The Value of a Mentor

As you progress in your writing career, the value of partnering with a mentor is immeasurable. A more experienced writer can provide you with the kind of objective advice you may not be able to receive from friends or family. A mentor may provide you with ideas for terrific resources as you write an article or ask you key questions that may open a door to new possibilities if you are marketing a new book.

Writing can be an isolating profession. On a day when you’ve experienced several hours of agonizing writer’s block and discovered a rejection letter in your pile of mail and no one seems to understand why you’re frustrated, a reassuring email or phone call from your mentor can make you feel like you’re not alone.

So, how do you find a great mentor? You can attend writer’s conferences, networking events, and book signings by authors you admire. If there’s an opportunity at a conference or meeting to pull a writer aside and start a conversation, that’s a good time to decide if the writer’s personality and yours appear to be a good match. Offer to buy your potential mentor lunch or take their card and ask if you can contact them later with a question. After you’ve had a chance to “interview” several potential mentors, email your first choice to see if he or she is interested in pursuing a mentor/mentee relationship with you.

A mentor should be encouraging, but yet honest. Your mentor should push you when you need the extra motivation and should always be encouraging you to learn more. A great mentor may even be able to provide you with several contacts within the publishing world, beneficial sources for future articles, and names of reputable agents and editors.

It is important to establish guidelines and boundaries with your mentor before you both get started. If your mentor lives in the same city, agree to meet once a month at a coffee shop for one hour over the course of a year. Establish the rule that you will email the mentor one chapter excerpt from your book-in-progress or a draft of a personal essay or article one week prior to your personal meeting. This will allow the mentor the time to adequately review your work, prepare his or her suggestions for improvement, as well as other ideas for how you may market or sell your work. If you are communicating long-distance, the same rules can be applied in order to make the most of your time together.

After you’ve started meeting with your mentor, do not forget to express your gratitude for all their time and effort in helping you better yourself professionally. Write a thank you note, buy their coffee or lunch, or purchase a book you think they’d enjoy. If you are talented in a specific area like designing business cards or taking photographs, offer your services for free to them as a token of your appreciation.

Personally, I’ve been on both sides of the mentor/mentee relationship. Over the course of several years, I’ve not only been mentored by talented and more experienced writers, but I’ve also been asked to mentor several writers – one of whom just published her first book and another who just received a notice of her first acceptance into a Chicken Soup book. I truly enjoy being both coached professionally and then jumping over to the other side of the fence to mentor others. Both roles are equally as rewarding – both provide me with a terrific learning experience.

The great Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” I hope you will take the initiative to reach out and find a mentor who will encourage you to grow not only professionally, but personally, and then one day, you might just do the same for another writer.

Happy writing!