I’ve been in the business world for damn near twenty years. I’ve had a lot of jobs. Some good, some bad. Some I wanted to run from because I worked for the Boss From Hell. Others were just ho-hum. They paid the bills and kept food on the table and a roof over my head. But in all the jobs I’ve had, there came a point where I had to make a decision about my future. Was I going to stay or go? Would I make more money if I left? Would I commit career suicide if I stayed?
In every business decision, there are emotions involved. Am I happy where am I? Will I be happier if I leave? Ultimately, it comes down to: what is best for me and my family?
Writing is an emotional business much like that. The trick is to not allow those emotions get in the way of business decisions. Sometimes those business decisions are difficult. And they may look like you (the collective “you”) are being petty and whiny. When, in reality, the truth of the matter is the decision is based on facts. Not emotions.
I’ve been there. Done that. It’s not easy. But this is my career and I have to make the best possible decisions when evaluating where my career is going. I want to succeed and the only way I’m going to do that is by making decisions that push my career forward, not backward. The idea is to make money writing books. Not giving away my books for free or almost free. And that’s where I am right now.
I know some of you readers out there are writers too. What hard decisions have you had to make to push your writing career forward? I want to hear from you!
I’m in the process of making a decision to turn down an offer than looks like it’s a stupid thing to do in the short term, but my gut is telling me it’s the best thing for the book.
Hugs to you.
They think they have us over a barrel, that they have all the power. But without writers, they have no reason to exist.
I agree. It’s YOUR career, it’s YOUR life. Don’t let anyone make you do something that your gut is telling you otherwise. Because when it is all said and done, that person(s) does what’s best for themselves and not you necessarily.
In 2003 I was dropped on my ass when the Boss from Hell fired me (not unexpectedly – the desk was cleaned out a month prior). It was sink-or-swim time. I chose to swim.
Since then, I’ve made tons of those hard decisions. Some of them turned out to be easier to make than others, but I kept in mind how each decision would affect my career and my own happiness. I’ve made bad turns, but I’ve recovered and learned from it.
Giving away books is ludicrous. Publishers still exist, and they still need good writing. They have to justify their own existences too, so I think any decision you have to make about what to agree to should keep that in mind. But you know all that anyhow. 😉