36: Five Things Authors Should Quit Doing

Time is our most precious commodity. But we spend

too much effort and thought too much time on stuff that actually

holds us back. We also avoid a couple of things that make all

the difference. Today I'm going to name five things authors

should quit doing in writing pursuits, Episode 36. Let's get

to it. Welcome to the writing pursuits podcast where authors

like you discuss writing craft, author, life and book marketing

strategies. I'm your host Kathrese. McKee. I own writing

pursuits and write and produce the weekly newsletter writing

pursuits, tips for authors. In addition, I am a speculative

fiction author, writing procedures for authors who drink

too much coffee, endure judgemental looks from their

furry writing, convenience and struggle for words. If you are a

writer seeking encouragement, information and inspiration,

this podcast is for you. Let's get to it. Hey, writing precedes

authors. Welcome back to the podcast. To those of you who are

new, I want to extend a special welcome. My name is Kathrese.

McKee and I help authors write great stories. Please leave a

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this Flag Day is coming up as well as Father's Day in the US.

This Sunday with a special shout out to Juneteenth, which for

those of you outside the US is June the 19th. Y'all, time is

our most precious commodity. We can't slow it down or get it

back. The only thing we can do is be mindful of how we use it.

So do I mean you need to be busy and working and hustling?

24/7 365? No, not not at all. rest and rejuvenation are

essential ways to use our time. However, there are ways authors

can safeguard writing time and make the most of it. Some of

these might surprise you. I'm especially concerned for new

authors. Because I have personally made every one of

these mistakes much to my regret. Here are five things

authors should quit doing.

Number one, quit comparing yourself to experienced best

selling authors I mean it stop comparing your beginning to

someone else's middle or ending. Does that make sense?

Experienced best selling authors have been at this business for a

while their sales tactics and writing strategies won't

necessarily work for newer authors, and author with a

backlist of seven to 10 books is going to have a different, more

refined set of skills than an author with 02 or even four

books. New writers need to be focused on spinning the hours

and writing the words to achieve mastery on getting to the end on

seeking critique on revising their work and on publishing,

rinse and repeat. Also, tactics change over time, and the things

your idols did when they were getting started. Don't

necessarily work anymore. For example, a few weeks ago, I

talked about whether or not authors should spend time

blogging. That was episode 33. The answer isn't black and

white, of course, but don't blindly follow in someone's

footsteps trying to imitate everything they did back then,

including blogging. We all start at page zero. We all begin with

no published work. Learn from more experienced authors. But

stop comparing your results to theirs and blindly copying what

they do or did. That's a terrible waste of time. Number

two quit abandoning projects. Oh, yeah, this one kind of

bites. If we had $100. For every project we abandoned after the

first five chapters, we could go on a really nice vacation,

right? This is your coach speaking it's okay to stop

writing a project you just can't figure out I know, it seems so

promising you loved the main character. The world building

was thrilling, but something just wasn't right. You lost

confidence in the idea and you decided to put it away. Here's

the problem you need to practice finishing manuscripts. So I'm

going to give you a strategy to use from now on, you're going to

say I'm crazy. But hear me out. This will make the time you

quote unquote wasted on a project. count for something

ready, skip the middle and write an ending. Maybe it won't be the

ending. Maybe it won't be a great ending. It doesn't have to

be super long. Just kind of brainstorm a conclusion to the

story based on what you've written so far. Write a pie in

the sky happily ever after.

Adding or destroy the universe, write an ending to the story. As

you know it, the content of the ending doesn't matter as much as

getting to the end. And who says you can't write two or more

endings. Now put the project aside. If you want carefully

store it in an archive of potential ideas you never know,

when something will click about an old story idea, getting to

the end.

No matter how frustrating that is, is a valuable use of time.

It's a valuable experience. So stop abandoning projects and

tossing them in file 13. Practice getting to the end and

kind of hoard those ideas in a certain spot store them away.

