To Specialise or Not...

 

Many people have specialist knowledge in subjects that other people know nothing about, whether it's knowing how to grow the perfect marrow, having a natural flare for fashion or knowing the history of the British Empire inside out. Specialising in writing about a subject can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand if you are an expert in a certain subject and can write about it in a way that will inform others, you can build up a good client base of buyers for that particular subject. You can very often become a columnist in your subject, or have a list of regular titles all willing to pay you for your knowledge.

On the other hand, you can limit yourself and your potential for work. Particularly if the subject you specialise in is so specialised that you end up limiting your markets for work. For example; you may be very knowledgeable in the railway network, but the markets for your knowledge are very slim, with only a handful of publications on this subject being available.

If, however, you specialise in say, natural health and healing, your potential market will be much greater. Most national magazines and newspapers like to promote natural health/healing in some form or another, so specialising in a subject such as this will open up a much wider area for you to work in.

When I first started writing for magazines and newspapers I wrote general lifestyle pieces because I knew that the majority of publications would print this type of story, giving me better odds of getting published with them. Because I've always been interested in the mind, body and spirit side of things my writing eventually leaned more to the magazines that have a spiritual or natural health slant to them. I have now written for every MBS title in the UK at one time or another, most of the women's magazine titles and for many of the national newspapers. I have even secured two regular columns with two national MBS magazines. Because mind, body and spirit covers a wide area, I haven't limited myself too much, but if you specialise in a subject that is too specialised, you might just find that although you are classed as an expert in your field, your workload might become too slim for you to survive as a freelance writer.

So, to specialise or not? It all depends on your market. Are there enough publications out there to make it worth your while. If not then broaden your horizons a bit more.

 

Career Success or Career Suicide?

 

We're talking social media today. Now, whilst I'm not an expert in the field of this relatively new phenomenon (I still have no idea what a hash-tag is or how I would use one), I do have a Facebook page and I know how to Tweet, if the need arises, and this is a fantastic way to keep in touch with what other people are doing, even if it's just to know what they are planning to have for tea that evening.

 

What I have noticed though is the amount of writers who spend a lot of time and energy detailing their rejections and bemoaning their lack of success in the publishing industry. Whether it's not getting a positive response from an agent or struggling to find a publisher, they feel they have to tell the world about it. There's truth in the saying, 'Don't put anything on the Web that you don't want the world and his wife to know about!'

 

Humans are naturally judgemental beings and how you present yourself is crucial to what people think of you. Whilst other writers connected to your blog or writers' forum may well sympathise with your writing woes, the only thing you are doing is telling the world that you're not worthy of being published; that your writing is unpublishable.

 

We all experience rejections, rubbish reviews and have files of unpublished works growing virtual cobwebs stored on our computers, but by telling the world about it all does you no favours. People are often surprised when I tell them it's not only writers who read your words online - it's commissioning editors, publishers and the general public too. If you portray yourself as someone who constantly moans about being rejected, or says things like, 'I couldn't get a proper publisher, so I self-published, please buy my book!' you've just informed everyone who looks you up that you're not very successful in your field. That you're a wannabe, rather than a success. And that includes commissioning editors.

 

You will never see a famous author bemoaning the fact that their latest book had to go through five rewrites before their publisher would consider taking it. The only time you hear from an established author about how hard it was to get published, is once they are famous. And you certainly won't find Stephen King or J K Rowling on any social networks tweeting how much they hate their agent or that their publisher doesn't know a thing about the industry. They (or their publishers) use social networking as a tool to promote their career, not destroy it.

 

Social networking can work wonders for your career, but it's all about how you present yourself. If you have self-published your book, instead of making the world think that it's because no publisher would sign you up, say it was your decision because the royalties are much higher than going down the traditional route. If an agent has turned you down, do you really need to tell everyone about it? Could you not just keep it to yourself or say you decided that a particular agent wasn't right for you? Yes, writing forums can be helpful, particularly for those just starting out and can be a tremendous source of support, but as Rhonda Byrne (author the the highly successful The Secret) points out, the more you tell yourself and others that you are unsuccessful, the more you will attract the very same thing.

 

By all means use social networking as a promotional tool for your writing, or just as a means to connect with the outside world, but always remember; people only know about you by what you tell them, so make sure it's only positive news!

 

And whilst I'm on the subject, watch what you say on other people's blogs, forums or when writing a book review. Your words will reflect who you are as a person. If you review another author's book in a nasty or negative light, people will just assume that you're jealous. If you don't like a particular book, don't bother commenting about it. People can make up their own minds. If you decide to get into a controversial conversation, your words are there for all to see, so always think before you hit the send key - you never know who might be reading it!