It’s going on ten years since my first book sold! I’ll never forget the excitement about getting “the call”. How it hardly seemed real until I held my book in my hands and even then there were moments I had to pinch myself. This publishing biz can be a gauntlet to navigate - and that still hasn’t changed. Here are some bits of advice, I wish I could go back and tell my debut self (maybe some of it will help you!):
1. Stop taking everything so seriously.
I was a bit of a wreck my debut year. That’s the thing, no one tells you how absolutely terrifying it can be when a long-held dream comes true. Suddenly you’re thrust into a completely different world, and I felt like I had to know EVERYTHING. I spread myself so thin trying to do and know all the things. You can admit when you feel out of your depth. You can turn off social media. You can *gasp* take an afternoon off. The world is not going to stop.
2. Relax. You’re about to meet some of the best people you will ever know.
If there is one thing I never thought about when I dreamed of becoming an author, is all the amazing people that would come into my life. My agent. My editor. Fellow authors. Readers. Booksellers. Some were just for a season, but many of those people I now call friends. When I’m feeling low about my career, I try to remind myself of that. Probably one of the best surprises!
3. Bad reviews are NOT the end of the world.
Ugh. I mean, they still sting, but guess what? That just means I have more in common with every author that’s ever walked the face of the planet. Every book, no matter how critically acclaimed, has a one-star review. Shake that ish right off and keep writing.
4. Enjoy your success! You achieved a dream!
This. This always gets forgotten because once you grab that brass ring of being published you find out...there’s more. What, your book didn’t sell at auction? You haven’t made the list? Have you earned out? No one purchased movie rights? Your publisher didn’t send you anywhere to promote it? No foreign sales? There are so many things that can make me feel lesser than, so many ways to measure success, like simply having a published book on the shelves is not an achievement - when the truth is - it absolutely is. Not everyone who strives for that dream achieves it. Take a moment to appreciate it!
5. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Slow down. You want to be here a while. The only person you should be competing with is yourself.
6. Say hello to Judy Blume in the hallway at that convention!
Yes. Sadly, I went totally mute. It was at a booksellers convention - one of the first things that I ever did as a published author, and I was so nervous. Seeing Judy Blume - basically the author whose work inspired me to pursue my dream - was overwhelming. I may have squeaked in her direction or something but that was the extent of it. Judy is a rock star to those who read and loved her books and I was a little fearful of what weirdness might spill out of my mouth if I went up and spoke to her. That experience has taught me to just get out of my shell, it’s okay to be awkward and weird. In the very least, you’ll have a funny story to tell someday!
