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How can I possibly make a living at my passion? This question has nagged away at me for most of my adult life. Along the way I’ve learned that discovering how to make a living at your passion is the Holy Grail for every writer, every artist, really mostly everyone on the planet. To me the idea of making a living with my writing was a goal that’s both a little too complex and vaguely defined. Maybe this is why so few of us ever reach itl. After being in this business of writing for two decades I’ve learned it’s much more effective to first take the time to contemplate and define what success actually means to you.
Step 1 – DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY
Let’s begin to break this impossibility down into more manageable pieces. The first thing I would like to ask you to do is to imagine that you’ve won the lottery, this is a daydream so dream big…you’ve won $100,000,000. Now envision that it’s exactly one year later, you’ve bought and experienced everything you’ve ever wanted, and you’ve gifted everything that you want to give away. Now, describe your perfect day. That’s it. Take a moment and write this perfect day down on paper.
A perfect day is easy for anyone to imagine and is not even that difficult to live out. Invest in yourself and use a paid time off from your day job to actually live out your perfect day. After you’ve done it commit to memory how amazing it feels. This one day is a small swatch of your future that you can now scale up to multiple days, weeks, months, etc. Also, if you discover your art is a major component of your perfect day continue to Step 2. If not, your art is a probably a hobby and, by all means, continue to enjoy it but it’s probably not something you would want to do as a career.
Step 2 – BELIEVE YOU ARE WORTHY
You must convince yourself that not only is your dream is achievable but that you are worthy of it. This takes guts. The universe will test your devotion to your art, I promise you this. Hurdles will be placed before you, people will disappoint you but remember these are only lessons to learn from. Don’t even think about starting down this path unless you’re prepared for some extremely hard work.
Step 3 – THE REALIZATION
Some people never learn the lesson that money doesn’t bring happiness (neither does poverty) until they’ve spent the best years of their life chasing it. Don’t waste that precious time. Decide how much money would you really need to earn annually at your craft to survive and add a little cushion to that figure. Mostly people are surprised by how different this number is than what they assumed. Write this figure down and then read on to Step 3.
Step 4 – ATTRACT TRUE FANS
Kevin Kelly has come up with a philosophy called, “1,000 True Fans”. This philosophy, in his own words is, “A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.”
Although it sounds simple enough on the surface it’s not but it is achievable with hard and honest work. 1,000 true fans don’t equate to 1,000 likes on your Facebook page, far from it. In my personal experience true fans make up a very small percentage of social media followers. For me it’s around 5% but I’m not sure if this is typical. True fans are more than customers, they are people who, through the magic of chemistry, you’ve made a lasting and meaningful connection with. It’s wonderful when it happens. These are patrons, people who enjoy your work enough to pay money for it, not once or twice but regularly.
This 1,000 True Fans philosophy is priceless because it provides a scalable target for us to aim for. I think it’s also the missing piece in a lot of creative people’s plan. Once you earn these 1,000 true fans the number will begin grow organically through the best advertising medium there is...word of mouth.
Step 5 – BE ONE WITH YOUR ART
You must live and breathe your art (whatever your art happens to be). It’s who you are, your passion and calling. It is embedded in your DNA so be one with it. Get used to the idea that you must throw your entire being into your art every single day. If you’re doing it right you feel as though you shut out the entire world and even lose yourself during those intense sessions of creating.
From the very minute you start on this path you will be on your way towards achieving what you had convinced yourself was an impossible feat. Coincidentally, and quite hysterically, as I was walking to my car typing this step out on my iPhone I suddenly noticed my hands were going numb from the cold. It was 18 degrees and I was so into writing this that I forgot to put on my gloves.
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If you put these 5 steps into practice with true conviction I promise you will end up closer to the life you wish to achieve. We, as creative people, are so lucky have been born in this time. It’s easier now than ever for us to live our dreams. The world is shifting and a growing number of people are consciously seeking something more than a job that pays the bills, they want a truly meaningful and fulfilling life experience. I wish you luck and blessings in reaching your goal and I thank you for having the courage to pursue it. This is how we’ll heal ourselves and the world.
INDIE AUTHORS, for many more tips such as these please read my book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way As An Indie Author, available in paperback and eBook formats.
