RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//Talking to you all – but especially writers! – about the perils of seeking external validation, how the publishing industry is particularly challenging this way, and why “moving the needle” is a useless metaphor.
//I’m suggesting creators reframe our expectations for success and the sense of urgency to *make* things happen – instead we can bide our time while we continue to create and let the world come to us.
//Last day to sign up for my ARC team! Also, thoughts on success, the metrics we use, and strategies for determining what WE want from our writing careers and lives in general.
//The role of luck/serendipity in publishing success, how it’s not who you know, but how you can know people. Also, the problems at NaNoWriMo, and why I believe being a writer and the process of writing is more important than having generated a book.
//Balancing the desire to strive for more and better against the need to recognize how far we’ve already come and having gratitude for what we’ve achieved. Also, the role of serendipity in any creative career.
//On happiness, success, becoming addicted to the admiration of others, being true to your art, and the effects of monetization on creativity, e.g. what happens when you can make a living with your passion.
//One thing that works better for me than newsletters do, thoughts on finishing and knowing when a story is done (though maybe not perfect), and thoughts on manifesting success and what we can control.
//One more pep talk on how it’s REALLY OKAY if you don’t like doing newsletters, examples of successful authors without them, and thoughts on reinvention, flexibility, and how this business is hard.
//Quitting what doesn’t work for you and getting away from survivorship bias and reverse engineering success. Instead finding out what works for YOU & owning your process. Also putting audiobooks on YouTube.
//Some exciting news on an upcoming anthology project, musing on why people always want us to pick a favorite among equally wonderful things, champagne problems, and the value of hanging with successful people in your field.
