One Piece of Advice for Aspiring Authors

       

Just in case anyone missed the news: ROGUE FAMILIAR is now out and available in ebook and print from all of your favorite retailers! The audiobook is coming, but probably won't be out for a few weeks. Because I ran late on this book, I lost my time slot with my narrator, the fabulous Deborah Balm. She has the manuscript, but has not yet started recording. I'll keep you all updated on that! 

This week at the SFF Seven, we're offering one piece of advice for aspiring writers.

It's funny because we were just discussing my favorite piece of advice for ALL writers on my mentoring and coaching Discord. This is shaping up to be a really fun community of authors at all levels. You can get there by joining my Patreon. At any rate, in the General Writing Advice channel of the most basic Patreon level - Community Member - one of the gals said that this piece of advice is "one of my favorite Jeffe Mantras." I love that! We may even make a special emoji to denote this mantra, as it's a recurring point of discussion.

So, what is it? 

Figure out what your process is and own it.

 

See, the point is that every single creator has the0ir own creative process. It's as individual as retinal patterns. While it can be helpful to take classes on writing processes and techniques, to learn from other authors, in the end we all find that our process is unique to us. I've seen SO MANY writers struggle to change their process and try to "make it be" something or other, to no avail. The whole point of learning various techniques is to triangulate on what works for you. It can be a long and iterative process, but that's the "magic formula." Figure out what your process is and own it. Don't try to make your process be something other than what it is, even if you are occasionally frustrated by it. (I often am by mine!)

Like learning to love yourself, learn to embrace your process. Own it. It's yours. 

 

3 New Releases for Fans of Fantasy Romance

Whooo this has been a busy week for my fellow bloggers! They're bringing new books into the world with all the beauty and thrills of quixotic spring. Get your shopping carts ready, these books are bound to leave you...breathless.

BOUND IN MAGIC (A Fantasy Romance Anthology)
by the ladies of FaRoFeb

Let us enchant you with our mythical tales of fated mates, witches, fae, mermaids, and much more!
Bound in Magic features 8 short stories by authors from countries all over the world.

BUY IT NOW: AMAZON

ROGUE FAMILIAR (Renegades of Magic, Bk 2)
by Jeffe Kennedy

He left to save her from herself… But who will save him from her?

When Lady Seliah Phel wakes from a drugged sleep to find herself abandoned by her newly bonded wizard, she vows revenge—and to hunt him down. Tracking him through the familiar wilds of the marshlands of her home is the easy part; learning to use her nascent magical skills is something else entirely. So is facing the vast, uncaring society of the Convocation in a time of brewing war.

Jadren El-Adrel is not known for doing the right thing, but getting as far away from Seliah as possible before he drains her dry will be his one noble gesture. So what if she weeps a few tears. Better than her dying in his service—or enabling him to become the ravenous beast that crawls beneath his skin. Unfortunately, in his self-imposed exile, and without the power of his familiar, Jadren quickly runs afoul of the enemy.

As her vengeful quest for recapture becomes a rescue mission, Selly faces all she still doesn’t know about the greater world of wizards and familiars. And Jadren, once determined to walk his own path and stay far, far away from the idealistic fools of House Phel, finds himself aligning with them against the house of his birth. War is coming to the Convocation, which means a clever wizard should pick the side most likely to win.

Sadly, Jadren has never been all that clever…

BUY IT NOW: AMAZON

A REALM OF ASH AND SHADOW
by Laura Buckheit


Eighteen-year-old princess, Valeria Breault, is sure of three things. One, she was exiled from Empyrean because her father didn't want the hassle of raising her. Two, her perfect realm would be better off without a mortal-raised smart-ass with a foul mouth and penchant for trouble. And three, neither of those things matter when a horde of demons crashes prom.

Forced to fight for her life, Valeria narrowly escapes being captured by the Realm of the Forsaken, only to be dragged back to Empyrean before she is meant to return. Instead of the beautiful utopia from her bedtime stories, Val finds herself thrown into a hellish nightmare where the poor are dying, the rich are thriving, and her claim to the throne is in jeopardy. But not if Valeria can help it. The overwhelming desire to belong and a craving for power has her making choices that make it harder and harder to guard her heart against the man who's bound to protect her, the god she's vowed to hate, and the darkness that's growing inside her.

Only time will tell if the secrets she unravels and the alliances she makes will lead to the throne or the pyre.

BUY IT NOW: AMAZON

Bound in Magic and should you join anthologies?

 Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

This is me, channeling girlboss energy with my author besties. 

Okay, it's the platonic ideal--but we need this today. 

Our preorders were cancelled for the new author anthology I'm in, and we have spent the last 24 hours crying, pulling out our hair, and trying to help our fearless organizer, Priscilla Rose, not jump off a cliff.  (We've sorted it out and have a new booklink: https://books2read.com/u/mgNKlR)

This is what the reality has been: 

Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash

I still would do it again--and plan to do it again next year.

New authors are encouraged to contribute to anthologies. Make new friends! Learn something! Get your name out there! And it's all true. 

But they can also be hit and miss. Sometimes they're great and other times they're not. (The two I've been a part of have been wonderful, but there's another forthcoming one that I'm iffy on.) And when you're new, you might not know how to find the good ones. 

Trial and error. Luck and hard work. Look at the pieces about luck last week - this was definitely me in the case of the Once Upon a Forbidden Desire anthology in Fall-Winter 2022. I was in the right place at the right time and jumped on the opportunity. Boy, was I fortunate!