Eric invites you to follow his unfolding story by “liking” his Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/EricVanceWaltonAuthor for updates and promotions on his current and upcoming projects.
I fell madly in love with writing the day that I found I could move people with my words. In my younger days I was extremely quiet and shy and writing became an important emotional outlet. As early as I can remember there has been this aching inside of me, to tell a story. As the years have progressed this deep desire to tell a story has become a lifelong obsession to polish and perfect my craft. For almost two decades I’ve have been juggling a full time job while writing books, poetry and freelance articles. Although my goal has always been write full time, [continue reading]
We're in the middle of a publishing revolution. Publishing houses no longer hold all of the keys to success as a writer. The world is changing. Every writer has a chance to be part of the new publishing world. This book is not about publishing contracts and million dollar book deals. This book is about creating a life as a writer. One Word at a Time is a deeply personal guide to success as a writer. In this book I share my hard-won lessons about creating and sustaining the writer's life. If you want a practical and personal guide to success as a writer, this book is for you. Available now for Kindle and in paperback.
I laughed at the comic below and then almost immediately it reminded me of how unbalanced our society is. When is the last time a song, a poem, a film, or a piece of art moved you? It happens to me almost on a weekly basis. The truth is these creative treasures have the power to impact you so deeply they can actually change you. We live in a world rich with life-altering creative treasures, many of them are accessible for free 24/7 from any mobile device. The unfortunate thing is a staggeringly small percentage of the creative geniuses who create these great gifts ever reap the benefits of their valuable service to humanity. Creatives infuse our world with beauty, positive energy, they shake us from our apathy and challenge us to think. How valuable is this? More importantly, how do you put a price on it?
This, is the hard part for us creatives. Our creative fruits...art, literature, poetry are all subjective, what truly impacts one person might seem like crap to another. To add even more complexity, you must make a reasonable name for yourself before most people are willing to spend a dime on your work. The truth is it can't be done overnight but it can be done. I am proof.
First you must give yourself permission to be an artist or writer. You must also give yourself permission to ask people to pay a reasonable price for your work. If you work hard and create a quality product that sparks an emotional connection with others you deserve to be compensated...don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Yes, you will have to give some content away for free at first but you shouldn't do this for long. Keep honing your skills, continue to build your confidence, become a marketing ninja!
By the same token, if you encounter another creative person whose work moves you and you are in the position to do so, buy it. Become a patron. This is the greatest gift you can give someone who is struggling. It's not just about the money but more about the validation of their talent. That item you buy could be the first sale they've had in a week or a month and it will give them the hope they need to keep pursuing their dreams. I know, I've been there, too many of us have. The age of the starving artist must come to an end. In reality we are all just one big creative family and it all begins with us.
Eric Vance Walton is a novelist, poet, aspiring world traveler, and tea junkie. He invites you to follow his unfolding story by "liking" his Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/EricVanceWaltonAuthor for updates and promotions on his current and upcoming projects. You can find Eric's new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author, on Amazon in print or as an ebook.
Article © 2014 Eric Vance Walton
I couldn't be more thrilled by the reception of my new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author! I've received so many kind words from those who've read it, I appreciate this more than you know. The book now has SEVEN Amazon reviews with an average of 4.5 stars! If you've read the book I'd like to hear what you think and, please, whether you liked it or not please write an Amazon review!
If you haven't read One Word At A Time yet and would like to Amazon has discounted the paperback (it's also available as an eBook in the Kindle store).
Thank you!
I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, they seem half-hearted. Resolutions can be charming and fun but really amount to only inspirational buckshot launched into the air, willy nilly, when the clock strikes midnight. Goals, on the other hand I totally believe in and are all-powerful. Goals are our antidote to the days of our lives slipping through our fingers. Goals are like a highly trained sniper...calm, focused, and purposeful. Goals allow us to accomplish incredible things, really most anything we wish. I can honestly say that I’ve had few goals that haven’t been achieved if I’ve chased them with real intent. Believe me when I say this...I’m not special, anyone can do this. The true secret to success when pursuing your goals is the quality of your intent. It also helps if you share your goals with as many people as possible. This creates a large body of cheerleaders and mentors that help to hold you accountable and keep you on track.
