Hey everyone,
Apparently, you’re not supposed to email editors after they’ve rejected you five times and say, “Listen, I’m not getting anywhere with you. Can I come to your office and discuss what I’m doing wrong?”
Which is how I ended up creating a relationship with TIME and writing for them for years.
Apparently, you’re not supposed to turn down offers from agents who are interested in representing you and branding you as an “Indian author.”
Which is something I did at the beginning of my career even though I then didn’t have representation for an entire decade.
Apparently, you’re not supposed to turn down a $15,000 ghostwriting book deal from a major publisher when they’re willing to give you a mention on the cover, especially when they think it’s going to be a NYT bestseller, because you believe that if you’re given the responsibility for writing what is clearly being marketed as a big book, then your paycheck should reflect that.
Which is, again, something that I have done. Even though I had NO book or ghostwriting credits. Because you know what? My writing, my terms.
And of course, if you run an online business, then apparently you’re not supposed to launch a new product every month. You should also follow a “launch formula,” a sequence of three videos in which you give information for the sole purpose of making a sale. And remember to close the doors to your product to create artificial scarcity, okay? Because god forbid someone should buy your product based on their convenience. Also— use the sales scripts. Because we all know that talking like a human being and simply being excited about what you’re creating and selling is not enough.
Let me be clear: That is NOT how I built my business. That’s NOT how I built my writing career and that’s NOT how I will ever agree to live my life.
You may not always like what I say, but you’re here because you know that I always believe and stand behind what I create, what I write, and what I say.
Here’s how I run my business: I create things that I’m massively passionate about, that I can’t wait to share with my readers, that I really enjoy creating and that selfishly, feel fulfilling to me. I don’t run surveys of what people will want to buy because as much as I’d like to help you, I already know what you’ll buy.
You’ll buy what I’ve created with passion and have knowledge about, not what I’ve discovered “works” from a five-point survey.
Technically, I have an online business. But really, I have a creative business. I have a business based around me, around the things I create, and around the topics that continue to excite me.
So I could launch a course on creativity today. Or I could write a series of ebooks on freelancing tomorrow. Or I could publish a novel about India. And I would be very excited to come share all of that with you because it’s not about what I can sell to you but about what I’m excited to share at this moment.
That is how I run my creative business and that’s what I’m excited to share with you as well.
In the last three years, as I have built my business from zero to six figures, I have learned things, experimented with them, then gone out and learned some more. And what I have discovered is that for writers, a business built around money can never be something that survives. For people who are passionate about their work, like you and me? We need something more. We need creative freedom. We need experimentation. We need evolution.
I have created a creative business doing what I love: writing and teaching.
I want you to discover that you have the power and the freedom to do that, too.
Cheers,
Natasha