To kick things off in my first post, I’m going to tell you why I am starting this blog in the first place.
I have learned so far from nearly every source that If I want to make it as an author, whether traditionally or self-published, I have to market myself and my work.
What does that mean? That means putting myself up here on display for all to see.
It means hoping that my interests & ideals, my awkward quirks, my triumphs, and my incessant groanings about the woes of writing – you are forewarned – will find a place and people with which to establish a sense of companionship.
Okay, I’ll admit it.
I’ve been putting this off for a while because it’s honestly scary. Opening myself up – “baring my soul” as they say – for the whole world to take a crack at and potentially destroy me with criticism.
A more likely outcome, while less traumatizing but equally disheartening, is to be seen as having nothing of value. Nothing worth paying attention to, and thus passed over and forgotten about.
It’s like that first day of high school all over again, and oh how I hated high school. I feel it’s safe to assume that there is a surplus of you out there who, like myself if faced with the possibility, would be willing to pay just about anything to avoid going back if threatened with it.
What about the other alternative?
That those same people, who cringe at the idea of repeating the past and are here reading this post now, are also just as daunted by the idea of the uncertain writer's journey as I am.
If so, then it’s my hope that you will find comfort in knowing you are not alone.
While it may be difficult, those before us have proven that it is possible to reach our goals if we are willing to put in the hard work, the long hours, and be brave enough to ‘bare our souls’.
After all, isn’t that what we were already going to do when writing our books? Aren’t our stories already a reflection of ourselves in some way or another? And we were prepared to share those with the world, were we not? This part is simply a bit more forward.
Where do I start?
How should I market myself? What value can I even attempt to bring to the writing community?
“Give writing advice to less experienced writers,” many sources say.
Which seems logical at first, except I’ve never actually finished a book – heck, I’ve barely started one! Even if I did, in fact, know what I was talking about, what proof would I have of it?
Absolutely Zero.
I have no credibility. And more realistically I wouldn’t truly know what I was talking about because I would have no experience to speak from. I’d just be regurgitating 2nd hand knowledge from the real experts.
Those who do have the knowledge, the experience, and therefore the credibility that their advice is sound and worthy of our time. Not to mention our hard-earned dollars…I’m assuming none of you engage in money laundering for a living, but for the sake of my naïve innocence let’s just keep assuming.
What am I offering?
If you read my homepage intro then you probably knew where I was going with this a long time ago.
What I do have to offer is months of time dedicated to hunting down and fishing out what I have found to be some of the best advice out there for the most reasonable prices.
I’ve started compiling it all in the Resources for Writers section, but there is so much that it’s going to take some time to get it all up there. Plus I’m always discovering new stuff to add.
Plenty of it is free, but yes, some of this stuff will eventually cost money. Though, if you are as serious about becoming a published author as I am, at some point you are going to want to start investing in yourself and your work.
O-M-GOODNESS! You’re still here!
That means it’s time for free stuff! I have for you three all around great resources provided by successfully published authors. These are great for learning about writing, no matter what stage of the game you’re in:
- The Helping Writers Become Authors website by K.M. Weiland. (www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com)
Helping Writers Become Authors has a myriad of easily digestible posts on the craft of writing and also has a podcast but I haven’t listened to it yet.
- The Writing Excuses podcast
- The Story Grid Podcast
The podcasts above are great for busy people always on the go or who just don’t have time to sit down. Depending on how much time you have to listen: Writing Excuses episodes are about 15 minutes each, while the Story Grid episodes range anywhere from about 30 minutes to an hour.
You made it to the end! Now you get to reward yourself by commenting below and letting me know what you thought of my very first post! Are you scared to death too or super excited? I want to know! Was it waaay too long or too wordy? Give me a critique! I’ll have to start accepting constructive criticism of my work eventually, might as well start now!
See you in my next post I hope!