Why is it so hard to say 'I am an author'?

Authors. Yes you. I’m talking to you – those of you who have written books, whether you’ve been traditionally published or not. Why do you – do we – find it so hard to say that we are, in fact, authors?

When somebody asks what we do, why do we dance awkwardly and embarrassingly around the question, wishing we could hide away, as if somebody had just asked us if we had gonorrhoea?

"Well, erm, I’m kind of an author, well, a writer, I mean, it’s not my full-time job or anything, so…"

Writing a book, whether traditionally published or not, is a huge accomplishment. It often takes years of hard work and yes, that is often around full-time roles that pay the bills because, let’s face it, there are a huge number of published authors out there who struggle to make any kind of living from it.

So, we put all this effort in, sometimes our work gets published, often many readers enjoy delving into it, yet we still feel unworthy. We still feel like imposters in a space that we believe belongs exclusively to the likes of Richard Osman, Marian Keyes and other well-known, bestselling literary stars.

I am proud to say that, today, my new book has been published by one of the big five publishers – HarperCollins – more specifically, HarperNorth. But another reason why this topic is so front of mind right now is because the book, which is called No Worries if Not! is actually about how we apologise too much. 

It’s a fictional rom-com, but it was so cathartic writing it because it made me stop and think about how much I apologise in everyday life when there is absolutely no need to, and how this apology epidemic seems to be closely linked to a feeling of imposter phenomenon – the idea that we don’t deserve or belong in the spaces we take up – including the literary space.

"Apologies, I know it’s a long shot, but on the off chance, do you ever consider reviewing self-published authors?"

"I don’t suppose you could get back to me on that manuscript I sent three years ago that you requested to read? No worries if not."

"Sorry, but could I just check if you might accept a review submission from a rom-com author…"

Writing a rom-com itself is something that we can feel awkward talking about in the industry. Despite the boom in the category, rom-coms rarely get the same kind of serious coverage that other genres enjoy, and we all heard a famous literary author utter the disparaging words "wimmin’s’ fiction" a few of years back.

So, within the literary world, there seems to be a hierarchy – to confidently say you’re an author you not only need the track record of success, you also need to be writing in the correct genre.

How many hoops do we have to jump through to confidently call ourselves an author, then?

Quite a few it seems…

We still feel like imposters in a space that we believe belongs exclusively to the likes of Richard Osman, Marian Keyes and other well-known, bestselling literary stars

I asked the Empowered Author community on Facebook how they felt. I received 60 responses to my mini survey and I have to say I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that most don’t feel able to confidently call themselves an author.

Even among those who had published more than five books, there was a reluctance to say I’m an author without caveating it with something like but it’s not my full-time job (27 respondents out of 60 always caveat, with four saying they wouldn’t call themselves an author publicly and two saying they wouldn’t call themselves an author at all – despite having written books. It’s worth noting that all respondents had written books and 52 out of 60 had at least one book published. In fact, of the two who wouldn’t call themselves an author at all, one had published more than five books!

Quite a few respondents added comments about how they feel more comfortable saying that they’re a writer than saying they’re an author because they felt that writer was "less pompous" and "has a wider remit".

There’s a storyline in No Worries if Not! about job titles and roles, and how the main character, Charlotte, is actually doing a lot of the work of her manager, even though it’s not reflected in her pay so she doesn’t feel able to think of herself as a senior member of the team. She is also nervous about applying for a step up even though she’s more than capable of it. It’s a similar deal with authors – it’s as though you need to be supporting yourself full time from your writing, with a raft of literary prizes under your belt in order to feel as though you deserve your place in author-ville.

Does this imposter syndrome come from within us, or from the industries and constraints we work in? I think there has to be a bit of both at play. Certainly it would be good to see more self-published books reviewed and eligible for entry into competitions (I have also self-published so I know about the perceptions at play), and for a wider genre-spread of titles to be covered in the national media (as many of us know, easy to read doesn’t necessarily mean easy to write – and it certainly doesn’t mean that we shy away from some of the more hard-hitting topics). And while media platforms have limited slots and can’t review every book that gets submitted (self-published or traditional) could we not have a second review route that could particularly help self-published works – re-considering them when they’ve been out in the world for a few months and amassed a few genuine amazon reviews? At least reviewers can feel more confident at that point that it’s worth their time reading.

I’m not going to suggest looking in the mirror and chanting "I am an author" 10 times over until you believe it

Perhaps when it comes to us authors, however, we should recognise what we can do to claim our space. Let’s recognise that there’s strength in numbers and stand up and say #IAmAnAuthor – regardless of whether we made it past the gatekeepers or published ourselves. I’m convinced we’d find many more authors just like us out there who feel the same way. Maybe we can do more to support each other at the earlier stages of our careers?

Freelancers in any other industry are celebrated as brave and independent for going it alone – so why aren’t self-published authors? We need to boost our peers.

There’s certainly some degree of self-stigma as well as external industry barriers and perceptions. And I’m not going to suggest looking in the mirror and chanting "I am an author" 10 times over until you believe it. Nope. To be honest, I’m going to suggest something far more cringeworthy than that (and I know how big a deal this will be too, given that the majority of respondents to my survey were either too embarrassed or felt it was too cringeworthy to self promote) – but now is as good a time as any.

So here’s my call to action: authors of all stripes, it’s time to ditch the apology. Claim your space. Get on social media now and say it loud and proud: #IAmAnAuthor. Tell the world about your work, why you do it and who might enjoy reading it because, even if just one reader gets something powerful from your stories, you’ve played a small part in changing somebody’s world by building your own.