9 Tested Ways to Become a Successful Writer

Different people want to become successful in different ways. Some people want it out of writing. Writing can be an art form, sometimes, it is a protest medium. In whichever way you define it, writing is one of the best ways of self-expressionism; of speaking your mind. No wonder, many people want to become successful writers. The traditional model of becoming an author or writer goes through the offices and slush piles of traditional publishers, where a writer, after pouring out all his talent into a manuscript, waits in anticipation, to receive a positive response; his dreams of becoming a best-selling author passes like flashing images in front of his eyes. However, the publishing industry has changed a lot overtime, and its not all that rosy anymore. Rejections are common and emergence of true talent through this process, is a matter of luck. Therefore, writers are becoming autonomous with every passing day. Writers want the world to know what they are thinking, hence, besides, books, blogs, discussion forums, vlogs and many other things are being included in the field of writing. You can be successful whether you are a book author, a blogger, a social content creator or a freelance writer. In the world of fiction and academic books, writers are emerging as self-published authors and book marketing for self-published authors is an important discussion when it comes to becoming a successful writer.

Here are 9 sure-shot ways in which you can become a successful writer:

1-Define Success for Yourself

To become a successful writer, you have to know what is the definition of success for you. Every person is different and each one has a different objective or end goal when he starts writing. For some, selling the most copies of his book can mean success; for others, letting the world know about his ideas, can mean success and hence for him, the number of viewers or readers he gets, via any medium, defines success. Again, for many writers, winning an award in the literary field can mean success while for many others, just completing a good manuscript can mean becoming successful as a writer. You must know, what is your concept of success in order to set yourself in a realistic, attainable path.

2-Be Ready to Evolve

When we start writing, it is common to get excited or blocked, either of the two. You need to make sure that you are in the right direction. During the brainstorming process, you don’t want to finalize your draft, because most of the things you jot down now may not be your best ideas. Also, don’t just keep thinking fruitlessly, try to write something. Writing something is better than writing nothing, because finishing the manuscript is your first step to success. Use a page or a blank document to type your initial ideas, but remember this is just a rough page to work your stream of consciousness. Write whatever comes to your mind. After sometime, you will find yourself coming out with creative ideas. But don’t get obsessed with your first ideas; do not finalize them. When you are open to changing and updating your writing from time to time, it means you are thinking through; your brain’s working and you are evolving as a writer. Later thoughts can be better thoughts, especially in writing.

3-Read Successful Authors in Free Time

It goes undeniably, that you have to read in order to write. Not everyday, your brain will pour out fountains of imagination and best-selling ideas. Use those moments to read; especially, authors who have been successful; who have understood the market needs. You can read their books, or their blogs and stories to understand their journey. This may also provide some answers to your own questions. Reading regularly helps develop your vocabulary and concepts too.

4-Distribute Your Writing through Various Channels

Whether you have written an article, a research paper, a blog or a book, it needs to be circulated right? If people don’t know about it, how will they read it? Many writers think, its not their job to publicize a book, but that’s a wrong notion. You have to use the right channels to distribute your writing and that is one of the important strategies of book marketing for self-published authors. Distribution in one channel will not generate that amount of audience as it will do for a book which is distributed through various channels, and that is why digital distribution of a book via Ingram and the like are so popular today.

5-Reach out to Your Readers Personally– Again, like book distribution through multiple channels will encourage book sales, book marketing is another aspect you will want to work on if you want to be a successful author. Even before, your book is published, start talking about it on social platforms. You can also attend literary conferences and seminars to talk about your writing. Bookstores and book fairs are best places to reach out to common people whom you are viewing as your prospective audience. Talking about something on a regular basis, makes it visible to the buyers and who better than yourself to talk about your own book!

6-Get Your Book to Reviewers

To consider yourself successful, you need feedback from the readers. Though digital platforms are well equipped to let readers communicate directly with authors, through comments and product reviews, building an initial credibility gives an author a strong foothold. So, the next responsibility as an author, will be to find professional reviewers for your book; a person who is authorized and qualified to rate your book and give his/her expert opinion. If a book critique or literary reviewer, or even another prominent author, says your is good, you get readers and buyers instantly. You can find reviewers who will be interested in reading your book, on various platforms today; Amazon too, have contacts of such professional reviewers. Try connecting with them over email or social networking sites and request them to go through a copy of your book (which of course you will provide them as a complimentary benefit)

7-Revise Your Work with a Reader’s Perspective

It is often common to overlook errors when you are processing your thoughts through writing; you choose to go with the flow and while writing, the constructive ideas may seem perfect in the context of your book. However, these ideas may or may not come together holistically into your narrative. When you revise your work, make sure you read out your manuscript loud to yourself; this is when you are likely to spot mistakes in your writing, when something is not sounding correct.

8-Proof-read and Edit

Very important part of writing is the proof-reading or editing part. Sometimes, you have to have multiple attempts on your editing before you can fix all the problems. You can use a professional editing service to proof-read your manuscript, or you can get help from a mentor. In fact, make someone else read your work in the editing stage to know their perspective, because proof read doesn’t always mean only grammar or spelling.

9-Self-discipline Yourself

Make a schedule for your day’s work. Prioritize your schedule and follow it to maintain all your works within that. Practice writing everyday. If you give a long break, you may not have any more ideas emerging at all after that. So to keep the flow and continuity, write a bit everyday; keep that half-an-hour or an hour each day, in your schedule for writing. That way, you can keep motivating yourself. Book writing and book marketing for self-published authors are essentially difficult tasks to achieve on your own, but if you are on schedule, you can make the impossible, possible.
Success stories are great to read, but even better if you have one of your own. Being a self-published writer with a book on public platform is success in itself. You can work on the above tips to accelerate the promotion and sales of your writing. The strategies that you develop for yourself help you to become a successful writer.

Sanusi Ladan Abubakar
Interim chairman
Katsina state writer's League
Katsina