Successful writers are great role models for new and aspiring writers.

Learning how successful writers build their careers will help writers looking to be published, or to earn more than they currently do from their writing skills, to adopt approaches to building their business that really work.

Roz Morris - writer

During April 2010, I spoke to Roz Morris, a London-based professional writer, about her work.

Roz has had several novels published as a ghost-writer and works as a freelance for a leading critiquing consultancy.

She now writes under her own name as well and her novel, My Memories of a Future Life, is currently out on submission with the agent Jane Conway-Gordon

The discussion was fascinating.

What’s the mix of writing activities in your working life?

I’m a novel writer.  I love to write stories and make them enthralling, but I do other things, too.

I’m a ghost-writer.  This means I might be asked to flesh out an idea for a novel into a story.  I might be asked to convert a film or TV script into a novel.  Sometimes I’m asked to bring an existing manuscript to life and make it a good read.

I also work as an editor on a magazine and I do other freelance and consultancy work.

When you’re a writer, you’re playing a long game. It takes a long time to achieve your goals, so you need to take on commercial projects, as well as thinking about your novels.  It’s all part of the process.

How do you find your commercial projects?

As a writer it’s important to build your contacts.  You get work by being recommended by people who you have worked with or who know you.  As an editor myself, I want to receive recommendations about people who can do a good job.

If you’re interested in writing and publishing, you’ll naturally gravitate towards people who are in the industry or associated with it.  You might also look for a job in the industry.

I guess I built my network of contacts from a nine to five job. I’ve been a journalist.  I moved from magazine editing into the books side of things.

It’s also important to be on Facebook and Twitter and to use LinkedIn.  You need to introduce yourself to more people, so that you know more people.

All of that means you’re more likely to be invited to meetings with potential clients.  Then, in those meetings, you explain what you can do.  You offer examples of your work.  You make a pitch for a project.

Even if you don’t get the piece of work you’ve been invited to pitch for, you’re getting to be better known.  People remember you.  That’s valuable.  It’s all part of the long game.

Why did you write and then self-publish your book: Nail Your Novel?

I love writing about writing.

Writing a novel is like creating a highly organised machine. In Nail Your Novel I write about how to organise your time to make sure you get the job done.  For example, you need to be clear about the main events in the novel. You need to plan the novel carefully and get all the story beats in the right place.

I wrote Nail Your Novel because I wanted to save writers time. Many writers waste time, never finish their novels and never make any money.  Nail Your Novel helps writers to avoid lots of the most common mistakes.

I give the pdf version away on my website.  The print version is for sale.

I’ve worked in this way with Nail Your Novel because I’m working to build interest in my work.

That’s because the big problem writers face is obscurity. And although I’ve been successful, because I’ve done it through ghosting,  I’m invisible.

You’ve got to get publicity if you’re going to succeed.  You’ve got to raise your profile.

Books go nowhere, if they don’t get publicity.

So, I’ve self-published.  I‘ve given the book away.  I’ve raised my profile.

Nail Your Novel is really my calling card.  It’s a taster.  I’m considering writing a longer version.  The current book is about forty-eight thousand words. The new version will have a lot more in it – new material, more examples.  I’m thinking about going to a publisher with this book.

What advice would you like to offer to people looking to build a career around their writing skills?

There’s a lot more to a writing career than just writing.  Those other things are the hidden nine tenths of the iceberg.

You have to craft your work, research it and read around your subject.

You also have to promote yourself and your work.  You have to develop your ability to earn money today, too.

There’s a lot to do.

Click here to visit Roz’s website and  learn more about her work.

You can download the pdf version of Roz’s excellent book for fiction writers there.  You can also find out why Roz calls her site: dirtywhitecandy.