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Writers Hate Selling Things (And That’s Okay): Handling The Great Art — Product Divide As A Professional Writer
Whether we’re writer-preneurs or anxious messes, we can learn to prosper without selling off our passions.
“Wait…to be a writer, I have to learn to sell things?”
I clearly remember the moment I learned this sad fact, as well as the existential crisis that quickly followed. The sweet naivete of my writerly youth faded away, revealing an age-old truth to my suddenly withered eyes: to be a professional writer, I had to make money from my writing.
The cries of my breaking heart were soon replaced by a steely determination rooted deep down inside my soul. Okay, fine, I thought, then I will become the best at selling things. I’ll be so good at it, guys. So good.
Cue the buying of endless ebooks on book marketing and online money-making, freelance “hustling” and building a brand. I was going to make it.
And, actually, I have “made it.” I’m a full-time writer who makes a comfortable living from my work. But the surprising twist to this tale of determination and woe is that, well, I didn't actually have to do much selling to get here.
