What do you think when you hear the phrase "Professional Writer"
When people think of profssional writers, they may think of the uber commercially successful writers. Names like Jackie Collins, John Grisham, and Danielle Steele come to mind. When people think of professional writers, they may also think of the exact opposite. An unemployed or underemployed professional writer who still lives with their parents, for example. I've known both.
I never thought of my self as a professional writer until I started publishing my own books. The reality is, I've been a professional writer my entire adult life. It took me almost twenty years to realize it.
When You're Anything But A Professional Writer
When you're young and (figuratively and literally) hungry, you'll do anything to make a buck.
I scrounged for old furniture on the side of the road, bought fabric and paint from the craft store and whipped together a new, updated piece of shabby chic furniture that I learned how to fashion from watching old Lynette Jennings show episodes.
I stood on the side of the road holding up open house signs for hours. I vaccumed floors in water front mansions for wood floor installers. I sold shoes in Steinmart. I hunted for valuable and first edition books and sold them on ebay.
When I was working to survive, I didn't think about myself as being a professional writer. I had no idea what I was, really. It took me many years to figure that out because even the titles "life coach", "career coach", and "intuitive coach" never felt right. These were natural ways that I helped people. They were ways of making a lucrative living in a way that provided substantial value to the people I helped.
When You Finally Realize That You Are A Professional Writer
During the period of three and I half years, I worked with a law tutor named Scott Caron. During my last year of law school, he and I worked on legal writing. It was a painful course. I had a hard time bridging the gap between drafting technical legal documents with the intuitive, feeling side of writing. Scott patiently coached me through the psychological struggle of feeling totally disconnected with technical legal writing towards an understanding of intangible, meaningful use of legal writing. I finally realized that I can use legal writing in the same ways that I wrote business copy (articles, blog posts, podcasts, brand copy, email drip marketing campaigns, resumes, cover letters, self-help books and advertisements). I can use legal writing to make people's dreams come true and to make their pain go away.
The itchy, heavy feeling that I carried since the beginning of law school went away. It felt like a mix of wool, fiberglass, and burlap. It was the feeling that made me ask myself, "What am I doing in law school, anyway?" Asides from being a childhood dream, I did not know the purpose of becoming a lawyer. I had no desire to work for a big law firm and becoming a legal genius. I couldn't see myself in the legal world and it constantly alarmed me. I asked myself, "What the hell did I spend all these years doing?"
But then, it came like a flood of sudden flashes: every single memory of writing for a living came to the front of my mind.
I began writing professionally in my first real "big girl" job in college. I was dubbed the Marketing Coordinator for our boutique real estate agency by the Big Boss, Wendi. I wrote letters, copy for the website, designed post card mailers and all sorts of sales materials. I wasn't very qualified, but I knew my way around designing websites and word-processors and I had a whole lot of gumption.
After I graduated college, I wrote articles for an online news syndicate. Through them, I got access to celebrity events throughout Miami. I had so much fun partying with celebrities. I got to see how they live their lives behind the scenes.
When my husband got laid off from his corporate job during the recession, I became a career coach and helped him and others write resumes. It was such a critical time to write resumes because everyone was desperate for work. And if they were working, they were severely underemployed or underpaid. My first resume client was a Saudi Arabian student who had come to America to get an accounting degree. I sat with him in a Fort Lauderdale Starbucks while his wife and infant child waited. He is now a big board member for the Saudi Arabian royalty. Writing my husband's cover letter and resume landed him a coveted and competitive job as the men's snowboard product line manager at Salomon Snowboards. He beat out 500 applicants. He wasn't even the favorite, but his resume and cover letter were so targeted that corporate HR practically forced management to see that he was perfect for the job. Helping people re-write their brand story to make more money and have better experiences was rewarding. I saw the financial impact of my wordsmithing.
I freelanced as a copy-writer for years. I wrote copy for personal brands. I wrote copy for products. I remembered the time where I was sitting in a publicly traded medical device company waiting room and realized the giant banner standing thirty feet away from me contained my copy. I wrote copy in English for foreign sports brands. I wrote self-help articles for other websites.
Writing courses, sales copy, social media posts, and email campaigns allowed me to promote my business and convert readers into clients.
Writing self-help blogs and books allowed me to articulate years of experience. It allowed me to reach more people than one-on-one sessions ever could. The desire to share what I learned in a way that is affordable, accessible, and simple motivated me to get my books into the world.
I have always been a professional writer. I've done it my entire career, but seeing myself as a professional writer took more emotional work than I realized.
When The Publishing World Doesn't See You As A Professional Writer
When it came time to publish my first book The Money Formula, practically nobody would help me. I got excuse after excuse as to why nobody wanted to give me the time of day. They told me that I didn't have enough followers on social media. I didn't have a lucrative social media presence. I didn't know the right people. My book was too short. I was a nobody. It was going to fail. Nobody wanted to read it.
One New York literary agent did give me the time of day to answer some of my emails. She said that one of her clients already sold a money book to a big publisher. That she had 600,000 followers on some website. If I wanted to sell my book to a publisher, then I'd have to have that many followers. A thirty second internet search revealed their author did not have 600,000 followers, but only 600 followers. I had nearly 12,000 followers. When I asked her about that, she realized her "oops". She said, "Oh, well, the publisher had the chance to research that, but they didn't and bought the book anyway."
This was not the only moment I had on this journey of publishing. I've had so many cringey experiences that I'm truly surprised that my eyes are not stuck towards the back of my head. The truth is, the publishing industry is so full of liars, fakers, pretenders, and wannabes that it's a miracle anybody makes money. What publishers do is buy as many pieces of intellectual property they can and hope that one story manages to become a global hit. Then, the publisher makes their money off that one book. It's not a calculated risk, it's a shotgun approach. There is so much bad writing in the commercial space that the average reader has no time to tell the difference between commerically designed and packaged books and actual good literature.
Give Yourself The Shot of Being A Professional Writer
Once I realized that nobody really knows what they are doing in the publishing space, it gave me the total freedom to publish and sell my own work. I don't have to prove myself as the "perfect package" for publishers. I found an amazing publishing team and put together useful publishing tools. I gave myself the shot that nobody else would give me.
Through the years, I learned how I could make a living by writing books. I learned how I could turn a book into opportunties. How I could leverage what I wrote to fund my family's vacations.
I used everything I learned in business to turn myself into a professional writer. When I have an idea for a book, I know exactly what I need to do. I don't have to wait for someone's buy in. I don't have to wait for or even want someone's approval. There is me and my reader. I don't need anyone to get in the way of that relationship.
Being A Professional Writer Is Part of Being The Person I Want To Be
Just yesterday, I was sitting at my kitchen table with a twenty-three year old man showing him my book It Pays To Be You Workbook. He had already bought it. He wanted to know how to use it to help him realize his spiritual potential. I showed him how. We had a great conversation.
If you are passionate about writing, do it. If you are passionate about a particular subject matter, share it. Writing lets you get your lessons, ideas, and experience to a greater audience. It helps you find the people who are thinking about same things. It connects you on a spiritual level.
I want to help people. I want to provide them tools that helps them eliminate their suffering. I want to encourage people to live their dreams. Writing helps me do that.
Every experience, every learning opportunity, and every challenge has strengthed my resolve to be the person I want to be. All those years of feeling like a rejected professional writer were purposeful.
If you are a professional writer and feel rejected, don't let anyone stop you from telling your story. Find a way to produce it and get it into the world. Spend your time honing your craft. Get better. Everything you do counts when applied towards a purpose. It will pay off. I promise. Just don't give up. Keep writing. Keep expressing.
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