Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 190 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has 24 million copies in print in 34 languages.

He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as the unique Clockwork Angels steampunk trilogy with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, and humorous Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series and The Dragon Business series.

He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to three rock CDs. Anderson is the director of the graduate program in Publishing at Western Colorado University, and he and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press.

He worked on the recent films Dune Part One and Part Two as well as the Dune: Prophecy TV series from MAX.

His most recent novels are Nether Station, Horn Dogs, Persephone, and Princess of Dune (with Brian Herbert).

Million Dollar Professionalism by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta

Since the 1990s, bestsellers Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta have helped thousands and thousands of writers to develop the mindset of career professionals.

Million Dollar Professionalism for the Writer presents lessons learned from the authors' decades of experience in publishing. They offer advice on working with publishers, editors, booksellers, and fellow authors, and using persistence and reliability to find continued work in the industry.

Their tips cover professional courtesy, building a network of colleagues, reading contracts, meeting deadlines (and the domino-effect consequences of missing them), dealing with critics, and how to earn and maintain a reputation as a true professional.

 
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Introduction

If you want to be treated as a professional writer, you need to act like a professional. Take yourself and your career seriously. Behave in a way that you would expect a professional to behave.

When you see a doctor, lawyer, banker, or business executive, you expect certain standards—that they are mature, reliable people you'd want to do business with.

You've probably seen writers portrayed on TV or film as eccentric, ditzy, pompous, or curmudgeonly, as if that's the norm for a writer. They shrug. "Eh, creative people. What can you do?"

You can be professional.

When Kevin sold his first novel in 1987, he received an author questionnaire from the publisher's publicity department, asking about his interests, his areas of expertise, and his background in doing interviews and public appearances. Before the publisher turned him loose on book signings or set up media interviews, Kevin naively assumed that someone would train him. Since the publisher had a vested interest in their author making a good public impression, shouldn't they go over a list of guidelines or standards of behavior to make sure he was ready for prime time? After all, as an author representing their publishing company, he had their reputation as well as his own on the line. Surely they gave their authors some kind of code of conduct to keep them from shooting themselves in the foot, putting their foot in their mouths, or any other foot metaphor you prefer. When he asked about it, they told Kevin, "You should just know what to do."

Unfortunately, many authors have no idea what to do.

After a successful career spanning more than a quarter of a century, with over 125 books published and 50+ national or international bestsellers, Kevin has spent a lot of time learning how to be professional.

He and his wife Rebecca—also an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of dozens of books—have given lectures and workshops for thousands and thousands of writers.

They have presented their seminar "Things I Wish Some Pro Had Told Me When I Was Starting out" for two decades, often to standing-room-only crowds.

Finally, they decided it was time to put that information in writing. The need for business knowledge and professional behavior is greater than ever. With more authors choosing the indie publishing route, they are forced to be front and center—producing and promoting their books, meeting fans, talking to bookstores. No longer can socially inept authors safely tuck themselves away in a cabin so they can write, while someone else does all the leg work.

With the explosion of social media, blogs, and discussion boards, where writers have direct interactions with readers—not to mention the potential for unfortunate flame-wars—it is imperative that writers learn to be professional, to stand out above the crowd of amateurs and be taken seriously.

The authors hope this book helps. They'll be watching.