There’s a question I used to ask other people that I still hear people asking today. That question is this:
Is being a good writer and a hard worker enough?
I think what people are really asking is this: Am I going to look back on all these years I am pouring into writing and think “what a waste”? What if I keep working hard at writing and keep getting better and it still leads me nowhere. What if I never even sniff a book deal? What if my blog never really grows? What if I’m in the same place in 5 years as I am now? Is it all worth it?
When I think of those questions these days, I think of Jeff Goins. I first met Jeff at Dream Year Nashville in January 2011. He told me how he was kind of burnt out on his blog and was thinking about starting over. I encouraged him to go for it (I think), and I told him things would turn out really well (okay, I probably didn’t say that).
Less than a year and a half later, Jeff is blowing up. His blog (Goinswriter.com) is insanely popular and chock full of great content, he’s been featured in eBook with some of the most popular bloggers in the planet, and his first print book (Wrecked) hits shelves on August 1st.
How did he do it? I’ll let him fill in the details, but it started with him 1) declaring he was a writer and 2) acting like a writer. Sounds hokey, right? Well, actually it’s not. And once you can grab a hold of that, it can totally transform how you think about your writing and your writing career.
Jeff talks about all of this and so much more in his new eBook, You are a Writer. I got a chance to read it last month and I think it’s really going to change the game for a lot of folks out there. It definitely left me encouraged and inspired to keep pursuing my passions and putting in the work.
Oh, did I mention the book is only 5 bucks! Seriously. You can buy it on Amazon or the Nook, but if you purchase one of the two available PDF packages, you get other goodies as well. Good stuff.
Excited to see things going so well for Jeff because I know how much work he has put into it. Hoping some of you can learn from him and follow in similar footsteps.
UPDATE: Jeff was kind enough to offer a discount to folks who read this blog on the PDF version of the eBook. Go to YouareaWriter.com and purchase either of the two available packages with the discount code killertribes and get them for 50% off! The packages were already priced too low, so this is beyond generous. Hurry though, code expires at midnight on Sunday night, May 20th. Thanks again, Jeff!