A Box You Created

Breaking out of the box is tough for some folks. It means taking chances on making a change. Change is just as scary. You meet it head on with panic or avoidance. A new year doesn’t mean a list of resolutions you can’t commit to; it means you’ve taken a deeper look inside to consider that you may do better by the end of the year.

As a writer, hopefully you’re moving ahead with your book plans. Maybe you’re looking at increasing time on a pet project you just haven’t penciled into the day planner. A guilty conscience can be motivational, too. Maybe a character in your head has taken you hostage and wants more time than you can give him.

In fact, characters knocking on your virtual door and demanding to be heard is a good sign that you need to reorganize your priorities now. It’s not funny when that knocking is your heartbeat. Change is coming. Are you frazzled, frustrated, wishing you could move forward with your writing?

Maybe giving up your complete ownership of your project to someone on the outside is a move you can do… Maybe getting yourself out of your mental abyss is actually stepping out of your box.

Creating 3 Problems

Selecting someone to help you is a scary step because now you have three problems:

One, Pick a stranger to share your book project with is like going to a shrink. They’ll want to know more than you want to divulge.

Two, what kind of price can you pay on a big project that isn’t anywhere near completion? It has no value or pre-sales as yet. How do you set prices?

Three, what if it doesn’t work out and you’ve spent money and time without results on a marketing or author advocate who you know you need but may not be the right one?

No doubt this scenario is real enough.

And there it is. Fear of change that you created. You chose a path with no known outcome. You’ve also drawn in another person to help you and you’re not sure if you should.

Welcome to the other world of investment. Investing in time, money, outlook, loss, exhilaration, future, and leaps of faith.

So here is a short list before you commit:

• Talk to  our writers who have paid for help
• Research the people whose name was referred
• Shop for someone with a track record
• Don’t chose a person out of your genre
• Ask ahead for pricing, time slots and projected need
• Ask for a contract so you’ll keep it moving forward as a business
• Ask for a termination clause that let’s you stop but retain what you have
• Make the process as friendly as possible, so even if you mutually don’t work on this project, you might need him/her for later
• Your commitment to yourself and your accountability to your “partner” are now that cornerstone allowing you to break out of your box.

So when you face a change in your marketing for your new book, for instance, is an undertaking that you wish someone else could do for you?

What does breaking out of the box really mean to you? Can you do it?

A Calculated Risk

Since I’ve never considered myself as mainstream in most everything I do, when I break away from my norm, it’s a bit more “out there” than most people. Breaking out doesn’t mean tossing your life out the window. It means re-evaluating what your plan had been … if you had a plan.

It means taking a calculated risk like taking a class to up your game a bit. Really, when is the last time your took any course in writing a novel or what marketing your “brand” is all about?

If you’ve read along this far, then please consider talking to me to help you take that leap. I’m an author advocate, a ghostwriter, a marketing /proposal writer, a grant writer and more. I’ve written and edited books, magazines, news articles, and websites … and I even write poetry. And won a few awards.

I can apply what I know to help make you grow.

~~  Rusty LaGrange