By Denise Turney
For many novelists the days of only writing great stories is over. Not only do novelists work hard to get their manuscripts in front of literary agents and publishing house editors, they also have to market their novels to readers. It makes the process of creating spellbinding books harder and harder.
Challenges today’s fiction writers face
Let novelists work full-time from home and they might also write non-fiction content for business clients. Types of content they might develop include press releases, blog posts, product descriptions, white papers, case studies, radio and television ads and magazine articles. During slow book sale months, it’s not surprising to see novelists spend more time creating non-fiction content than they do working on a new novel chapter.
As Suzannah Freeman shares at Writer Unboxed, novelists also juggle families. Suzannah says, “But, just because I’m ‘staying-at-home’ doesn’t mean I don’t work. In addition to all my normal mommy duties, I run a blog and regularly write for other blogs, write short fiction (some published) and novels (not published yet), and dabble in freelancing.” Pat Rice shares at Novelists Inc., “Stop the Promo, I want to get off!”
Another novelist says, “And in this whirlwind of busy-ness, while I am damn thankful to have two fine, well-respected editors requesting me to write these two Amish series…I really wonder sometimes if I’ll just STOP one day.”
To keep pushing forward, creating page turners, and generate enough money to pay the bills, novelists can work part-time jobs. They could also work marketing jobs, something that gives them sharper skills to advance their writing careers. Selling ads on their websites or blogs and interviewing book industry specialists for a fee are other ways novelists can start generating enough money to keep the hawk away from the door without totally abandoning their artistic passions.
So they don’t get off track and stop writing novels altogether, novelists should develop a schedule and stick to it. For example, they could write on a new novel chapter early in the mornings, before they start tackling other work, or they could knock out novel writing at night. One day a weekend, novelists can write for three or more hours on a new book. If they stick to their schedule, they should be able to write a new novel once a year.
Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.
Sources:
http://writerunboxed.com/2012/01/08/8-busy-moms-who-published-novels/