With that being said, here it goes, following are my goals for 2015:
1. Grow my readership on social media to 10,000 readers (or more) before the end of 2015. I will do this by producing high quality content that entertains as well as adds value to people’s lives. I want to continue to share everything I am learning every step of the way with my readers as I grow my publishing base. Reason being? I receive as much (if not more) in terms of inspiration and knowledge from my readers than I could ever give to them. I want to create a blueprint for others to follow. You can play an integral role in this goal by helping to spread the word about any of my writing you've connected with. The tiny (but mighty) SHARE button on Facebook is like gold to the indie author. Sharing of author pages and posts is one of the only effective ways left to scale your audience on social media;
2. Finish the first draft of my second novel, Truth Is Stranger by the end of May with a targeted release by Fall of 2015. I will use the NaNoWriMo template as a model (scaled to my personal schedule), I go into detail about how to do this in my recent book on writing, One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author;
3. Monetize my website with Google Adsense to create another revenue stream. I’ve been thinking about this for years but have never gotten around to it. Monetizing is an easy way for creatives to make more money by doing what they love. I don't care about money. To me money is just a means to an end but this will free up more of my time to create and to achieve goal #4;
4. Travel overseas. I’ve been an aspiring world-traveler since my earliest memory. Other places and cultures have always fascinated me. Wanderlust courses, like a drug, through my veins. Nothing to me enhances your life or provides a greater education than experiencing other cultures. I plan to get some of that education in 2015. I don’t care where but my wife and I will get started. Time waits for no one; and
5. Learn a second language. In the past I’ve dabbled in learning both Mandarin Chinese and French but haven’t pursued mastering these languages with any vigor. In 2015 I will learn to speak French and then we’ll see where it goes from there.
This list might seem lofty but my last few years have taught me that absolutely nothing is unattainable. I’ve seen the following quote in no fewer than a million memes over the past few days but it rings true with me, it reads, “Today is the first blank page of a 365 page book.” I am totally committed to making 2015 a breathtaking adventure. I'd be grateful if you stayed along with me for the ride! Much love, as always.
~Eric Vance Walton~
About The Author
Eric Vance Walton is a novelist, poet, aspiring world traveler, and tea junkie. He invites you to follow his unfolding story by "liking" his Facebook Author Page for updates and promotions on his current and upcoming projects. Eric's new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author recently charted at #7 in the Amazon Kindle Store and is available on Amazon in print or as an ebook.
What an exciting, exhausting, and utterly amazing year it's been! My new book One Word At A Time recently charted at #7 in the Amazon Kindle store, something I never imagined would have been possible a year ago. I want to thank you all for your friendship and support in 2014! The calendar is about to turn once again so it's time to ask...WHAT ARE YOUR WRITING GOALS FOR 2015? Mine will be to write and publish my second novel Truth Is Stranger and continue to find new ways to market my existing books. Above all I will continue to explore and to cultivate what I refer to as, The Writer's Life.
As writers, we are so incredibly lucky to live in this time. We must utilize every advantage technology offers us! I invite you to use these final few days of this year to chart your course to success for 2015. Best of luck to you all in the coming year. If I can do this, so can you. Carpe Diem!
About the author: Eric Vance Walton is a novelist, poet, aspiring world traveler, and tea junkie. You can find many practical tips learned through Eric's twenty year career in his new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author, on Amazon in print or as an ebook. He invites you to follow his unfolding story by “liking” his Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/EricVanceWaltonAuthor for updates and promotions on his current and upcoming projects.
Article © 2014 Eric Vance Walton
People ask me all the time...what are the most difficult things about being a writer? My first reaction is, “Where do I start?” Seriously, the list of challenges is long but if I had to choose my top six, they would be as follows: 1. Having trust, confidence, and patience. When you only have twenty readers on your Facebook page and a half completed manuscript that you haven’t been able to touch in weeks sometimes your future as a writer seems bleak. I know, I’ve been there. I can tell you with full honesty if you possess trust, confidence, and patience you can make it as a writer. Talented writers are plentiful and the skill of writing isn’t some kind of magic that you have to be born with but is powerful magic that can be learned. Anyone can learn to write well. After you’ve mastered the craft what will set you apart is trust in your abilities, the confidence to keep learning/evolving, and the patience that your day will one day come. Do whatever it takes to cultivate these three attributes. I think many writers give up just shy of their big break. Even if the big break never comes the positive things that writing attracts into your life will be a handsome reward that enrich your life tremendously.
