I have been a published author for six months now and I tell you I still need to pinch myself every now and then. I have wanted to share with you some of my random thoughts, successes, blessings, fails and whatever else I have discovered since this journey of author-hood began.
*I am blown away by the kindness, generosity, inspiration and support of other authors. Some are still friends I have not yet met. . Let’s face it this is not a competition. We all have our own unique stories to tell. There does not seem to be a problem, stumbling -block or situation that some other author along the way has not experienced. An answer to your dilemma is just a blog post, tweet or face book post away. I will always remember the support that was given to me and will work hard to pay it forward. Of course, there are a few ‘mean’ apples but I and most of the other authors I know are committed to being extra ‘nice’ to the sad few. As Jennaphr Frederick [a local Fox Philadelphia personality] said at a recent women’s expo..include them, be kind to them and support them. Eventually they might get it.
*I am heartbroken that my family and friends do not drop everything to read and comment on every single one of my blog posts, face book notifications and tweets. They are not slobbering over my heartfelt reviews. I am crushed that they do not attend each book signing and or speaking engagement I have. They do not write reviews for me. I mean seriously people every single time they list a new property for sale I am there at their real estate office cheering them on, I’m at that lumber yard buying sheet rock just because it is on sale, I’m at the hospital cheering them on because they helped a patient to get well..Ummm actually, I’m not…So I do not expect them to drop everything for me. I would like them to send friends:)
*Seriously, though for real I have the most -supportive family and friends any author could hope to have. My in-laws are just amazing. My husband, John is my rock.
*Marketing- Sounds like a nice word…right. It is not nice. It is a huge, ugly, jagged mountain you have to climb in your bare feet and if you do not have a good plan and sensible shoes, you are going to keep falling. Sometimes even if you have a good plan and sensible shoes you can feel like you are stuck and not moving forward. In times like this, you have to have faith. If you wrote a good book and put together a good plan, it will happen. Give your plan a chance…surround yourself with and ask for advice from the professionals. I have marketing support from my publisher as well as a local marketing company and it is still hard work. When I am feeling down, I remind myself of just what it took to get here..to be signing books, MY books all over this country. To have strangers reading my book, writing to me, and writing reviews, really good reviews that make me teary..just wow!
*I have learned just how important those good reviews are. If you read a book and you liked/loved it, take the time to write something on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com ,Goodreads.com and Face book. Something as simple as “I loved this book” is huge. Even best selling authors need reviews.
*Ahhh reviews..the ‘professionals’ would have us all believe we should just ‘ignore’ the bad reviews. The meanest beast would have a hard time ‘ignoring’ the sting of a negative comment. The funny thing is though..when I ignored them, folks stepped up and fought my battles for me. Imagine that, strangers stepping in and hugging me with their words. Therefore, I have learned that if you ignore the ugliness God will send heroes.
*Last year I used to think once authors became published they got rather ignorant. The reason I thought that was because I followed their blogs and they posted every single day for a year and a half. Once their book came out it was bye -bye blog followerers. Sorry writer friends. I have NO idea where all that writing time went to but it is gone, gone, gone. It is a good thing I paid attention during editing. I saved time by leaving all the ‘really’ and ‘justs’ out of my next three books. As far as my blog…I miss my blog friends. Finding the time to write is so hard and throw in the temptation of Facebook and dear Lord Pinterest is becoming way too much fun.
*During all of those months of writing the book, I never worried too much about what to wear, what to eat or much else for that matter. I let my hair, nails and my house go. All of a sudden, I was leaving on a 16-day and then a 15-day book tour and had to put outfits together. I was so intimidated at first but now it is so much fun. It is fun and easy because my daughter is putting my outfits together. She is shopping for them and bringing them to me. I am having a great time being surprised by what she has put together.
*I always said if this book could help just one person it would make it all worth it. I am stunned by the number of people that have told me they have been helped. They have been helped in ways that have been unexpected by me. Several have been directed to the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA). Others have told me they have let go of their anger with God after reading the book. They have inspired me to finish my next two books and I will always be grateful they reached out to me.
*The publishing world is revolving , that is a fact. I say revolving and not evolving because I do not feel it has reached that point. Every time I think I’m figuring it out.. it changes. The lines between Traditional, Independent and self -publishing are moving all over the place. I am going to tread milk and hopefully make cheese:)
If you have read this far, thank you so much. I have a feeling the next six months are going to very exciting. Thank you for sharing this journey with me and God Bless you!
Doreen