Number three, quit creating your own covers. If you are a trained

designer, then knock yourself out. Obviously this tip doesn't

apply to you. Yes, I have created a book cover on my own.

And it even turned out okay, but I spent days learning Photoshop

to turn out an okay cover when I should have hired a cover

designer to create a fantastic cover. Do I remember what I

learned in Photoshop? Not a bit, I can hear you saying Canva is

easier. But Canva is not Illustrator or Photoshop. Just

stop it stop. Your book cover is the first thing a buyer sees and

its importance cannot be exaggerated. readers see

hundreds of covers in a single buying session. And you don't

want your cover to stand out for the wrong reasons. Your cover

has a fraction of a second on Amazon, or on a bookshelf to be

evaluated. Save your nickels, dimes and dollars, stop going to

Starbucks, do whatever you have to do to hire a good cover

designer, and save your time for writing the next book. If you

just really really cannot afford to hire a cover designer, get a

premade cover, it's probably going to be better than you can

produce yourself. And it's certainly a better use of time.

Number four, quit avoiding critique. Um, that's another one

that applies to me. But every time every time I sought

critique my work improved by miles, and swiftly to So how's

that going to save me time you ask? It takes time to garner

critiques. Often you need to take the time to critique

someone else's work while you wait for them to critique.

Here's how does that save time two ways you learn from someone

else's mistakes, and you get help spotting your weaknesses.

So you become a better writer sooner. The trick is to be

choosy about your critique partners to find that person you

can trust to tell you the truth in a way you can respect. Most

often this is not your mother or your sister or brother. But a

good critique partner will save you time. Buckets of time in the

long run. Your writing can improve much sooner if you seek

out critique. Your work will be ready for primetime much sooner.

If you stop avoiding thoughtful criticism. Get out there and

beat the bushes to find a partner or small group of

authors willing to swap critiques. grow a thick skin and

bite the bullet. This is a good way to use your time to save

time. In the end. What is the fifth thing to quit doing? The

answer in a moment? First, a word from our sponsor. Writing

pursuits is run by Kathrese. McKee who has been trusted by

level of excellence. Guthrie's is a three story methods

certified editor who specializes in story diagnostics, coaching,

and line editing to help you prepare your story for the

journey ahead. For more information, go to writing

pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. And now back to the

podcast. So far, we have covered four things you should quit

doing. Comparing yourself to experienced best selling

authors. Your beginning is not the same as their middle or end.

Abandoning projects before you write an ending, creating your

own covers and avoiding critique. Number five, quit

waiting to create an email list. You knew I was going to say that

I've been telling my authors to create an email list since long

before writing pursuit started. Neglecting to build an email

list is the biggest mistake I made as a new author and it

continues to be something I regret make building a list your

priority and it's easy write a short story in format it on

drafted digital, put it on book funnel and create a landing

page. Share your landing page link and continue to share it

when you have one subscriber

To start sending out a newsletter every month, if you

don't know how to communicate with your subscribers, or even

if you think you do retangular bricks newsletter NINJA book,

building a reader community is supposed to be fun. Don't

overcomplicate having an email list, sign up for free mailer

light or ConvertKit account and get started building your list.

Spending time on your list is never time wasted. And when your

book launches, at least someone who has downloaded your short

story and stayed on your email list will know who you are and

buy your book. Every mailing lists starts at zero, you must

earn your readers. That's the truth. So stop waiting to create

your mailing list. As I said before, I have made all of these

mistakes, all of them, and I want to help you avoid making

the same mistakes. What are some things you need to quit doing to

succeed as an author? I'd be interested to know your thoughts

on this this topic. That's the question of the week. What are

some things you need to quit doing to succeed as an author?

Leave your answer at writing pursuits.com forward slash

podcast forward slash 36. That's all I have for today. Until next

time, keep writing. Thank you for joining us today. If you

enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and follow the

podcast. If you're new around here. I hope you will sign up

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authors that link and all the links mentioned in today's

episode are in the shownotes at writing pursuits.com Please join

us on Wednesdays for new episodes and keep writing my