, 2015

Wearing All Those Hats

For me, writing has become not just a vocation but a business. It’s challenged me to adopt many different hats over the years. Writing is not just about reading, writing, editing, submitting, then repeating same. As you probably know, it’s about marketing, promoting, and building a brand, which isn’t always (and shouldn’t be) done from the comfort of home. It’s about getting out there and selling and making future plans and recordkeeping, and updating my website. It’s about continuous research for stories and research for new selling and marketing opportunities.

In the past eight days, here’s what I’ve done:

Finished editing my novella
Submitting novella and receiving contract (this was unusually fast--stay tuned for more news)
Giving a workshop last Saturday while preparing material for another workshop next Saturday
Selling books at a small literary festival yesterday
Networking on social media and in person
Updating website
Reviewing the contract
Writing and posting two book reviews, plus my weekly blog
Editing short story to take to critique group.
Jotting down notes for new stories.
Record keeping

And this is the stuff I remember. On top of a part-time day job, housework, cooking, and errands, it’s a busy life. Not every week is as crazy or as productive, or as exhilarating or exhausting. Sometimes those hats I wear become skewed or even topple to the ground. But I pick them up and start again. I’m a writer. That’s what I do. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.




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