The Secrets to Your Novel Writer's Reputation

I can only suppose you're reading this article because you are already a successful author or you plan that same accomplishment soon. If either case is true, then you've got a professional standing to uphold. How might you go about keeping your reputation up to form? As with anything worthwhile, it's a bit time consuming but necessary. The good news, there are only a few secrets to keep in mind.


I attended The James River Writer's Conference last year and listened to a panel where all three speakers agreed to the concept a writer needs to spend seventy-five percent of their time marketing their business and twenty-five percent writing. This means that to keep up your status as a professional writer, you should spend a great deal of your efforts on promoting your name and maintaining your status as a professional. Look at it like this. An Olympian isn't racing most of the time, he's practicing. The secret is this concept applies to your writing.


Basically, there are six major steps you should consider if you wish to build and maintain a professional writer's reputation. I'll outline them then discuss each in a bit more detail. These considerations are:


1. Utilize Social Networking
2. Join an Association
3. Create Your Web Presence
4. Write Nonfiction
5. Keep a Professionals Attitude
6. Stay Current


Utilize Social Networking: You've chosen a field where the competition is fierce, and when a novel writer wants to generate buzz about his manuscript, you have to employ WOM, or word of mouth. Keep in mind social networking is beyond simple posts on Facebook and Twitter, though these are important. You should also join writers' groups, attend conferences and the like. Be found in those places where writers and readers congregate. Despite all the technological advances in recent years, WOM is still your best way of getting known.


Join an association: Once you're published, joining a professional writers' association helps build your cred. For example, if you write mysteries, consider the Mystery Writers of America. Find whatever organization(s) fit your genre then pay their dues and go to their gatherings. It's a great way to hobnob with the successful and to garner loads of useful information


Create Your Web Presence: In any earlier post, (read it here), I talked about when to build your web site, but you should begin to build your web presence well before the web site is up and running. However, if you wish to establish a profile page sooner, that's not a bad idea. You should establish a blog one to three years prior to becoming published. Update this no less than weekly. You should have a professional email, (mine is CPatrickSchulze@yahoo.com). Be sure to include this web information on business cards and other marketing material you might produce.


Write nonfiction: You write fiction all the time. Why not improve your cred by writing nonfiction, such as this article? It helps you boost your reputation as a writer and if you're unpublished, it also builds confidence.


Maintain a Professional Attitude: Nobody wants to do business with a prim donna or a fool. The more professional your presentation, the more others are willing to deal with you. And, after all, you are in The Business of Writing. You'll gather more potential proponents and customers with the correct personal presentation. The old adage of "Image is Everything," holds true in this industry as with any other.


There was an agent I followed on Twitter, had placed in my database, and planned to query at the appropriate time. I met her at a writer's conference and although her personal appearance was well below standards, I attempted to look past that to get to know her and appreciate the work she might perform for me. Quite frankly, she's a bitchy woman who looked down upon the unpublished and I soon discovered she is someone with whom I could never work. She lacked even a modicum of professionalism and I've dropped her as a possible agent. If you don't present a professional attitude the reverse happens to you as a writer.


Stay Current: Keep your knowledge of publishing trends and market preferences up to date. You do this by reading industry magazines, various newsletters, blogs, articles and by reading the invaluable information on Twitter and other social networking sites. Staying current also means to write, write, and write some more.
Are there other thing you must do to establish and maintain your cred? You bet there is. However, get these initial steps under your belt and these other opportunities present themselves to you.


Do you have any stories about how you've worked to build your credentials as a professional writer? Are there other ways you go about building your reputation?


Until we meet again, I wish you only best-sellers.


C. Patrick Schulze