Make Your Writing Visible

One of the best pieces of advice I ever read about writing was that every writer should establish a writer’s footprint. What that means is there should be enough of your writing in circulation so that you are easily found if someone is searching for you. My daughter Kate came to me and said, “Mom, I put your name in Google and you came up in the local news.” I had to explain to her it was not because I was on the police blotter, but because I write frequently for the paper.

You want people to search for you and hopefully, it won’t be just your daughter. When you pitch an idea for an article the editor will often search to see if you have samples of work and see what type of writer platform you have. You should hope that your name comes up in frequent searches for writing.

Creating a writer’s footprint can take time. I will never forget a letter I received from an editor about two ideas I had pitched as possible picture books. The letter started out very sweet and said that although there were some good ideas, they didn’t fit their needs. Then it was as if something pushed her over the edge and she went on a rant about how writing was tough, everyone had to pay their dues, it took sweat and tears to make it, and I couldn’t expect to break into the business on my first attempt. At the time, I felt sorry for her realizing that she was probably overworked and stressed. When I reflect on what she said though, she was right. It takes most writers time and effort to be noticed, and many become frustrated and quit before they see the fruits of their labors.