Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
Doggo is reading about dogs because his career is being a dog, and like anyone who want a distinguished career, he constantly studies. For just a job to put food on the table each night, you don’t need to work as hard, but a life-long career – the ins and outs need to be explored.
Carrie Vaughn mentioned in a Facebook post:
When I was 16 I told my mom I wanted to be a writer, and she came home from the library with a stack of books with titles like “How To Get Published,” and “So You Want To Be a Writer?”, and “Here’s How to Write Stuff and Get Published” and so on. Some of the info was conflicting and there was a lot to go through, but I held on to the stuff I thought was useful and started going to conventions and reading magazines and following careers I wanted to emulate and absorbing everything I could about the business. I still do.
If you want to get into the book business, do the research. There’s a ton of info out there. Learn. There’s no shortcut to this part.
I found the above post when Melissa McArthur, the editor-in-chief for Falstaff, shared it on Facebook on September 8, 2017 with the following add-on:
Yes. You have to do the work. It’s a business, people. If you want writing to be your career, it’s a job, just like any other. Learn the tools of the trade, learn the ropes, learn the people, and work hard.
Personally, one of my annual goals is reading a writing or publishing book. This year, I’m sharing the joy.
WRITING EXERCISE: Go to your local library (online or in person) and check out a book on writing or publishing. Could be a how-to, a what-to-expect, or a what’s-happening. Read it. Comment below with the book title and ONE thing that really stood out as you read it. I’ve done “Save the Cat“, “$30 Film School”, “How to Write Magical Words“, and “The Thrifty’s Author Guide”, to name a few.
My Attempt: See the book reviews for Save the Cat and How to Write Magical Words.