Whether you are a risk taker or prefer to have an informed plan, doing a little research goes a long way when it comes to investing in yourself. This isn’t as simple as it sounds. Investing in yourself is easy to justify and often follows a gut feeling that doing so will yield big results.
To be clear:
I believe in actualizing your dreams with hard work and by investing in yourself.
I also see people throwing a lot of money at becoming an author—you can literally pay someone to write a book for you—in many ways that might not prove to be fulfilling when they do yield results.
Self-investment can likewise look like paying for a seat in a craft-honing workshop. Understanding your motivations and goals is key to making choices that pay off.
Goals & Motivations
Here’s a gamble that I just made: after sending my revised YA sci-fi caper, Counterblow Clemency, back to my previous beta reader, I began a search for more readers. That’s when I came across a service called The Spun Yarn on an Authors Guild message board. They provide 3 beta readings along with a detailed report from each reader, all delivered within 30 days.
When I read the recommendation for The Spun Yarn, my gut told me to find out more. What I found was that the cost for this service is around $500, depending on how in-depth you want them to go. That is not a number that I feel comfortable gambling with, and I was afraid to make the investment.
After all, there is no real guarantee that I’ll get what I want: clear, unbiased feedback on the story I wrote.
Full Transparency
I didn’t understand at first why The Spun Yarn’s website motivated me to consider their offerings, but I decided to go for their abbreviated service at around $200. That is a number that I feel comfortable gambling with. Not long after that, I ended up investing, instead, in the full $500 service.
As I read their information, 2 things made me comfortable making this investment in myself:
Their model was clearly laid out and easy to understand.
They set expectations at every stage from interest to conversion.
This full transparency justified my motivation to go after my goals, and from gut feeling to informed decision, I cast my dice.
Check back in a few weeks to see how it went!