Marg McAlister

"It's not WHAT you know... it's WHO you know."

How often have you heard that saying?

You have your eye on a job with a specific company. People tell you: "You don't have a hope unless you've got friends in the right places."

You want to enter politics. The advice is: "Forget it if you don't have the contacts."

You want to get published. Cynical writers are quick to advise: "You'll never break in if you don't know someone who can get you in."

Is it true? Is WHO you know more important than WHAT you know?

In a word: NO.

Knowing someone "in the right place" might get you past the front door, but if you can't back that up with WHAT you know, you're not going to last.

WHAT YOU KNOW is your understanding of technique and structure. It's your style and your voice. It's your knowledge of the marketplace, your target readership, and how to promote your work. It's your background or expertise in a specialised subject area. It's also about your gut feelings and instincts.

WHO YOU KNOW refers to your entire writer's network. Your writing group. Your online buddies. Your contacts from seminars, conferences, and workshops. Your writing course tutor. Your university lecturer. The editor who said 'no' to your first effort, but who encouraged you to try her again. 

Whether you're trying to decide on a career direction or wondering how to breathe life into your existing career, it always comes down to a balance between the WHAT and the WHO.

We'll take these one at a time.

WHAT YOU KNOW

1. Your Gut Feeling

What feels right to you? What kind of writing brings a smile to your face and a lightness to your step? Be honest with yourself. It's so much easier to build a career when you're writing what you like. Your enthusiasm and commitment will come across in everything you do. Truth will shine through your work and people will believe in you - readers, editors and clients.

2. Your Knowledge of Technique and Structure

Be the very best you can be. Never stop learning. Analyse the structure of articles and novels that impress you. Can you do as well? If not, why not? What do you have to learn? Where can you go to learn it? Ditto for technique. If you have weak areas, work on them. Don't ease up on yourself. If something is difficult, take a breather from it and focus on something else for a while - but always come back to it. Stick with it until you've mastered it.

3. Your Style and Voice.

Your aim is to have the right style and voice for your target market, while not losing your individuality. Do you understand what your market wants? Can you deliver, yet still be unique? Editors constantly say they're looking for 'something different' - but not TOO different; not so different that the readership feels you don't understand what they want.

4. Your Knowledge Of The Marketplace, Your Readership, And Self-Promotion.

The world of publishing is changing all the time, and it is vital that writers stay in touch. You need to understand not only what readers want, but how they are buying their books. What are the trends? Are people buying from traditional bookstores, or are online stores becoming more popular? Are more people using e-book readers? Are they going to large online publishers, or are they starting to buy from smaller, less well-known publishers and individuals who are creating a following on their websites? Are there differences in buying patterns according to age? Into which demographic does your readership fall?

What about clients? Where do they come from? Do they search online for writers, or do they turn to the phone book? How can you promote your services? Do you understand the importance of building a track record and having high-quality examples of your work in a portfolio, either available as a download from your website or ready to send out to clients? If you want to boost your income by giving workshops, do you know the tricks of the trade used by effective presenters and public speakers? (Giving workshops can quickly establish you as an expert, and make you more appealing to both clients and editors.)

Do you know how to promote yourself both online and offline? Do you know how to establish an online presence through a website, a blog, and social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter?

If you DON'T know these things, make it your business to find out - because WHAT you know will add up. The Internet is an incredible resource. Use Google to find out what you don't know. Ask questions in forums and online discussion lists. Don't be intimidated by how much you don't know. Set yourself a step-by-step program to fill in the gaps, and work at it steadily. Team up with other writers to work together to develop a sound knowledge of the industry and save time with the learning curve.

WHO YOU KNOW.

While you are constantly adding to your knowledge base, give equal time to building your writer's network. Don't just give this lip service: nodding and saying "I must work on that." DO IT - because the day will come when you've produced the best book or writing service that you know how, thanks to having mastered the 'WHAT'. You will find yourself sitting back and saying "Now what? Where can I send this this? WHO DO I KNOW?" 

The same applies if you've been building up a business based on offering your services as a writer: writing promotional material, articles, or editing and proofreading. You've spent weeks, months or years perfecting your skills. Now WHO is going to help you to sell them?

When you have decided on your career direction, sit down and make a list of the people who can help you move ahead. This list can include specific people (a highly experienced writing tutor or mentor, a particular editor or agent) or just different types of people you want to bring into your network (published authors, an agent who specialises in your genre, people with technical expertise relevant to your genre - such as forensics or geneaology).

Your list should also include fellow writers, writing groups and online discussion groups. it should include experts in marketing and promotion. It could include graphic designers or website consultants. If you have a level of expertise in a specific area, find out who to contact at a writing centre or community centre so you can start running workshops.

Think hard about who should or could go on your list. It's important.

Are you beginning to see how the WHAT and the WHO are inextricably linked? Can you see why one is not more important than the other?

There's a lot for you to consider, and it's all essential if you want to build a writing career that will bring you joy, fulfilment and (we hope) the financial rewards that you deserve for your efforts.

copyright (c) Marg McAlister 2009