Three Tips to Shift your Mindset From Writer to Author
Working Title: This is what I tell my paid clients. Now I'm sharing it here for FREE because 2025 is when you're going to manifest your goals 💖
writ·er /ˈrīdər/ noun. a person who has written a particular text.
au·thor /ˈôTHər/ noun. a writer of a book, article, or report.
It should come as no surprise to any of you reading this that I am a bit of a word nerd. When writing Rowena’s Song (and now the second installment), I got in the habit of checking the origins of my verbs and adverbs in an effort to avoid words, ideas, or phrases that had been invented after the 5th century, which is the historical setting of the novel. For example, Rowena would never spend a second or a minute on anything, because she lived in a world without clocks.
I’m bringing that level of thinking to today’s post, because I know many of my subscribers are writers. Some write romantasy, some write women’s ficiton, others are poets and fellow Substack bloggers.
I want you all to start thinking of yourselves as AUTHORS.
In looking at the definitions above, you might be thinking, what’s the difference?
Writer is a noun that is derived from the Old English verb wrītan, which means to form letters by carving. In Germanic lands (where the OG Angles originated), writing started out as a process of carving runes into sticks and rocks.
Author is a noun derived from the Latin verb augere, which means to originate or promote. In Middle English, author meant a person who invents or causes something, and is realated to the word authentic.
And that, dear readers, is why I’m asking you to embrace your role as AUTHOR. Your words are more than dark lines of ink (or toner) set upon a white surface. You are inventing characters, plots, and entire worlds! You are bringing forth something from your heart and mind and sharing it with the world, something that is authentic to who you are as a human soul. No one else can write your story the way you can.
As far as I’m concerned, that is akin to magic, and it’s cool as hell.
I am an author, and if you’ve read this far, I imagine your are too (or you are my husband, who is reading just to be supportive. Love you too babe..now you can go back to your video-game).
In order to help support your new 2025 “I’m an author” mindset, here are some tips to help you as you write that novel you plan on publishing and/or promote the works you already have shared with readers.
Tip Number One: Market Yourself as an Author on Social Media ASAP
I know, I know. I just used the “m” word, which is anathema to many creative types. And if you are one of the many women, like me, who was raised with the belief that we shouldn’t take up space, the idea of promoting yourself is uncomfortable as hell.
Do it anyways.
As toxic as social media can be, you really need to choose one of the platforms and establish a presence on there as an author. In the past, Twitter was considered the place to be seen. However, since it has changed over to X, many authors and folks in the industry have left as it has a toxic, “tech-bro” atmosphere. Threads has picked up some of those voices. However, with the recent changes at Meta that have done away with fact checking, you may not feel comfortable posting there. If you don’t like any of these options, I cannot blame you. And it looks like TikTok will be gone within hours of this post going live.
This is where sites like Substack, Medium, Royal Road, and WattPad come in. All of these sites focus primarily on the written word, allow creators to post for free, and allow readers to provide commentary on your work.
Substack and Medium are places where you can find blogs and non-fiction works, original poetry, and some serialized fiction. These platforms are set up so you can monetize your writing if you wish.
Royal Road and WattPad focus more heavily on fictional works and long form novels. While you cannot charge directly from those sites, users can link to Paetron or Buy Me a Coffee as a source of revenue.
I am forever grateful to Rebecca Grogan, who instilled the importance of marketing not just my book, but ME. It’s why you are now reading these words on Substack. Please check out this interview Rebecca gave to The Self-Pub Action Club (and give Kristin’s Substack a subscribe while you are there).
Once you’ve chosen a platform, begin to present your book to your audience at least six months prior to publication. This can be in the form of a cover reveal, blurb snippets, or sharing your feelings and fears about being published.
Take up the space. Be proud of your story. Take no shit (because it is social media and sometimes hater show up to hate. Block their asses).
Tip Number Two: Follow Current Industry Trends
You ARE an author, so its time to start participating in the club. You will want to walk the walk and talk the talk. Luckily, we live in an age where this information is widely disseminated if you know where to look.
Publisher’s Weekly is an amazing resource when it comes to insider info about the industry, but subscriptions are expensive. However, they do allow three free online article views a month. Oftentimes there are Substackers and bloggers that cite PW in their articles, so this is another way to stay on top of trends.
Kirkus Reviews is a great place to see what the gatekeepers have to say about new titles. Some of the reviews can be brutal (see their take on Iron Flame). However, the average reader isn’t a trained editor and is usually a bit more forgiving. (That doesn’t mean you should not write the best book you can…more on that in Tip Three).
For those of you hoping to go traditional, you might want to head over to The Shit No One Tells You About Writing.
For those of you embracing self-pub, I cannot emphasize enough that you need to head over to The Creative Penn and subscribe to Joann’s Penn’s podcast ASAP.
Tip Number Three: Invest in Yourself
The most important thing you can do is invest in your words. You are not just writing a book. You are building a sturdy foundation upon which you will build your author career.
Whether you are going traditional or indie, today’s author must invest in professional input. Period. Is it fair that the cost of these services, which was once covered by the traditional publishers, has been pushed onto authors?
NO. In many ways it sucks, but that is what happens when a vibrant community of presses gets gobbled up and consolidated into five corporations. But the truth is that agents are looking for manuscripts that are nearly ready for publication, and the best way to accomplish this is to have a professional comment on your work. And if you get rejected, at least at that point you know you have a strong work to self-publish.
You may be thinking, well Ivy, you’re a book coach. Isn’t that a bit self-serving?
Nope. Before I was a coach, I was a writer with a very rough draft that was stuck in the mud. I hired an editor to do a developmental edit that absolutely changed how I understood story and the writing process. It’s how the first edition of Rowena’s Song came to be.
HOWEVER, I didn’t fully follow my own advice, and was unwilling (and honestly unable) to pay for that draft to have a professional copy edit. Well folks, that was a costly mistake. As you may know I pulled that book because AI isn’t the answer. (I will have an article that goes into more depth on this subject in the coming months)
As much as you love your friends and family, they are not going to be able to provide the kind of insights your writing needs to take it from great to professional. AI alone isn’t going to edit your work like a professional. And remember, you are now an author. Your current book sells the next book. If you want anything you dream of in the future to appeal to readers, you need to make sure your current book highlights your authentic voice and vision.
After writing a draft or two, seek out the input of a developmental editor.
If you are going to self-publish, seek out the services of a line and/or copy editor.
If you are going to self-publish, hire an artist to create your cover.
If you don’t have the fund to do this now, you can start on WattPad or Royal Road while you save up for these services.
Final Thoughts:
Over the past two years, I’ve been very fortunate to meet talent writers at various stages of their writing journey. Regardless of where the writer was at in the process, they all shared one thing in common. They embraced feeling vulnerable and allowed a stranger to read their words. They trusted me enough to understand their vision and guide them from manuscript to published book. They went from being a writer to an author.
You too must embrace your inner author even if it is downright intimidating.
However, in a world where we are increasingly being exposed to AI garbage, sharing authentic human voices and experiences is more important than ever.
Go forth author and create!