Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Nina Amir/@NinaAmir
“Success as a writer has always been a matter , in large part, of plain old hard work. But also smart work–knowing what to do and how.” Novelist James Scott Bell, from the Foreword, The Author Training Manual.
I am very pleased to participate in Nina Amir’s WOW, Women on Writing Book Tour for her new book, The Author’s Training Manual. Nina has some very interesting advice about succeeding as an author by following WOOT! I hope you enjoy hearing about this as much as I did.
My book reviews can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThings
Welcome , Nina!
Author Attitude : What Is It and Why Do I Need It?
In the publishing world, it’s hard to predict what book will succeed. It’s a bit easier to know if an author will achieve success. Maybe one has more writing talent while another has superior ideas. Yet other might be a phenomenal marketer. More than likely, you’ll find that successful authors, much like successful people in almost any industry, have one thing in common: a successful attitude.
Attitude Affects Results
You might have heard the saying, “Your current habits have only helped you achieve your current level of success. To achieve a higher level of success, you must change your habits.” To do that, you need to change not only your behavior but also your underlying attitude.
Your attitude, which is based upon your beliefs, thoughts or ideas about a thing, experience or situation, affects your behavior, or how you choose to act. Your actions then determine your results. Thus, to change your actions you might have to change your corresponding beliefs, thoughts, or ideas.
When it comes to writing a book, if you aren’t achieving the results you want, you must examine your attitude about writing and publishing a book. When you change your attitude, your results will change as well.
That doesn’t mean you don’t still need a good idea and good writing. You do, but your attitude will help you attain your goals in any area as you work toward successful authorship.
For example, if you have the attitude that you can only write when the mood hits, and the mood doesn’t hit often, you won’t get your book written quickly. Your attitude likely is based on beliefs that writers write when inspired. That belief might come from thoughts that you need to wait to feel inspired before you can write well. A more productive thought might be “I get inspired by writing daily on a schedule.” If you take action on that thought, you might find yourself getting inspired and believing that you can write well whenever you sit down at the computer. You may start writing daily and producing inspired results. Your attitude about how and when you write will change.
The same could be true of building author platform, for instance. If your attitude is that you hate author platform building, you won’t spend time on it, or when you do, that time won’t be productive. If you explore the beliefs and thoughts that create your attitude, you might discover some that sound like “It’s a time sink” and “It takes me away from writing.” You could change your attitude to: Platform building helps me succeed as an author, so I embrace this activity and do it willingly and with enthusiasm. Your thoughts would need to change as well, to something like: “I build author platform effectively” (Learn how!) and “Platform building helps the books I write get read.” As you change your thoughts and beliefs, your attitude will change, as will your results.
Author Attitude—The Four Elements
Here are the elements I believe make up a successful “Author Attitude.”
1. Willingness
To succeed as an author generally takes an enormous amount of willingness. To succeed as a self-published author takes even more.
· You must be willing to do whatever it takes.
· You must be willing to do more than just write.
· You must be willing to change.
· You must be willing to learn new things.
· You must be willing to step outside your comfort zone.
· You must be willing to make mistakes
· You must be willing to take risks.
· You must be willing to fail.
· You must be willing to succeed
· You must be willing to play big and be seen.
· You must be willing to get rejected.
· You must be willing to run your own publishing company.
2. Optimism
Studies show that optimists succeed more often than pessimists. Optimists don’t take rejection, criticism and mistakes personally, which helps them avoid getting stuck. Optimistic people approach challenges as opportunities to move closer to their goals. Pessimistic people see them as obstacles, or reasons to quit.
3. Objectivity
Writing and publishing requires the objectivity to see yourself and your work from a different perspective than your own, such as:
· the reader’s perspective
· an editor’s perspective
· a publishing professional’s perspective
When you can do this, you can take the necessary steps to improve your work and make yourself into an attractive publishing partner.
4. Tenacity
Writing a book isn’t easy. It’s often said that the real work of a writer begins after publication when you begin promotion. You must have determination, persistence and perseverance—all elements of tenacity—to get from aspiring to published (and successful) author.
WOOT!
To easily remember the elements of an Author Attitude, I created an acronym: WOOT. According to the Urban Dictionary, the word “woot” originated as a hacker term for root, or administrative, access to a computer. It works well when applied to the topic of attitude because to change your attitude you must access your “computer”—your mind.
These days WOOT is used simply as a term of excitement.
If you and your book succeed by whatever definition you choose you will have reason to shout, “WOOT! WOOT!”
About the Author
Nina Amir, author of How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time and The Author Training Manual: Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell, Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively, transforms writers into inspired, successful authors, authorpreneurs and blogpreneurs. Known as the Inspiration to Creation Coach, she moves her clients from ideas to finished books as well as to careers as authors by helping them combine their passion and purpose so they create products that positively and meaningfully impact the world. A sought-after author, book, blog-to-book, and results coach, some of Nina’s clients have sold 300,000+ copies of their books, landed deals with major publishing houses and created thriving businesses around their books. She writes four blogs, self-published 12 books and founded National Nonfiction Writing Month, aka the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge.
To learn more about Nina, visit www.ninaamir.com. Get a FREE 5-Day Become a Published Author Series from her when you click here.
Title: The Author Training Manual: Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell, Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively
Author: Nina Amir
Genre: Writer how-to
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books
Publication Date: March 18, 2014
Paperback: 248 pages
Synopsis:
Anyone can publish a book and become an “author,” but if you want to become a successful author with a profitable publishing career, you need a clear, step-by-step guide to help you develop book ideas that sell. In The Author Training Manual, expert editor and book coach Nina Amir reveals the exact process successful authors have used to create business plans and proposals for their books and teaches you how to view your ideas through the eyes of acquisitions editors and literary agents.
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, plan to traditionally publish or self-publish, The Author Training Manual provides you with the tools you need to achieve your goals and become the author publishers want. Inside you’ll find concrete steps, evaluations, sample business plans, in-depth training activities, editor and agent commentaries, and much more–all designed to help you stand out, from the slush pile to the shelf.
Just Thought You Should Know:
The Author Training Manual will also be having a WOW Social Media Tour this summer. On June 30, we’ll be having a review and giveaway of The Author Training Manual on the Muffin. So don’t forget to tell your readers they’ll have another chance to win a copy on June 30.
Author’s Websites:
Nina Amir’s website:
Nina Amir’s blogs:
http://ninaamir.com/blogs-and-columns/
Nina Amir’s Facebook:
Twitter: @NinaAmir
How about you? Do you have the WOOT it takes to be a successful author?
Nina has graciously agreed to give away a copy of the Author Training Manual to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 6/09/14: “My Journey of Defeating Fear to Help Others by Memoir Author Pamela Koefoed.”