Learn As You Proceed and Make Your Author Business Up As You Go Along
What Michelle Obama and Emma Grede know that authors need to adopt
In commenting on imposter syndrome Michelle Obama has said about people at the tippy-top: “I have been at probably every powerful table that you can think of...They are not that smart.”
Emma Grede, co-founder of Good American and SKIMS, told Jay Shetty on his podcast: “There’s this idea that everybody knows better than you. And the older you get, the more you realize no one knows anything. Every one of us…we’re making it up as we go along.”
Two high-profile, accomplished women operating and circulating at the highest levels, and both are telling us the same thing: The people who look like they have it figured out are also learning as they go…and making it up as they go.
Just like you, right?
Are you actively learning and making it up, or are you stalled by indecision, uncertainty, imposter syndrome?
For authors, you know what this means…
No more waiting until you’re more experienced to pitch that partnership or sponsorship.
Instead: Have a kids book about the tooth fairy? Find a dental association or a chain of dental offices to underwrite your first printing. You get 2,000 books printed on their dime. They get 1,000 books to slap a branding sticker on and give away to patients at a terrific price (and much better than swag from generic branding catalogs). You get the remaining 1,000 books at no cost to sell at events: 100% profit.
No more waiting until you have a roster of freelance clients under your belt to charge a rate that matches your professional experience.
Instead: Moving from a full-time job as a graphic designer to freelance book cover design to supplement your author life? Go straight to the rate you want rather than building up to it. See if people will pay that and then decide whether or not it’s the right price.
No more waiting until you’re a bigger name to reach out to those you want to work with for potential collaborations.
Instead: Do you write cozy mysteries anchored around a small-town bookshop and would love to partner with a favorite bestselling mystery author you’ve been reading for two decades. Email them in the next few days: “I’d love to co-host a ‘Mystery in the Stacks’ event at my local indie bookstore. You’d read from your latest book, I’d read from mine, and we do a joint Q&A about writing the genre. We both sell books and introduce our readers to each other’s work.” They might say no, they might say yes. Either way, you practiced reaching out to someone operating at a higher level instead of waiting until you’re “big enough” to deserve their attention.
No more waiting to propose a speaking engagement until you’ve calmed your jitters.
Instead: Have you penned a business book on leadership communication and really want to speak at a particular association’s annual conference? Pitch yourself today, nerves and all: “I’d like to present a 45-minute session on ‘The Three Communication Mistakes That Tank Team Performance.’ My speaking fee is $500. Here’s my one-sheet.” Throw caution to the wind and click send before you talk yourself out of it. The butterflies don’t disappear before you pitch, they disappear after you’ve approached twelve organizations and learned that rejection doesn’t kill you and yes’s occasionally happen.
No more waiting to launch a workshop series until you have it just right.
Instead: Finishing up a memoir about recovering from burnout? Launch your “Burnout to Breakthrough” workshop even before publication: “4-week pilot cohort, Wednesdays 7–8:30pm via Zoom, $147 early-bird rate, limited to 10 people, starts March 15. I’ll teach the framework from my book plus weekly practices. This is version 1.0—I’ll refine based on what this group needs.” You’ll learn more from eight real participants than from six months of perfecting your slide deck alone. Run it, gather feedback, improve it for round two. That’s how every successful workshop facilitator figured it out to stay in the game.
No more excuses
No more assuming other authors, publishers, or business people know something you don’t. They’re also figuring it out just like you are—from where they are with what they have. The difference just may be that they’re actively making it up while moving forward instead of waiting for the level of comfort and certainty you are.
So, time to stop using “I’m not qualified” or “I don’t know enough yet” as reasons to delay. Nobody knows everything before they start. You learn by doing, not by waiting until you feel smart enough. Make your first partnership proposal, host your first event, send your first bulk sales pitch, set your first real boundary—and learn from what happens. Then do it again, slightly better.
The powerful tables Michelle Obama sat at? Full of people making it up as they go. The billion-dollar brands Emma Grede built? Started before she had it figured out.
Your author business? Same rules apply.
Start before you’re ready.
Make it up as you go.
Learn as you proceed.
That’s how everyone else did it and continues to do it.
Tell us in the comments
What have you been waiting to feel ready for before you try it? What would you start today if you accepted that everyone—including the people who look like they have it figured out—is making it up as they go?
You Don’t Have to Make It Up Completely Alone
Everyone is figuring it out as they go—but that doesn’t mean you have to do it in isolation. My Author’s Business Accelerator is designed for published authors ready to start before they feel ready, learn as they build, and make strategic decisions even when they don’t yet have all the answers. This 1:1 intensive gives you a partner as you figure things out (me)—someone who helps you craft that partnership proposal you’re nervous about, set the rates you’re not sure you can charge, pitch the speaking gig that feels presumptuous, and launch the workshop before it’s perfect. In 8 sessions (with a flexible schedule to work around your life), we’ll build your author business while you’re building it—making it up as we go, learning from what works, adjusting what doesn’t. Not group coaching or generic advice—it’s strategic partnership so you’re not figuring it out alone. Learn more about the Business Accelerator.
You've been reading my email, haven't you? I'm really gonna pitch that sponsorship, I swear!