Career-Building and Networking 

Start Networking -
and Increase Your Chances of Success!

A scenario for you:

Two writers have equal talent. One is in contact with other writers, swaps news about marketing opportunities and new publishing lines, attends conferences and workshops, is on email lists for writing and has made contact with editors or publishers.

The other has a market guide that is updated once a year... and that's it. Which of the two do you think has a better chance of making that first sale? 

You've heard it often enough: it's not what you know, it's who you know. And once you've learned the basics of writing and polished your skills...it's time to test the truth of that old saying!

Steps in Building Your Career

1. Build Your Skills

The writers who succeed tend to be those who realise that they never 'know it all'. They are willing to keep learning, to keep improving their craft, and to make their writing the very best they can.

Many excellent writers still enjoy going to seminars and workshops - not only to deliver the content, but to pick up a tip or two. Even when you've been writing for years, you can often pick up just one really valuable tip that will add that extra bit of polish to your work. So never, never stop learning!

2. Build Your Writer's Network

• always mention that you're a writer (you never know who might know of an opportunity!)
  
• go to conferences, workshops, author talks etc and make an effort to mix - yes, even if you're the shy type
  
• start nosing around online until you find the best writers' sites, the best discussion lists, and the best ezines/mini-courses for you. There are plenty of writers who have been published in markets all over the world from contacts they made online.

3. Build Your Professional Image

• Start as you mean to go on. Set yourself deadlines to begin with (finish a scene by the end of the week, a chapter by Tuesday, create a new character by Saturday etc) and get used to meeting them. Good training for when you have to meet real deadlines for an editor!
  
• Do what you say you'll do. Get a reputation as a writer who will deliver - whether it's a manuscript, a short story, an article, a writer's bio, a back cover blurb, or a critique for another writer. Everyone values reliability.
  
• Be tough on yourself when it comes to editing and polishing your work. Close enough is not good enough.

3. Build Your Confidence

• Learn to deal with rejection - it's part of a writer's life. Have a laugh about it by going to sites like Reject Writers - you'll realise you're not alone!
  
• Give yourself time out. If writing becomes tough, take a day off, a week off... whatever is necessary. Give yourself more time rather than less, but make sure you come back to your writing at the end of your time out. Treat it as a job to come back to - an enjoyable job.
  
• Network with other writers who will bolster your confidence. Stay away from negative people. If you are surrounded by people who put you down and treat your writing as a whim, take a stand or make time to meet people who consider it as important as you do.
  
• Hoard all the positive feedback on your writing. Read through it when you're feeling down. Read stories of other writers who achieved success. Remind yourself of rags-to-riches stories like J.K. Rowlings'. Yes... success can happen to anyone.

4. Extend Your Comfort Zone

• It's not easy to pick up the phone and call an editor. It's not easy even to write to them. Gradually, force yourself to do more and more. Send out queries. Send out manuscripts. Try new markets.
  
• If overseas markets seem an impossible dream, push the boundaries. Start by submitting work to overseas-based Web Sites and ezines. Get known!

5. Move Up the Ladder.

If you're no longer a beginner, start looking for advanced programs rather than repeating courses and workshops at the same level. Look for challenge. Some writers' centres offer courses for advanced writers as well as beginners. (For example, the Queensland Writer's Centre offers "Masterclasses" for advanced writers. And Writing for Success has a popular Career Booster Program for those who are past the "beginner" stages. Look around on the Internet for advanced online classes. There's plenty there - you just have to look for it!)

And when you are beginning to achieve success and move higher and higher up the ladder - don't forget those who are where you were just a few short years ago. Lend a helping hand to beginners. Point them at the right classes, the right courses, the best discussion lists. You will never lose by helping other people to build their careers. You will always get back more than you give out.

Check out our Links Directory for a huge range of Internet sites, writers' organisations, writers' courses and discussion lists to help you move along the road to success.

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