Feedback
It’s always a bit scary to get feedback on your work. You tell yourself you are prepared for some criticism and then it comes. You can’t handle it.
I hear of this happening to a lot of writers. That one bad review is the be all to end all.
I remember the first time I got a bad review. I remember clicking on the link and thinking don’t do this. Don’t read it. You should really listen to your own conscience. I learned my lesson.
The review wasn’t about the story or the plot it was about the way the book was formatted. That bad review I turned into a learning experience.
I chose not to take offense. Yes it was a sour blow, but not the end of the world. The guy had suggestions, he is the reader I am the writer. My job is to find out what the reader wants and learn from those wants.
The next time you get a bad review, embrace it. It could teach you something.
(If the reviewer is blatantly being an ass then disregard my advice.)
Bad Reviews
Bad reviews, they’re like alcohol.
Read a review, you take a swig.
The words, like bitter buzz in the mouth.
Down the throat they burn.
The words are fire, you don’t like them but you can’t stop them.
The alcohol won’t kill you, but the words will.
Cruelty influences the booze.
Read one, you’ve read em’ all.
Take a sip, look down and the bottle you’ve already drained.
Read enough, drink enough.
Crash through life poisoned by that one sip. By that one bad review.
A New Dusk
Day one of a new beginning is ending. I am me, but my goals are different and so is my outlook.
I have wanted to do this for a long time. Rip apart everything and start fresh. Start the way I wanted to start in the first place.
The only difference? I realized it wasn’t too late.
I’ve been serious about getting published for five years. That is not a long time, but it’s a long time for such a terrifying commitment.
I went Indie, and I don’t regret anything about it. Self-publishing helped lead me to the path I have always wanted to be on.
I am now publishing a four book series with a traditional publisher. A publisher that I met at an event I went to as an Indie author.
I got tired of listening to the “traditional is better” spiel, and I honestly think that is why I turned to self-publishing. I wanted to carve out my own, as many people choose to do. But I have wanted this outcome for a long time. I trusted my gut and I have accomplished.
It’s been a long 2017, I’ve embarked on a publishing journey and now I’m on my second. I have stressed over everything along the way, but in the end everything is coming together.
Life isn’t perfect, but some of these paths we go down, they can lead us to who we are. Every night is a new dusk, a fresh start. Wake up with the dawn and chase that dream of yours. This is your life, stop saying you can’t reach that dream. Get off the couch, get out of the house, flee to the city, run to the mountains, jump to the ocean. You are only alive now, go.
Traditional or Indie?
I spent two years of my life trying to make the decision. It’s easy to say I wasted all that precious writing time trying to convince myself why one was better than the other.
Did it gain me anything? Absolutely.
I have forged this relationship with myself. Try, if it doesn’t work, try again. Eventually if you try and fail enough things will eventually work themselves out. Could take a month, or several years. A lifetime in most cases. But there’s a beauty to this try and fail experience. If it gets done in a lifetime, I’ve done my job as a writer.
I’ve surpassed the selling one book mark by a great deal. All it takes is selling one book and you’ve gotten your name out there.
What does that have to do with traditional vs indie publishing? The truth is it has everything to do with it.
When you ask yourself the question and ponder an answer. You find out your goals as a writer. Do I want to go big or go home? Or do I want to find my own way in this world by the fight of my own ambition?
When I think about it, I look back and I don’t regret a thing. I am human, and I make mistakes. It’s part of living in our era, with the internet and all. It’s hard not to regret.
Two years ago I was pushing to get through The Devil’s Retreat and spitting out disastrous query letters. I had every intention of querying agents because I spent nights awake convincing myself, self-publishing is a bloody disaster. I wasn’t wrong either way. Traditional publishing can be as big of a disaster as Indie Publishing can. It’s all part of learning.
After finishing my novel and sitting on it for about six months I decided a year ago to go Indie. Back in August I published The Devil’s Retreat as an Indie author. I’m happy with my experience.
BUT, I’ve reverted to my original thinking and that’s okay. No path is ever clear. Especially the hazy paths publishing takes.
Have a little fight in yourself. Do what is right for you and stop listening to everyone else. You’ll be glad you did.
Wayfinding
Once Ago someone saw,
An eager soul stretching for a lick of freedom.
I see them now.
They have no obligations.
They feel no pain.
They know the reaction.
In truth they see by more.
To them reality is a sore.
Picking and Picking,
Blood falling down trickle,
Never doing what must be done.
They saw it all by the pop of dusk,
The light goes away,
And in the dark,
The truth is far more fearsome.
Crowded with monsters,
Skimming their teeth over our flesh,
Out of darkness,
We can return our sense of humanity.
Find again our purpose,
Many ago we lost.
Find a way,
Someone hasn’t seen.
Building the Brand of You
The name of one of the panels I spoke on over the weekend seems fitting for discussion.
Who am I? What is my brand? What thing do I identify myself with? How do you build an author brand? Do you even know what you are doing?
The answer is simple: I have no idea.
Logically I am learning as I go.
It may seem amateurish to admit that my mind is blown by marketing and all this technological use that comes with being an author and building an author brand. Really that does not bother me. I’ve always been a little strange and I’ve been able to incorporate that into my brand building.
What’s the use of building around yourself when you’re not really being yourself? The answer to that is, it’s completely useless. Being fake, is just an asshole ploy to try to teach people you’re this perfect little ball of writerly perfection. I tried that, made a fool of myself and have shucked out the parachute to land on Plan B. Take my advice, actually build a brand around yourself, the real you. The world needs more creatives, not more fakers.
If you’ve got a weird quirk, go with it. WE ALL HAVE THEM. I have more than I care to list, but that’s besides the point. Getting back on point, building a brand.
Okay, I have no idea what I’m doing but it’s working out for me so. Honestly I think that is the reality of building your own brand. None of us know what we are doing. Most of us if not all of us started from scratch, had to get our names out there, go to events, do things we maybe didn’t want to do. Even though that may be true, we all have different paths. Individually we have to find what works for us.
So when building the brand of you:
- Be Yourself
- Accept the fact that you are learning as you go
- Be open to meeting new people
- Find something to identify with, to build you brand around, to make yourself noticeable (maybe a certain hairstyle, costume/outfit, a persona, or an object/ thing, characterization) For example: I write about monsters, so everyone thinks of me as monster girl. The girl who writes about monsters.
- Market till the site of ads will make you want to throw a book at someone ( pun intended)
- Be Yourself
- Be Yourself
- Be Yourself
- Do your conscience a favor and stop listening to everyone’s advice
Sincerely,
A blunt writer named Monster Girl
Discovery: Part 3
RIGHT HERE
Once ago I thought I knew myself. But that was years ago. I’m me. Though I’m not myself.
I see all this time passing by and I think I should be different. Think I need to conform. I clench my eyes shut to pass away the voice inside my head.
Dammit I can still hear it. It never goes away.
My conscience. Is that what it is? Maybe.
All the maybes they drown. Not my soul. They drown my sense.
I’ve done a lot of changing. I’ve transitioned into different stages. I watch the News. I see all these things happening. I listen everyday, what’s going to happen?
I see it all, right here. Right in this exact moment.
I look across a field, glancing between the blades of grass. I can see her. Running, prancing, falling in love with the spirit of life.
She’s sprinting, she doesn’t see the hole. She falls in lost.
She comes back again. Staring back at me. Right here, she looks me in the eyes.
Gone again she goes, rolling through the hills, running through airports, jumping out of planes, and falling from skyscrapers.
I see her once again.
Right here, in my reflection.
(Discovery:Part 3)
Brooke Myers 