Question for you

And my question is this: WHEN you become a published author with lucrative contracts (Kudos to those of you who already are) What will be your first Rock Star purchase? Not the everyday purchases of clothes or food, or paying the bills, which, lets face it, is what most of us do. A totally frivolous purchase that only rock stars and wealthy authors can make. 

I'd buy a fountain pen. A beautiful, swirly, expensive fountain pen. Not necessary, but so. much. fun.

What would you (or did you) buy?

Trust Issues

There's a great article here about over explaining and trusting your reader. I hope you click over and give it a read. I see these mistakes a lot in inexperienced writers. I know it's something I've had to work on.

High Expectations

I want to be published. 

Very, very much.

But even scarier than not being published is publishing a sub-par manuscript. 

I know that no single book can please everyone, and maybe I have a big ego, but I want to write a book that wows people.  I don’t want my book to be tossed under the bed with a ‘meh’ only half read. 

So I’ll keep on writing till I get there. Until I can become the writer I want to be. This is hard to say after receiving three rejections in a 24 hour period. But it’s true. 

Brand Name

I've been planning on participating in pitch wars so I've been reading through mentor's blogs trying to get to know them. I was surprised by one thing I noticed repeatedly. Not just one or two blogs, but many.

They didn't have their name on the blog.

Because I was going through so many I often had multiple tabs open and I didn't always know who's blog I was reading. There were great blogs, fun blogs, rich with voice and advice and when I looked to see who it was. There was no name. Anywhere.

Authors. YOUR NAME IS YOUR BRAND.

It should be on your page. Several times. You want who you are to be so visible there is no mistake, no question. How can I know who to apply for for mentorship? How can I know what name to look up when I'm at the bookstore or perusing Amazon? How can I become your reader if I don't know who you are? 

I don't think I can stress the importance of this enough. Make yourself visible. Make it easy for people to get to know you. Because there are a lot of other authors on the internet and if I can't figure out who you are, I'll just flip to the next tab and you will be forgotten.