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Get serious about what you write and do everything you can to be read
By Gary | January 4, 2008
One of the most interesting things to me as a professional writer is that comment many folks make which goes something like this:
"Oh, I'm a writer of course, but I really don't care whether my stuff gets read. Just writing it is satisfaction enough for me."
Fair enough, I guess. I understand people who write diaries, journals, private "sketch books" and outlines, recipe cards, and on and on -- documents they are doing privately and never expect them to be read. Indeed, every professional/published writer does such things, and may often use these efforts as inspiration or background for published writing.
But I truly don't understand people who express a desire to write, yet feel no need to have readers. Or at least, I've known such people who certainly would NEVER make an effort on their own to go out and bring readers to their work.
The beauty of the Internet is that many, many people who desire to write can do so at little or no cost. The next step, however, must take place if you wish to write and to have others read what you've written: You must make an effort to get your writing read. That's called MARKETING.
Nothing wrong, that I can see, with marketing your writing. On the high end, you may actually make some money from your writing, which is why we use terms like "professional" for successfully published writers: They write, they publish, and they earn money from the publication of their writing.
On the low end, a bit of marketing at the very least will gain some audience for what you've written. You may not make a dime from the writing, but you will know that something you put into "print" (or blog) made a connection to someone else.
One of the current means of marketing websites involves what has become known as "social bookmarking." I'm just coming to social bookmarking, and I hope personally that it will gain me more readers. As I learn more about it and more about doing it, I'll keep you posted.
Now get busy and write something today that will make us all proud.
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