Is it pointless to dream big? 💭
Feeling deflated is normal... But it still sucks! 😥
I know it’s Fun Friday, but today I want to chat about something that’s a little more serious. This is a really important topic, though, so I’d be grateful if you’d bear with me! 🐻
One thing about Substack that I’m super grateful for is how real a lot of the other authors are on here. I see you and I’m encouraged by you, especially
, , , , , and ! :) From these writers and many others, I see a LOT of notes and posts about busyness, burnout, rejection, and feelings of “swimming against the tide.” Ironically, their posts work wonders for my soul - they fight against the sentiments of inadequacy, FOMO, and toxic positivity culture that I feel on other social media platforms and the internet in general.In all transparency, I’ve felt especially deflated over the past couple of weeks. I don’t expect (and I never expected) freelance writing to be an easy profession. I understand that it’s a very active career choice, meaning that it requires continuous marketing and searching for opportunities alongside producing deliverables. But I’ve really been going for it over the past couple of months, and while things aren’t terrible or completely stagnant, they’re just not where I want them to be… yet.
During the growth process, I’ve realized how little I know about successful social media marketing, even though I’m half decent with SEO-focused articles. Apparently social media marketing is a big deal these days… Who knew?! 😉
If I had it my way, I’d spend my days writing people’s memoirs, love stories, and books. Even though I know I can do these types of projects well, I feel deflated by the continuous fight to get my name out there and convince others that I can make their project shine.
Every podcast I listen to, blog post/article I look at, and book I read gives similar - albeit decent - advice. The issue is, I’m finding that the freelancers who give tips are already financially successful (by which I mean they’re at least making six figures as freelance writers), and many of these advisors neglect to share the details of how they built up a portfolio at the very beginning. Other freelancers giving advice simply became successful before the boom of social media marketing and the semi-recent influx of new freelance writers. One tip I hear in every piece of content I consume is a variation of, “Push through the early months and you will succeed.” While I’m happy to do that, I’m not sure if what I’m doing is “right” to get me there or if this advice will even hold true in today’s freelancing landscape.
The reality is, no matter how many “tips” I listen to or read about, the best methods for how to become a successful freelance book writer/editor always change as time passes. Frankly, there will also never be a freelance writer who isn’t currently making six figures that can guarantee that they will make six figures in writing in the future. So, naturally, there’s no day-by-day to-do list that can guarantee that I’ll be a financially stable freelancer one day.
Of course, I hope and pray that I’ll book a few clients, write some darn good books (which, inevitably, I’ll pour my heart, soul, and way too much time into), and get the book ghostwriting ball rolling steadily. But I also have to remind myself that this type of growth is a slow process, and it’s okay to feel dejected and deflated sometimes.
Plus, I’m not alone wading through the stress of a career path built on an ever-changing, unstable landscape. I am so grateful for the Substackers who talk about real things, like the varied emotions of being a human author. I am so grateful for the writers who make me feel less alone by expressing their own struggles. I am so grateful for the other authors on this platform that teach me it’s okay to dream big, whether or not it works out exactly how I envision it in the end.
This post is for you, writers of Substack. Thank you for encouraging me every time I open the little orange app! Keep dreaming big, even through the hard days. 🥹❤️
"six figures" always sounds amazing but oh my goodness that's a lot of work. I'd be thrilled with £40,000 a year tbh 😂
I don't have any practical writing advice to give. Seriously though, the beginning for me was just to write some fiction, engage with the fiction of others, engage with communities and theme days, recommend other publications and it all just follows tbh. Thank you for the tag. I had no idea of any influence on your feelings. I'm happy to help.
What a grab you by the throat title. Love it. I had to read. And then this comment space, maybe I can be transparent here a moment. I don't want to share over in the chat with the community because that would affect the turn out of tonight's experiment The moment they heard I'm anxious, they'd run to the rescue--but I won't learn anything that way. I've got a new serial launching today, and new tease to bring people to my bookstore. I've been working on that one thing this week, how can I improve the percentage of people who flow-through from a post to the bookstore. It's the first step in getting everything in place to actually start selling books through Substack. I wrote about it, and then did what I wrote, and had an epiphany--and tonight's the test. I'll post the related article Sunday or Monday. The nerves are INTENSE, and the only thing at risk are a few click-throughs. It feels like the weight of the world, though.