2. Finding quiet time to write. This can be as difficult as juggling chainsaws while wearing woolen mittens. Since it’s such a challenge to make a living at writing you must find an alternative means to pay the bills until you’ve established yourself. Having to work the equivalent of 1.5 (or more) jobs forces you to efficiently utilize every single moment of your day if you wish to get anything done. A smartphone helps tremendously by allowing you to record important ideas the moment they strike during short spans of quiet throughout your day. A mobile phone is also gives you the freedom to freshen your social media accounts on the run. To purposely carve out larger blocks of time it’s best to have a designated area to write that assures you peace and quiet. It seems like the moment you turn on your computer and the writing really begins to flow you become the center of attention of everyone (including animals) within a five mile radius. People who aren’t creative don’t understand the creative process, they just don’t. It’s your job to educate them about the importance of your quiet time. Make it your goal to find your own time for peace and quiet so you can do your thing.
3. Promoting your work online with a small budget. For the first few years of its existence social media was the last missing piece of the puzzle that made indie publishing work. At last indie authors were able to get their work in front of enormous amounts of people for little to no cost. Although social media can still be an effective way to promote if used correctly it’s not as easy to grow the size of your readership as it once was. In the last eighteen months Facebook has begun severely limiting the outreach of posts from business pages. What’s worse is your outreach is most limited most during peak times on weekends when more of your readers are logged on. Facebook has adopted this practice to encourage page owners to “boost” their posts for a fee. In my experience, boosting posts is a bad investment, boosting has never translated into a sizable amount of sales. There are a couple of ways to expand your Facebook outreach for free during peak times, regularly remind your readers to "like" and "share" your posts with their friends and link your Facebook author page to your Twitter feed. Also, create a blog, post to it several times per week, and encourage readers to subscribe to your blog. It’s important to remember to enable the widget that allows your readers to enter their email address to subscribe to your blog. Once they sign up your subscribers get your posts delivered directly into their email box where they’re most likely to be read. A subscriber list is still the best way to scale your network of readers at no cost.
4. Establishing a reputation as a “real” writer. The market is flooded with indie authors and you must be able to get yourself noticed amongst the babel of millions of voices. You accomplish this in three ways, writing what you know, never undervaluing your work, and genuinely valuing your readers. In a way you must also play the role of the best-selling author you wish to become and, trust me, you will naturally grow into it. This doesn’t mean you should project a false perception of yourself or your work but you must learn to present yourself professionally both online and in person. You must become your own best spokesperson. When someone asks what you do proudly tell them, “I’m a writer!” Go ahead say it out loud, it feels amazing doesn’t it? Above all else you must always do right by your readers by consistently exceeding their expectations when it comes to content. Work hard to give your audience quality content, something of value that makes them laugh or makes them think and in time you will build a loyal fan base. Be generous in any way you can and those acts of generosity will come back to you tenfold.
5. Generating sales. To make a living at this you must sell books and the only way to sell a lot of books requires you to grow your network of readers. At first concentrate on offering lots of free quality content on a consistent basis through blog and social media posts. This is an investment in your future as a writer. Remember to offer the reader something that will truly engage and benefit them in some way. Write in a voice that makes your audience feel like you’re speaking to them personally. This forges an important bond that will earn enough trust that people are willing to spend their hard earned money on your work. Also, you must become a promotional idea generating machine, constantly coming up with new ways to sell your work. I keep an idea log in the Notes app on my iPhone and try to come up with a few new ideas every day. Don’t be afraid to test your ideas in the real world. If an idea works, simply take note and repeat it. If an idea flops, tweak it slightly or try something altogether different.
