Becoming A Businesswoman

The most surprising outcome of my path to becoming a writer has been the discovery that I am not only interested in business, but am actually a fairly competent businesswoman.My whole life I was confident in my ability in the creative aspects of the industry, but I always assumed I'd leave the bidness to someone more, say, mathematically inclined. But as I learned more about the publishing industry, I realized that I could handle the business side of things, and I even enjoyed them. And thank god, too, because you have to in order to succeed.

The truth is, if you want to be a writer, you have to be your own boss and establish yourself as a business. You have to think like a manager, marketer, accountant, PR executive and salesperson all at the same time. You're the brand and the product, and you're constantly selling yourself day in and day out. When you're self-employed, it's easy to think you're desperately searching for more and more employers, but in reality the opposite is true. You're the boss. One of the biggest steps you can take is transitioning to the mindset of thinking as editors, magazines, and websites as clients, not bosses. It's amazing how that transfer of power will help.

This life is a constant hustle. Until I find the illusive full time job with benefits, I simply can't rest because I'm constantly working. The job hunt is work, analyzing opportunities is work, coming to terms with what's working for me and what isn't is work. It's all too easy to get worn down and burnt out. But a business woman doesn't give up and let her company fail just because it's getting a bit difficult, and neither will I. Even when I'm curled up in the fetal position in bed, crying because I want to give up, I'm still slogging through the want ads online.

Knowing how to manage myself as a one-person company is one of the most valuable skills I'm developing as a writer. It's taking me a lot longer to be comfortable with saying "I'm an entrepreneur" than it did to say "I'm a writer," but it is, in fact, true. Now, I just need to own it. Then just think of how easily that'll translate to an editor position.