12 Days of Author Gifts, Day 4: 50 Ways to Leave the Sidelines (for Authors)

Name your goals, show up and do the work, claim your rewards

Photo by Kate Bezzubets on Unsplash.

It’s not that simple, except when it is.

Rather, it’s not easy, but it is simple.

Making your author expectations and goals explicit is the first step in reaping proper rewards.

One of the most interesting and complex aspects of having been a small-press publisher for over 25 years, one who had lots of direct contact with her authors at all stages of the publishing process, were authors’ expectations.

As you might know from firsthand experience, authors have an assortment of hopes, expectations, and big plans pinned on their book. This is not a problem and, as a fan of authors, I say, you deserve all the things you want considering the time, effort, expertise, polish, and passion you put into your book. But start a wish list. And be specific.

And turn those into goals.

Because without a bit of reflection, those author desires may remain ethereal, grand, and amorphous: to be wildly successful, to be a life-changing experience, and — the one we all think but often barely admit to even ourselves — to make a lot of money. Sure, and to squash the existential pain inside…