Back in February, PublishingTrends.com featured an article titled “The Skills Publishers Need: A Self Evaluation.  (http://www.publishingtrends.com/2011/02/the-skills-publishers-need-a-self-evaluation/)  I strongly encourage you to read the entire article. It featured skill sets that publishers feel they need in order to survive these rapidly changing times.  One of those listed was:

“You need a solid business background, you can’t think that your job ends at 5:00, and you must have a healthy amount of skepticism about what people are calling ‘the next big thing.’”

What caught my attention was that this is not A skill set; it is three of them. And all three apply to writers as well as publishers.  Let’s take a look.

• Job ends at 5:00
  Your job definitely will not end at 5:00. As the owner of your business, your job never ends. If you are not working on your next article or manuscript, you should be marketing. For those working full time, do your best to shoehorn writing and marketing activities into your schedule.  

• Next trend
  Finally, you can’t worry about “the next big thing.” No one knows what that is, no matter how hide they try to place a good bet. Even Harry Potter received twelve rejections. Write what you want to write, make it the best writing you can, and then help your work find its market.

The skill sets publishers see for themselves often apply to writers. Every writer must also manage his or her business, now more than ever before.