• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Blog
  • Writing Advice
  • Publishing Advice
  • About
  • Take a Class
  • Get Editing

What’s your biggest challenge as a writer?

October 19, 2016 by Nathan Bransford 13 Comments

Publicity.

Marketing.

Reviews.

Writing the damn thing in the first place.

Lord knows the road to a completed and successful project isn’t an easy one.

What’s the biggest challenge you face?

Footnote: I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and consultations! More info here.

Art: The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Life of a Writer, You Tell Me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janiss Garza says

    October 19, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    Mine are a) time management and b) emails and phone calls because I tend to be shy about both and it's a struggle to force myself to do them. I had to cold send a couple of big requests for book endorsements, and I stewed over the emails for weeks before sending them. I REALLY need to overcome that and am looking for any way to cope with it effectively.

    Reply
  2. Caitlin Lane says

    October 19, 2016 at 7:04 pm

    Writing the damn thing in the first place, although I think that might more appropriately fall under "time management." When everything is finished, and I've set it aside then revised and edited, my biggest challenge is finding the right home. Sometimes it feels as though I can only take so many rejections.

    Reply
  3. JOHN T. SHEA says

    October 19, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    The first three are still in the future for me, but I have written the damn thing, all three books and 300,000 words of it, a YA Dieselpunk Trilogy no less. I'm nothing if not ambitious, some of the time, but I still can't walk on water…

    Reply
  4. Meghan Ward says

    October 19, 2016 at 11:44 pm

    Continuing to write after rejection. I can waste weeks of writing time wondering if I should be doing something else before remembering how subjective writing is and how many successful writers I know who have books on their computer that didn't sell.

    Reply
  5. Kevin Ewbank says

    October 20, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    My biggest challenge I think is going to be promoting my book when I finish it. I'm not the best public speaker and I hear you need to really 'get out there' to promote a book.

    Reply
  6. Neurotic Workaholic says

    October 20, 2016 at 3:01 pm

    Other than making time to write when I have a full-time job and a part-time job, I'd say it's trying not to be jealous or resentful of published writers who are hugely successful but whose writing is not that great (cough, E.L. James, cough).

    Reply
  7. Jill Holdsworth says

    October 20, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    Self-doubt.

    Reply
  8. Inkling says

    October 20, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    Without doubt, my biggest problem is marketing. I labor long and hard over a book, but once it is done, I'm a bit like those parents who delight to see sons and daughters come of age and go out on their own. Books should market themselves I (wrongly) think.

    Call me an empty-nest writer. Once published, I'm like a pair of birds who have pushed their little birds out of the nest fo fend for themselves. I'm on to my next book. I'm trying my best to not do that with my latest, Embarrass Less, which has the potential to become a standard textbook for medical and nursing students.

    Reply
  9. E. J. Wenstrom says

    October 20, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    My biggest questions right now focus on getting more reviews for my books, and keeping sales up after the post-launch slump sets in.

    Reply
  10. abc says

    October 20, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    So far–killing my darlings.

    Reply
  11. SK Figler says

    October 20, 2016 at 11:31 pm

    Marketing and publicity of my fiction, damnit. The writing doesn't come easy, but it comes. To show you how bad marketing is for me, I have four complete novels plus another nearly done and a book-length's worth of linked short stories. But every time I vow to send out a ms, something else wants to get written. Setting aside one day a week to market hasn't worked for me because my mind is one-track in the story. I know, that's what agents are for, but that's marketing, finding that someone (good?), attending to his/her desires to change my work, then the editor's perceived needs to make changes (egos involved here; I am published in nonfiction, too much experience). There's something psychological at work here, probably, fear of failure, fear of success, challenging the gods. Think I'll go for a hot fudge sundae.

    Reply
  12. Her Grace, Heidi, the Duchess of Kneale says

    October 21, 2016 at 3:34 am

    Discoverability. People simply don't know I've got books out there.

    This may be due to issues of publicity and marketing (plus a dearth of reviews, though the few I have are overwhelmingly positive). I can't seem to hit the marketing sweet spot. And it is very much a hit-or-miss process.

    My last foray on Netgalley netted me exactly one review. Several well-placed (or so I thought) ads brought me 0 sales. (This might be because the book was listed as full-price. Am trying this strategy again with a discounted book.) A freebie promo of one novel got 5k downloads, but no reviews. A three-book GoodReads giveaway returned 33% reviews.

    Alas, when it comes to marketing, what works well for one person won't work for another.

    Writing the book is easy. Getting people to buy the book… entirely another matter.

    Reply
  13. Katrina Ostrander says

    October 24, 2016 at 1:18 am

    Finishing the MS!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

My blog has everything you need to know to write, edit, and publish a book. Can’t find what you need or want personalized help? Reach out.

Learn more about me

Need Editing?

I'm available for consultations, edits, query critiques, brainstorming, and more.
Learn more!

My Books

How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

Subscribe!

Subscribe to the newsletter and get a FREE writing, publishing, or marketing course.

Forums

Need help with your query? Want to talk books? Check out the Nathan Bransford Forums
Footer Logo
Nathan Bransford

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Editing Services
  • My Books
  • About Me
  • Blog Directory
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Logo Facebook Logo Instagram Logo
As an Amazon and Bookshop Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and Bookshop links are usually affiliate links.