To be Taken Seriously as a Writer, NEVER do this!

Maybe you're a newbie writer, maybe you've been at it for years, maybe you only have a dozen bylines out there on the whole of the Internet, or maybe you're like me; twenty years in a love-hate relationship with the crazy world of writing for a living.

Regardless of where you are on that spectrum, there's one thing you should never do if you want to be taken seriously: beg.

The Many Faces of Begging

Begging comes in various forms. Some are obvious, but some you might be doing without even realizing it. For example, have you ever left a comment on a blog that read something like this: "I really enjoyed your article. I'm a writer too, check out my article on..."

That's begging. Because you're essentially asking for a pity read.

Another great example is the infamous LinkedIn strategy: messaging all your business contacts to tell them about your awesome book, article, blog, YouTube channel; you get the drift. Of course, if you're embarking on a new venture, certainly let your "warm market" know about it, but don't send cold call messages to all your social media connections. Do you know how you feel when you get bombarded with, "check out my great book/website/article" messages from other people? That's how everyone feels. And that's why it doesn't work.

Please Don't

We're taught to say please and thank you, and thank you is fine, but don't ever say the word "please." It reeks of desperation. "Please check out my blog," "Please read this article!" "Please click on this link to help me get traction!"

It all sounds hokey because it is.

If you want to be seen as a professional, the first thing you have to understand is that professionals don't beg. We know we have something to offer, and therefore we don't need to talk anyone into it.

Instead of pleading and coaxing and cajoling, word your attention getters the way you would if you were running an ad that you're paying for: "Don't miss this!" "Click here!" "Be one of the first 50 readers to... fill in the blank." It sounds a bit salesy, but there's a reason those kinds of ads work. And they work a lot better than "please oh please oh please." Better yet, just part with some bucks and run an ad (if you can.) It's still, and always will be, the best way to get traffic to anything you've written.

Resorting to Desperation

I've even seen a step beyond begging, and that's out and out desperation. And I don't use that term lightly. I've literally witnessed book authors uploading YouTube videos of them sitting there wondering aloud why no one is buying their books and how will they ever pay their bills if they don't up their royalties check that month? UGH.

Or worse yet, telling everyone about a personal crisis in their life for which they need money, and then directing people to buy their novels to help them out. Awful, just awful, idea. If your career as a writer resembles a GoFundMe campaign you're doing something terribly wrong.

While on the subject of books, the biggest mistake novelists make, bar none, is running around giving everyone their novels for free. Nothing reeks of desperation more than THAT. I would literally walk down the street naked before I'd give any of my books away for nothing. How much value will someone attach to something that they didn't have to pay anything for? If you don't value your work, no one else will either.

I could probably write another 15,000 words on various forms of begging, since it takes so many different forms and wears so many different disguises. But it's all bad. If you feel like you're pleading, coaxing, cajoling, or begging, just stop. It won't get you anywhere. And you'll wreck your self-esteem in the process.