For being a full-time author, I sure do spend a lot of time not writing books. And for a hot second, I was bitter about that. What do you mean I have to do things other than exactly what I want to do? But author isn’t a hobby. Author is a job title. And just like every other job, it has aspects that are inherently dislikable.

-No, I don’t want to figure out taxes with royalties involved. But it’s a part of my job.

-No, marketing is icky and I’m self-conscious about selling people stuff. Can’t they just want to read my book without me having to beg? (The fact is they DO want to read your book. They just have to know it exists.)

Dammit Jim, I’m a writer. Not an SEO editor, website designer, warehouse manager, or tax accountant. I’m a writer. But I’m also an author. One day I’ll be a big enough author I can hire folks to do the bits of my job I don’t want to do. I’ll make that their job. And inevitably assign them something they don’t want to do but must. Because it’s their job.

This post is mostly for myself. If it helped you too, excellent. Mutual assistance is my favorite.