Or, “Lessons learned and leveling up.”
“You’ve grown as a person since you’ve published this book. It’s been fun watching you grow.”
I heard this in a conversation with a friend the other night. It got me thinking about the value of committment to creativity. Perhaps this book series isn’t ever going to be about anyone else. Not about pleasing them. Not about perfection. I’d like to own the fact that it is truly, madly, deeply about me.
It wasn’t until someone pointed it out that I saw the shift in my own mind. The change to a person who isn’t so easily offended. Someone who only sweats the small stuff for five minutes. I own the publication of this first book and I also own the fact that I’m the first published fiction author in my social circle.
There was a time when I was so much like Anna Carter it’s not even funny. They say there’s a point where the character transforms from a passive participant in life to an active persuer of their dreams. I get that now. I get all kinds of things actually.
Own every drop of criticism if there’s any chance in the world that other person has experience at the thing you love or a fresh perspective.
Some of the most valuable feedback I got was from a male law professor who hasn’t ever read fiction or fantasy. No kidding. It was because of his impressions that I decided to go through with really putting my soul into the book publishing process. He had no reason to lie to me. If he’d hated it, I would have reworked it because I didn’t want to write a book for only women. The moment I knew I had succeeded at that–after a lifetime of reading romance novels–I knew what I was going to do: Succeed.
Steal like an artist.
Don’t be afraid to take the way other books, movies, and TV shows make you feel and use it.
If you felt sadness, why? (Does anyone else remember that scene in the Neil Gaiman series where he had to end the life of the adorable dragon to save magic? Yep, sobbed like a child.) If you felt joy when Abby freaking saved her own damn self against that attacker in the episode of NCIS with the boyfriend/stalker, figure out why. Take those moments and make them your palette. Paint the emotion across your books by making characters people love and taking risks you feel as you write them.
When in doubt, jump. Do it. Take the risk.
Write a graphic as heck sex scene that will get you locked in the erotica dungeon on Amazon forever (because you can edit the heck out of it sober.) Publish a book you love becuse theres a snowballs chance in hell that someone else out there will love it and tell their friends. Do the crazy thing, work for it—bust your ass for it—but don’t give up on your dream because you’re afraid.
Write at midnight when the world’s energy is silent and still.
Feel as you write.
Feel clearly. If you don’t feel it, the reader won’t either. Don’t pull back becuase you’re embarassed to write an emotional sappy scene—they have their place.
Don’t worry about what people will think about you after you take the risk they never would.
Who cares? Besides, the vast majority of people will LOVE what you write becuase YOU wrote it.
Ask for help.
If you’re not a website builder, pay someone who is so you can spend that time writing. If you haven’t ever published before, pay someone who has in the capacity of “advisor” (they are not unicorns, they do exist). It will be worth the one time investment. Want to know my secret weapon? Jennifer Eaton. She knows the publishing world intimately and isn’t afraid to share her knowledge. That one was worth every penny. Need a cover? Pay an artist. I assure you there is someone out there who is trying to get a freelance business up and running. Your success will be their success so the relationship is highly symbiotic.
*I use Upwork for 90% of my freelance hiring. It’s a super friendly platform and I usually get dozens of hits per job posting.
Don’t take editing personally.
A gramatical mistake doesn’t show up on some cosmic score sheet as a mark against your skill as a writer. Writing is about COMMUNICATION. I found this to mean that if I write an idea that my editor doesn’t get, then I need to reword it and rework it until she does. Why? Because if I fail to communicate to someone as well read and experienced as an editor I will most certainly fail to communicate to a reader. The idea is mine. I own it. But it won’t be worth anything if its confusing.
Get another editor.
The final proof editor coming in like a superhero swooping to save the day in the final scenes of a Marvel movie is worth the investment. No one is as good at finding grammer errors as a million readers you’ve never met.
That format had better be on point!
Problems with alignment, bleed, slug, and about 200 other publishing terms mean little to me but make a giant difference to the readers. Something not appearing professional automatically turns people off. And trust me, you don’t need that in the beginning when every page read counts. (I found Jennifer on Upwork and her format for Becoming was fabulous!)
Do it right the first time.
Book 1 took longer and went through more revisions than I wanted, but that’s too bad. It had to be done right because the reason this book failed was not going to be my cutting of corners. I want the story to be the reason it succeeds, I don’t want the cover or format to be the reason it fails. That would be sad.
Confidence is knowing that all of those things made me stronger. All of those small failures are the cumulative gains that have given me a little of Michael’s absolute confidence in a good outcome, even if I don’t know how it’s going to go.
I owe that book because making it the best it can be changed me too. I grew with it. I changed. I won. And now I’m going to go do it over and over until the world discovers it.
Love and Gratitude,
