One of the many reasons to join a writing organization (such as the Atlanta Writers Club) and/or go to writing conferences (such as the Atlanta Writers Conference—yes, I’m biased as hell, guilty as charged), is to give you access to numerous others who are on the same journey as you. Many of them could be further along that path and will be fonts of valuable information and advice. Unless you have just begun, you will be further along than some others, and you can provide the same service for them (i.e., pay it forward). If you’re just starting out, one day you will be able to answer others’ questions, and I hope you’ll remember when you knew nothing and benefited from your colleagues’ compassion.

With a few exceptions, the writers I’ve met are generous sharing the knowledge they’ve amassed and are eager to offer advice. But you have to ask—otherwise, they won’t know you’re seeking answers.

Here is a sampling of the questions I recommend asking fellow writers who have already trod the path that still lies ahead of you:

 

  1. Can you recommend any editors?

Even renowned writers have editors who make their work better by pointing out blind spots, challenging the writer to achieve more in a given scene, tightening prose, and so on. If you remember the novels of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and/or Thomas Wolfe, thank their editor, Maxwell Perkins. An editor can help you make a mediocre book better or a good book great. Referrals to good editors are to be prized and passed along. The editors will appreciate the business, and your readers will appreciate the high-quality of your finished work.

 

  1. How did you find your publisher, or What was your self-publishing process?

With the traditionally published, this can lead to discussions about where they found their agent (which is step #1) or learned about their publisher that accepted unagented submissions. With the self-published, you can learn about best practices to follow and pitfalls to avoid. In either case, you will discover resources (e.g., websites, books, and other writers) you probably didn’t know about and that could change your life.

 

  1. What social media do you use with regards to writing and/or promoting, and why?

There are so many choices, and there seems to be a ceaseless migration from one to another as the Powers That Be anoint one as “hot” and another as “passé.” With a plethora of options, you need advice about how different writers engage their audience and/or other writers or publishing industry professionals and what strategies seem to be most effective.

 

  1. How do you get customer reviews on Amazon and Goodreads?

Garnering lots of 5- and 4-star reviews will make the difference between a book finding an ever-growing audience and lingering in the limbo of an Amazon rank in the millions. Ask writers with books for sale how they get purchasers to post reviews—or why such attempts haven’t worked as desired. I routinely see authors begging their social media followers for reviews, so this is an area where many writers struggle.

 

  1. What (or Who) are you reading?

Ask this especially of writers who work in your genre. I’m perpetually amazed when I meet writers who don’t read. Reading is the best way to learn the craft and tells you how high the publisher has set the bar for quality in a given genre. When writers tell you they don’t read, I recommend treating any advice you receive with some skepticism. There’s an implicit arrogance in that attitude. If you hear “I don’t have time to read,” that too is a warning sign. Follow up on that answer by asking, “What TV shows and movies do you like?” I’ll bet you get a laundry list. As much as I enjoy watching movies to learn more about dialog and plotting, nothing replaces seeing the words the author chose and how these were strung together to evoke an emotion, convey action, provide information, or reveal character. When you do get recommendations, give those a try. Find authors whose quality you’d love to emulate and, every time you sit down to read their books, think to yourself, “Pay attention. Class is in session.”

As you talk to other writers, many more questions will occur to you, of course. Also pay attention to the questions being asked of you by those who are following. Some of those questions might not have occurred to you before and will provide excellent sources of conversation when you meet fellow hikers on the literary trail.