The Secret Behind Every Successful Writer

When I first got into writing, I imagined I’d be living alone in some tiny apartment above a little boutique in some rundown alley, scribbling and starving.

My life didn’t work out remotely like that. Instead, I’m a mom of three and married 30+ years! (Yes, thanks, I was a child bride.) And instead of writing alone in a garret somewhere, I wrote for editors at a string of publications, and later for businesses.
My point is, every successful writer I know has many people standing behind them — family members, personal friends, writer friends, editors, mentors, and more. If you’re a blogger, most of us need tech helpers these days, too.
As we wind to the end of the year, I want to take a moment to recognize all the people who stand behind me, and who’ve helped me be a successful freelance writer and online entrepreneur.

The home team

I’ll kick it off by mentioning that my husband has been an enthusiastic supporter of every single idea I’ve ever had for my writing business — even the ones that involved a decent amount of risk and the outlay of thousands of dollars. I know not every spouse is like that, and feel very fortunate. Thanks, honey.
He’s also a super brainstormer — Larry helped develop the name for Freelance Writers Den, for just one example.
All three of my kids have helped out here on the blog at some point, too, killing spam and doing other menial tasks.
I’ve been lucky to have terrific mentors both as a blogger and a writer — Jon Morrow, Mary Jaksch, Danny Iny, Ed Gandia, and my departing Forbes editor Tom Post among them. I’m still learning so much from each of you.

My pro team

If I rattled off everyone who helps behind the scenes in my business today, this would be a very long post. Let’s just say I sent out more than ten holiday gifts to my team this year.
Without this group below, I wouldn’t really be able to freelance myself anymore. Instead, I’d spend all my time trying to figure out how to make some widget work, probably while crying a lot.
Just a few of the essential people who truly are the secret behind my success:
Linda Formichelli — One of the best things that ever happened to me was winning Top 10 Blogs for Writers the first time, at the end of 2010 — mainly because that’s how I met Linda. She’s been a busy Other Den Mother the past couple years, and we also teach Useful Writing Courses together, including the upcoming Article Writing Masterclass. Linda is whip-smart, super-funny, and you should read her Renegade Writer blog, if you’re not already.
Keira Dooley — Keira created everything you’re looking at on this blog and on the Den site, on my Twitter. Especially, all the pro-looking sales pages, site logos, Facebook ads, and e-book covers. To sum up, she makes me look like I know what I’m doing. She’s like a magical design fairy who waves her mouse and suddenly, I’ve got a sparkly gown and I’m ready to go to the ball.
Gerard Greenidge — When I need some fancy plug-in or program to talk to PayPal, WordPress, or about six other things, Gerard is the man for this job. Massaging databases, helping Den affiliate sellers, fixing broken stuff, creating pay buttons for classes, discounts, and special offers, reworking, upgrading, sanding, buffing, helping me deliver free goodies I want to hand out…it’s Gerard doing all the heavy lifting.
Jennifer Roland — It was a good day when Jenn replied to my ad for a Den admin a couple years back. Since then, her role has grown to include about a bazillion behind-the-curtain tasks for the Den, including fielding our ‘troubleshooter’ problems. She is also my trusty guest-post editor for this blog.
Angie Mansfield — It takes a lot of moderators to keep the Den forums going… and Angie is the person who wrangles all those moderators. As moderator-in-chief, she’s my eyes in the forums, watching for time-critical questions and technical problems…and she handles umpteen website reviews, with more patience and tact than I could possibly deliver. She also spells Jenn on the weekends as our troubleshooter.
Thanks to everyone who’s ever lent me a hand or given me a nudge in the right direction.
A final thanks to every reader who has ever emailed me to let me know how my tips have helped them earn more. You make my day, and you’re why I do it.