Peggy Bechko: “How Has Your Writing Career Changed?”

by Peggy Bechko

I occasionally get asked that question as do some other writers I know. With the advent of digital publishing coupled with self-publishing along with new videos being uploaded constantly to You Tube and other outlets, it’s a valid question.

The answer is – a lot.

I could just stop there and let it be, but writers are rarely inclined to do that. Besides, much more in my life had affected how my writing career has changed than just the new technology (though that has had a big impact onmy writing) which is what is usually being referred to.

I’ve met people who’ve helped me and guided me. I’ve had great editors and bad, a wonderful agent and a jerk. I’ve had a friend who ‘dared’ me. I’ve had severe family illness derail me. There have been financial crises. Then of course there are the new technologies (coupled with a whole lot of new skills to learn) and new methods for creating, getting the work out there and finding exposure.

So, why wouldn’t it change – a lot? I mean seriously, who would have known even 10 years ago that it would behoove a writer to get a book trailer out there? (Yes I now have two, one for Hawke’s Indians, a Western, and another for Stormrider, which is Fantasy-SciFi.)

I write on a computer instead of a typewriter and have for a long time.

That friend who dared me? He dared me to write my first western novel which became my first published book with Doubleday.

Then there was the agent who steered me into romance because of the sales potential and his certainty that I could do it. He was right. I’ve had several published and am working on another. He later ‘abandoned’ me (stopped being an agent) to take a position with Harlequin as an acquisitions editor so I guess it worked for him too.

Then there’s Mr. Brody, head honcho of TVWriter™ here who I met when I decided I wanted to write scripts because I had some ideas tucked away and wanted to be able to create scripts from my books as well. That led to a friendship, the option of several scripts domestically and abroad, the writing of many more scripts and even more fun times.

Know something fun about change? It’s unpredictable.

Now with the amazing evolution of pretty much everything entertainment, I can take a script I’ve written (while waiting for the folks on the other end to decide if they want to option/produce it) and turn it into a novel which I can then publish myself digitally or in print, or both should I choose to. Of course then I have to handle my own publicity, but then what else is new?

Who could have foreseen when I first began writing, grinding through the editing process, finding agents, dealing with publishing houses, that it would all come to this? And that’s even without mention of such other add-ons like Crowdfunding via www.kickstarter.com and www.indiegogo.com where writers and filmmakers can find resources to help get a project off the ground.

So, how has my writing career changed? How hasn’t it is more to the point. And what’s the take-away from all this?

1. Change is good
2. Change is powerful
3. Change is fun
4. Change is invigorating
5. Change is unavoidable – so enjoy it!