I should have used a different title.

Writers, at least professional writers are business owners. This should not come as a surprise to anybody who’s been reading this blog or seen me speak.

Trouble is, writers as a population are among the least qualified people in the world to run a business. They tend to be liberal arts majors who would much rather curl up in a library than pound the pavement looking for clients or organizing finances. That’s why agents and publishers made so much money in the past 100 years or so, and why so many writers were willing to sign away 90% or more of their income to avoid the business side of the job.

The worse trouble is we can’t do that any more.

• The model of write –> agent –> publish –> write again is vanishing, offered to fewer and fewer people every year.
• Even the people who do get published under that model don’t get the marketing support they would have twenty years ago. They still need to learn how to get the word out about their books.
• The quickest method of getting a publisher these days is to do well with your first self-published book, which means treating that project like a business complete with marketing plan.

All in all, professional writers need to be professional writers…not the professional writers we all hoped we would become.

The SEOWiSE program is a training course (full discolosure — I’m one of the founders) that teaches writers how to leverage what they’re best at — writing — to promote their work. I’m proud of it. My partner John Ellis is proud of it. You’ll be proud to complete it. Here’s the basic rundown:

So that’s the good news. You can get trained, then get paid. And getting paid is the difference between a professional writer and somebody who writes.

The other good news is, because I’m a founder, I can cut you a deal on the price. Reach out to me and subscribe to the blog and I’ll get you a $250 discount.

Seriously, the stuff in there is part of why I never have to find a real job again.

Thanks for listening.