Claire Taylor - Reclaim Your Author Career

Do you ever feel like your writing business is burning more fuel than it should? Like youre wasting precious energy on things that dont move you forward, but youre not sure what those things are?

What matters? What doesnt? Its not easy to sort through.

What you can expect in the pages ahead is a transformational process, a new way of relating to your writing, and a fresh perspective on the industry. Youll also gain an updated and individualized set of criteria for making the important decisions a business owner mustboth big and small.

But as it is with all transformation and growth, discomfort, honesty, and sweat equity are a necessary part of the bargain. I promise this to you: you will get just as much out of this book as you put in.

From day one, my goal in writing this book has been to design something that will change your entire career for the better, so that your natural energy and enthusiasm can flow through the mechanisms of your business unimpeded and unwasted.

This book might feel like author boot camp at times, but unlike boot camp, the goal isnt to enforce conformity, but rather to encourage and embolden your individual center, the part of you that society tries to buff out and erase, that little voice that may be quite hoarse lately from trying to shout over the noise. And well create that alignment between your career and your deepest self by using a tool called the Enneagram.

Life is crazy. You probably have a lot going on outside of your writing life.

Or maybe you dont. Maybe writing has become your life because you thought that was the only way to cross the illustrious Finish Line of Success. But you could have a life outside of writing, if you wanted to, and a legendary one at that. The myth that you must forfeit everything outside of your work to be a successful writer, like some obsessed Stephen King protagonist (and doesnt that always work well for them?) is one of the many myths Ill gladly dispel for you in the following pages.

Ill show you that, in fact, your creative work suffers when you have nothing else going on outside of itno exterior stimulation, no personal challenges, no new input. Living your life is part of your work.

You deserve to be a full-spectrum person who feels successful in your writing and earns the money that you need to remain an active member of this industry, whatever amount that is for you.

It sounds like a tall order, I know. If youre a skeptic like I am, youre probably thinking I might as well promise you that for the price of this book I can make your wildest dreams come true. Or maybe youre reading these words and going, Oh wow, is this going to be an extended sales pitch for a higher-priced item?

That would be smart of me to do if I cared more about money than my integrity, but I dont, so thats not what this is. I do offer paid courses and services, but my goal is to make this book something where you walk away with way more than your moneys worth. If you choose to work with me more in the future, great! We can have some serious fun together! But its not required to take something valuable away from this.

Reclaim Your Author Career is, at its heart, an empowerment book. I want you to know how to make the many decisions you face in this business so that you dont need to ask someone like me what to do at every crossroad. Outside perspective can be invaluable, but the more decisions you can confidently make for yourself going forward, the better, right?

Thats my goal in writing this book. Ready to see if we can pull it off?

You may or may not know who the hell I am. So here are the highlights (and lowlights):

First and foremost, Im a writer. A humor writer, at that; I picked an uphill battle for myself when it comes to selling books. Second to being a writer, Im a reader, and thats important because, thirdly, Im a story consultant. I call myself a fiction strategist because the approach I take to helping authors with their stories tends to go so much deeper than just the book itself. Youll see that as you progress through these chapters.

Before I was a full-time writer, I was an editor and a teacher. That probably makes me sound stuffy, but I promise I was never the type to dock points from the essay for spelling. Im more of an idea junkie.

Story is my obsession. Ive edited over two hundred fiction manuscripts. I read fifty to a hundred books a year in all different genres, including fiction and nonfiction. Ive published somewhere around thirty-five books in the sundry genres of religious satire, paranormal police comedy, magical cozy mystery, and crime fiction (and erotica, but I dont talk about that in mixed company). Story is my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Not my dessert, though. I prefer ice cream.)

When youre passionate about something, you want to share that passion with others. So, in a way, I was destined/doomed for teaching. Both of my parents are teachers, and one time on a paranormal research trip to New Orleans, I had a psychic tell me there was a ton of blue teaching energy flying around my aura. Like I said, destined/doomed.

I cant think of any career more in alignment with who I am and what Im passionate about than writing meaningful stories and helping other authors do the same.

Whats so great about alignment, you might ask? How about I answer that by telling whats so bad about misalignment?

When I began writing full-time, I didnt take the leap because I was suddenly making enough money to replace my previous income. I took the leap because my last job was a nightmare, and I knew I had to get out. I needed money fast from writing, so I tried a lot of get-rich-quick schemes. Nothing unethical, but definitely unrealistic. This was back in 2015, so it wasnt exactly the Kindle golden years, but there was still a good bit of money to rake in from Kindle Unlimited without much advertising at all.

So, thats the path I took. Because, you know, I needed money.

Fair enough, 2015 Claire.

The problem, of courseand youll probably see this from miles awaywas that I was focused entirely on money. This is not unexpected behavior when someone goes from having a paycheck to not having one. However, its not ideal. My thinking was, I need money, and I finally have time to pursue my passion of writing and my dream of being a writer, so lets find the easiest overlap and go, go, go!

I was younger, coming out of a high-stress, low-paying job in public education, and never doubted for a second my ability to white-knuckle my life. I could do this! I could make back my old salary in book sales!