6. If you’ve done your job some people will assume you're wealthy (and in reality they’re correct). Yes I know, if you’re a writer, this sounds absurd. If you’ve presented yourself professionally online and in person you will project success. There are many folks who think that if you’ve published books and promoted them well that you’re already living the glamorous life of a best-selling author. The good news is, if you keep at it there is always the chance you will eventually achieve whatever goals you have for your writing career. For this dream to be realized it’s imperative that you be madly in love that act of writing itself. You must make up your mind that you will write even if you don’t receive a dime for it. From day one of your writing career there’s great wealth to be gained but it is a wealth other than the financial variety. The immense feeling of content that comes with writing a really good piece of work has sustained me through the darkest of days. Connecting with and receiving feedback from my readers has lifted me to new heights even when times are good. Contentment is a kind of currency that is sheltered in even the worst of economic downturns and will leave you with a life that is rich beyond measure.
About the author: Eric Vance Walton is a novelist, poet, aspiring world traveler, and tea junkie. You can find many more practical tips on writing in Eric's new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author, on Amazon in print or as an ebook. He invites you to follow his unfolding story by "liking" his Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/EricVanceWaltonAuthor for updates and promotions on his current and upcoming projects.
Article © 2014 Eric Vance Walton
I’m writing for a simple reason. I want to bribe you to buy the book "One Word at a Time" by Eric Vance Walton. Why am I doing this? Because I believe in this book.
If you want to be a writer, a real writer, this book is for you. It’s not about fame or money. (Even though the book will help you get those things.) It’s about building a life as a writer.
If you buy the "One Word at a Time" before Saturday, I will give you 3 eBooks that we’ve previously published as a bonus. The bonus eBooks are not available anywhere else. The only way to get these books is to buy "One Word at a Time."
The bonus books are: “Submit Publish Repeat,” "How to Market Your Novel on Facebook," and "Your Book, Published!"
If you want to live the life of a writer, please buy "One Word at a Time." Right now.
Buy Now (Print Edition): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1942344007/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1942344007&linkCode=as2&tag=bopto-20&linkId=XTPWRF3AMLIQQ2KQ
Buy Now (Kindle Edition): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P06KTM8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00P06KTM8&linkCode=as2&tag=bopto-20&linkId=WFPSUVT6IDU5WDG7
Sincerely,
Jacob Jans Editor Authors Publish
PS: Once you buy One Word at a Time, you can access your bonus content here: http://www.authorspublish.com/press/?p=28
I've found Goodreads to be a great resource to both find new readers and to connect with other authors. Visit my profile here.
I'm excited to share my newest article with Freelance Writing magazine! Consider freelancing and see your opportunities as a writer grow exponentially. CLICK HERE to read the article.
Nothing I've ever experienced quite compares to the excitement of a book launch. I've waited for this day for a very, very long time. I'm incredibly excited to present to you my first traditionally published book! This book contains everything I've learned in my nearly two decades of crafting a career as an indie author. I've done my best to write an honest and helpful book for writers going through the same struggles that I did. It's my wish to help save you time in reaching your goals as an author. I can't thank you enough for your comments and your support. Writing, and my communication with you, add immeasurable substance and happiness to my life.
If you are a writer struggling to achieve your ideal writer's life, please give this book at try. If you know an indie writer, please share the link with them. One Word At A Time is available today in paperback format on Amazon.com and from Barnes and Noble.com. The eBook version can be found in iTunes and across most other eBook platforms.
Click here to view the announcement from the publisher!
Download a free preview of my upcoming book, here: http://www.authorspublish.com/press/sample/
I was busy this summer. I'm thrilled to announce my first traditionally published book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author. My soul is in this book, it contains hard won knowledge attained from 20 years in the writing business. Please click on the attached link below to download your FREE PREVIEW of the book before it's released to the public in mid-October. Also, feel free to share this link with anyone you know who is interested in writing. Thanks for your support! Link to download the exclusive preview:
http://www.authorspublish.com/press/sample/
In your heartyou know you're ready but the world doesn't know your name
so you forever search and pray for some angel that will find something special in your muse, appreciate the miles walked in your shoes and just be gracious enough to hold open the door
you feel time growing shorter with each sweep of the hands shoo those troubles of the world before they nest in the corners of your mind
In your heart you know you're ready but the world doesn't know your name
a small voice says, don't cry we must crawl and stumble before we leap and fly
you chuckle under your breath in frustration but your soul is resolute you couldn't give up if you tried and oh have you've tried
now you have grown into faith, into your name and it fits. It's destiny, you'll never quit now the world will know your name.
~Eric Vance Walton~
