A literary agent reveals the 7 habits you need to become a successful writer: these are the everyday things anyone can do to become a successful writer and author.
Here’s one of the toughest questions in the world: how do I become a successful ___________? As a literary agent, I’m constantly asked by aspiring writers how they can not only get published, but also become a successful writer.
And we all know who the successful authors are: they get all the sales, all the reviews, all the fame and fortune. But how did they become a successful writer, and how do they stay successful? Is their success the perfect confluence of writing skill, platform savvy, and maybe some pure, dumb luck?
Yes and no.
Yes, there are an extraordinary amount of whacky, weird breakout hits in the publishing world. (Um, adult coloring books?) But there are also some underlying principles — an operating system, really — that runs on autopilot to help some people become successful writers. They know how to do the right things, because they’ve done them over and over and over again.
How I learned what it takes to become a successful writer
When I started out as an editorial assistant at a big NYC publisher, I didn’t know a foreword from a preface. I had a full tank of enthusiasm and an empty skull, waiting to be filled with publishing knowledge. At the time, I was pretty sure I knew nothing about publishing.
And I was pretty right. But what I didn’t realize was that I did have a few things going for me. (Other than a knack for pestering the hell out of people until they would give me interesting work.)
I had four things:
- An obsession with following up and deadlines. (This from a brief stint as a paralegal at a law firm.)
- A stubborn desire to be over-the-top nice so every single person would like me. (This is not always a good thing, let me tell ya.)
- An annoying amount of curiosity about how publishing worked. (I think I abused the “any questions?” prompt more than anyone can reasonably forgive me for.)
- No other options.
Publishing was IT for me, and I was going to have to make it work or go back to that law firm. And I was not going back to that law firm. People shouting makes me want to puke.
Quickly I realized that there were about a thousand other skills and habits I needed to develop if I was going to do a little better by my authors each year.
I also began noticing the habits that were holding certain authors back, as well as the habits that were most helping others become a successful writer. It turns out, these were many of the same habits I was trying to develop (and still am, because these are BIG and IMPORTANT).
These habits won’t guarantee you’ll become a successful writer. But they will push your chances of success as high as humanly possible. And that? That gives you the sweet blissful knowledge that you did everything in your power to make your dream happen.
The 7 habits you need to become a successful writer
