You have the right to see your words in print! Step Four

4. SWOT Yourself!

Using this simple tool, do a little self-analysis to determine the path you will take as a published author.

A SWOT analysis is four part matrix, focusing on your Strengths, Weaknesses, and at the Opportunities and Threats in the marketplace. By committing to paper a list of things you are good at; the things you hate doing,; stuff that will make this project nay near impossible and the things that will ensure its success – all with give you an insight into your quiver of tools and what to give an eyes-tooth to avoid! If you are a gregarious teacher with thirty years experience and an extraordinary network of friends, yet you can’t bear any time in front of the computer… Then you know the book launch will be fun and putting yourself forward for public speaking will be a breeze, but you will need to fully outsource the production of the book and any subsequent social media marketing that follows. If you are a recluse who wishes only to write and simply press ‘send’ on an emailed version of a manuscript, then you may need to use the traditional publication method and send your story out.

By knowing what you love to do and what you loathe, what is happening out there in the market and what you can truly embrace, will make the decision making process of when to outsource or when to persevere with being self taught exactly that – a decision, rather than a reflex.

It is a very accessible process – simply place a lovely clean white piece of paper in front of you, draw a line down the centre of the page and one across the centre of the page. In the top left corner, write STRENGTHS, top right WEAKNESSES, bottom left corner OPPORTUNITIES and in the left, THREATS.  When you are using the matrix, you can show the level of importance of a point, by simply writing it closer to the cross hairs. If a point is not important, write it a distance away from the cross-hairs. Like many business tools, it is the process that yields the most significant information and the end result is merely recording the process!

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Have fun!