What I learned in NJ – about career objectives

In my opinion, the most important business, i.e. non-writing, thing a writer can do is to:

• Learn as much about the industry as humanly possible


• Decide what kind of career he/she wants


• Make all career decisions based on the above—without compromise (or as little compromise as possible.)

This is something I’ve “known” for a while, but somehow I really started to believe it at the NJRW conference after listening to best selling authors like Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer, Anne Stuart and Eloisa James talk about their careers and how they got there.

Career planning is important to me right now, because in spite of thinking I was close to publication a couple of years ago when my romantic comedy (now abandoned) was doing well in contests, I’m pretty sure I’m now at a point where I can fairly say, “I’m close”.

Problem is, in this business one can be “close” for a very, very long time. And these days, with so many options available for publication, (e-pubs, small pubs, self-pubs) it’s easy to get confused or to just leap one direction without giving much thought as to why.

Debbie Macomber asserts that it’s a good thing to write down your goals, so I’m going to say, right here and now: I want a long-term publishing career writing mainstream fiction. (Of course, Debbie suggested writing your goal on a file card and sticking it in a drawer, and I’ve gone and announced it publicly… Doh!)

But that’s what I want. (Right now, anyway.) And while I know there isn’t only one way to get there, I do know that I don’t want to make any decisions that aren’t directly in support of that goal.

Last winter, I was floored to hear Jennifer Crusie say that when she was breaking out of category romance into single title, she turned down mediocre contracts for her first book to hold out for the possibility of a great contract for her next book. Floored. What a brave thing to do, I thought. But it was just smart. She knew what kind of career she wanted, and she knew that taking a mediocre contract wasn’t going to help her get it.

Another writer I met in NJ bought out the last two books of her first three-book contract, so that she could write books in a “hotter” genre for a smaller house. She figured she was better served getting on the wave of a rising new genre and having the chance to be a lead author for a smaller house, than she would have been delivering on her contracts for books in a down-trending genre at a big house where she’d likely be a bottom-of-the-ladder author the sales team wouldn’t push.

Very brave. Very smart. And all about knowing what you want and making sure your decisions support it.

Still, I do second-guess myself in weaker moments. Some days I just want to be published. I want to join PAN. I want to see my name in the First Sales column in the RWR. I want to tell people I have a book. I want to have a few dollars in my pocket to show for all my hard work. I just want to see and hold a book with my name on the cover. Show it to strangers on the subway. Maybe sleep with it under my pillow…

But in these moments, I realize the primary reason I want to be published by any means possible, is so I’ll have better answers to questions like: “How’s the writing going?” or “Still writing?” or (a personal favorite) “When is your book coming out?”, which I inevitably get every time I’m around anyone I know who isn’t a writer. (and who hasn’t previously had their head bitten off after asking me these questions when I’m in a bad mood.)

So, this post was a long-winded way to say that the most important thing I learned in NJ was know what you want and: “Never give up! Never surrender!”

Oh, and I also learned that when I’m sleep deprived, I start to slur after 2 gin & tonics.