Marketing yourself as a writer

Marketing yourself as a writer is sometimes not the easiest thing to do. At first it can feel a little awkward. Imposter syndrome can hold you back. Self-limiting behaviours can hold you back. (There is a lot of benefit to ignoring or learning to live with these two things.) Here are some practical tips for mastering this essential skill.

Practice Networking

Don't wait for people to get in touch with you. You often need to make the first approach.

Practice networking. Go to events where you can meet colleagues and people who are hiring in your industry. Discard the term 'networking' if it makes you feel uncomfortable and replace it with something like 'talking to interesting people'.

Nathan Barry, the founder of Kit.com has some good advice on this in his Jan 2026 newsletter. Tim Ferriss is also interesting on this subject.

Barry suggests that at an event or conference, instead of approaching as a fan, you do it in a way that respects their time. With that first conversation, you're just planting a seed.

"Hey, I'm [name]. I loved your talk on [topic]. I know you're busy—just wanted to say hi. Hope we can connect at the closing party."

Then leave.

(Well, if they start having to crack with you, don't just walk off!)

Anyway, Barry says this does three things. It shows respect for their time. "You're planting the seed that you'll both be around later... And you're implying you belong in those spaces."

He says that the key is:

"leaving energy, not lingering energy. You're showing up as a peer who has other places to be."

He also makes a very good point. That the best way to meet important people is to build relationships with them before they're important.

Work on your elevator pitch

You'll be asked by people - what are you working on yourself? An elevator pitch is a few short sentences where you pitch your story to them. A hook to get the interested. Or it could be an area you're researching. It's worth just having something ready to mind for that moment.

Become a 'scenious'

Become a 'scenious'. Get involved with a group of peers and make work. Learn from each other and gain more experience together. This is how Brecht became Brecht.

You can create your own work, look at writing funding applications, setting up collaborations. Working for free on something is fine if you hold all the rights. You can always repurpose it for another format.

You could look at organisations like Devoted and Disgruntled or HowlRound Theatre Commons.

Sharpen the Saw

Sharpen the saw. Keep working on your skills. Attend workshops.  Become a learning machine. Shape your own learning.

Becoming a member of a community of practice is a good way to learn.

Audit your online presence

It is worth doing an audit of your online presence. Is your LinkedIn profile up to date? Can people find you easily, are you on industry directories like FilmBang (in Scotland), and so on.

My only word of caution with this is that social media can be a thief of time. I prefer to do the minimum of social media and try to spend as much of my time as possible on Deep Work. I write about Cal Newport's Book Deep Work on this site as well. 

I was recently in a group learning situation and a lot of people felt awkward looking at themselves from a personal brand point of view. One useful exercise might be to look at the personal brand of a person you really respect and analyse that.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) has a number of interesting articles on building a personal brand.

Get your foot in the door

Get a foot in the door. Sometimes you need to do any kind of job in order to get on the ladder. I started off as a runner, which was a great job! I'm even friends with the 1st AD who was a bit grumpy with me.

When people are looking around for someone to do a job for them, they naturally think of people who are top of mind. So even if the job isn't your dream job, there's always the chance it might lead to something.

Always be hurrying.