Aspiring writers are always looking ahead to that book contract. They write, revise, network, rewrite, learn, plot…and dream.

Pre-pubbed can be an intensely exciting time as well as an intensely frustrating one. We seem to stagnate in our dreams as week after week, chapter after chapter, conference after conference, time seems to pass us by.

We watch others catapult to superstar status at writing conferences where the published authors gather to talk industry and the pre-pubbed gather to dream.

The one thing all of them have in common is there are potential opportunities swirling around them at every moment. The thing that distinguishes many people is recognition of those opportunities.

“But wait, Tiff!! I’m working hard!”

I know you are. Don’t worry. I’m not criticizing. I’m coaching. I’m speaking from experience. We miss many opportunities because they don’t come the way that we expect them. In this post I want to try to help you recognize them easier.

1. Sometimes opportunities hide. The thing about opportunities is they could be right beside us but we don’t realize it yet. When I attended my first writing conference I went expecting a business conference. That had been my only experience [network marketing to be exact], so I’d gone expecting to learn all these great trade secrets and have lots of time to “build my writing business”. Instead, there were conversations over coffee in the lobby and late night talks with roommates. I didn’t realize that these “unscripted events” were really business guide and getting to know people. I’m an introvert by nature, so where there were not coordinated meeting times I assumed I’d be in my room. I missed the opportunity to develop relationships that first year.
2. Taking advantage of an opportunity can be scary. I have to be honest, I don’t fit in well. I have the mind of a fiction writer with the heart of a business owner. I see business development like chapters in a novel with the central “plot” being the business structure. If I talk to writers they think I’m a little off. When I talk to businesses, I don’t speak their language. When I’m talking to my family they want me to cleanly define what it is I do. It is scary to be different. It is a much slower road to success. I am constantly asked, “What is a Writing Career Coach?” It isn’t like saying, “I’m a franchisee.” Or “I’m a novelist”. Or “I’m a bank teller.” Sometimes seizing opportunities will be scary because you won’t fit in a clear area and that means you’ll get more rejection than others.
3. Sometimes opportunities take a while to show up. This kind of plays in to what I just said, it can take longer to earn money by following opportunities than it does to follow the well-worn path. This is not to criticize any paths at all. Even established novelists at royalty houses innovate in order to reach new markets. Even businesses want to start with a sure money maker and then tweak the design. Just recognize that innovation can take longer to pay out.

Well, Tiff, this all sounds like a downer…. NO IT ISN’T!!

The reality is if you KNOW this in the beginning you can adapt. I spent years thinking I was a colossal failure because it seemed success was passing me by until I finally wore down my NEW path and people started to discover me. Suddenly my innovation wasn’t a liability, it was a benefit.

What opportunities could be out there to build your writing business? checkout these examples to know about it. Is there a local business who could use your help in writing their “About Us” story on their website? Is there a local high school, 4H, or Girl Scout group who would like to have a speaker come in and talk about writing? You don’t have to be published in book length fiction in order to qualify. Is there a struggling newbie who could really benefit from what you know?

You have the OPPORTUNITY to participate in all of these areas. If you’re still working to get published, you have the OPPORTUNITY to really learn craft and read books. You won’t have that when you have a 3 book contract no your desk. Are you a new writer? You have the OPPORTUNITY to expand your market and make connections with people because you’re on the cover of a book. People can benefit from what you’ve learned.

All of these things may not have financial compensation, but they have ONE thing in common—edification. Yes, they remind you that what you’re doing has value. It isn’t prideful to feel the satisfaction of helping a high school student and getting applause for it. It’s okay to tell people about what you know.

Take advantage of the opportunity to learn from others, to teach others, and to be recognized for what you already know.  Recognize the opportunity to take your writing a new direction, to rethink your market or to try working in multiple markets. [That’s how Writing Career Coach grew from a platform for my fiction to a growing company.] Don’t despise the day of small beginnings. Don’t look down on the little opportunities. My first speaking event I keynoted at a morgue. In September of this year [just over 4 years later] I shared the podium with Les Stobbe, Mary Lou Redding, Cec Murphey, and Lin Johnson. I still pinch myself.

What opportunity, if taken today, will be the start of your dream future? What opportunity can you create?

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter, The Writing Career Coach

Tiffany Colter, Special Teams Blogger