The Bound in Magic anthology also came out of the FaRo group - a group of us were highlighted in a FaRo blog post, 10 Debut Fantasy Romance Authors to Love On in 2022. We ran a giveaway and then came up with the idea of writing stories for an anthology.

These authors are amazing! We are all quirky and creative, and there has been so much love and support over the months that I can't believe it! It really has been the dream.

Except when it turned into a nightmare and our book and preorders were canceled.

But now we're back smiling with relief, and laughing in a field of sunflowers!

Photo by Antonino Visalli on Unsplash

If you would like to see the fruits of our labours, please order our book! Bound in Magic (https://books2read.com/u/mgNKlR).

Until next time,

Mimi B. Rose

Throwback Promo

I'm presenting a throwback to a little UF number called Nightmare Ink.
 

With the needle of a tattoo gun, Isa Romanchzyk has the power to create and destroy. In her shop Nightmare Ink, Isa helps those in need by binding the powers embedded in their Live Ink—the magical tattoos that can enhance the life of the wearer, or end it. But binding tattoos has earned Isa the contempt of her fellow artists—including her former lover Daniel.

When a friend comes to the shop with a tattoo on the verge of killing him, Isa can’t turn him away. For the first time in years, rather than binding and destroying the tattoo, she fixes it, working Live Ink into her friend’s skin, something she'd sworn she’d never do again. Breaking her vow soon becomes the least of her problems.

Isa is horrified to discover her friend’s body in the shop, but the real nightmare begins when she’s abducted and inked with a Living Tattoo against her will. Now, as she seeks retribution from the man who betrayed her, Isa must figure out how to bind her Living Tattoo before it consumes her completely...

Excerpt:

Isa tripped, landing on the big, sharp-edged stones of a railroad grade, her foot still hooked on one rusty metal rail of the track. The pushes of strength from the alien other inside her skin had evaporated. So Isa crawled, her hair and sheet dragging through foul-smelling puddles. The raven leading her away from her prison hopped in front of her as if afraid to leave her sight. When she paused in a vain attempt to catch her breath, the bird took up a strand of her filthy hair and pulled. 

Freedom, the male voice sighed into her head. The Ink.

Isa shuddered. Her strength failed, and she folded to the ground. At least it was dry. Was she lying on sand? Or concrete? How far had she gotten? 

Far. 

Why couldn’t she remember? The raven shrieked. 

Why? the male voice in her head whispered. Why debilitate you? 

“To break my spirit,” Isa murmured. “To break my will.” 

So I could break you. 

“And break free of me, yes.” 

He intends for me to kill you. 

“Yes.” 

Release me. 

“No.” 

He didn’t break you. He couldn’t. 

“Not like that.”

Spring Book Promo of Alexia's Recent Reads!

Here in zone 4b the grass is turning green, there are buds on the trees, and sprouts are poking their heads up in my garden—it’s spring! Which also means, it’s spring promo week! 

I don’t have any new promo for myself, I still need to get the guts to do something with my current manuscript, but I’ve read some great SFF books recently that I’m excited to share with you today. 

Intergalactic Exterminators, INC by Ash Bishop is a humorous science fiction that’s perfect if 

you’re in the mood for a Men In Black type read—so good and funny!!

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is a historical fantasy filled with the fae and a reclusive professor doing her best to research them. The main character, Emily Wilde, is so antisocial and anal which I found absolutely refreshing and adorable. Oh, and she does have an entire village grow on her, so it’s sweet too. 

Vampire Weekend is another fantastic book by Mike Chen. He’s able to write incredible stories with these deep platonic relationships, I can’t get enough! And this one has vampires—you can’t resist!

The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber will hit the spot if you’re in the mood for a creepy, historical fantasy with some steampunk vibes. Hieber has a way of writing that makes your skin prickle with unease. Keep her books in mind come October!

There’s my spring promo—of books I’m a fan of! What have you read recently that wowed you?

Releasing Monday: ROGUE FAMILIAR

 

     

 

It. Is. Finished.

Yes, oh my lovelies: I completed the final proofing of ROGUE FAMILIAR this morning and will have it uploaded everywhere tomorrow for release on Monday, April 24. 

Cue the rejoicing!!!

And, since this is coincidentally (OR NOT???) spring promo week here at the SFF Seven, it's actually apropos for me to be mentioning this book. I know a lot of you have been waiting for something like mumble mumble two months mumble for this book. All I can offer is.... 

Now you can haz!

He left to save her from herself… But who will save him from her?

When Lady Seliah Phel wakes from a drugged sleep to find herself abandoned by her newly bonded wizard, she vows revenge—and to hunt him down. Tracking him through the familiar wilds of the marshlands of her home is the easy part; learning to use her nascent magical skills is something else entirely. So is facing the vast, uncaring society of the Convocation in a time of brewing war.

Jadren El-Adrel is not known for doing the right thing, but getting as far away from Seliah as possible before he drains her dry will be his one noble gesture. So what if she weeps a few tears. Better than her dying in his service—or enabling him to become the ravenous beast that crawls beneath his skin. Unfortunately, in his self-imposed exile, and without the power of his familiar, Jadren quickly runs afoul of the enemy.

As her vengeful quest for recapture becomes a rescue mission, Selly faces all she still doesn’t know about the greater world of wizards and familiars. And Jadren, once determined to walk his own path and stay far, far away from the idealistic fools of House Phel, finds himself aligning with them against the house of his birth. War is coming to the Convocation, which means a clever wizard should pick the side most likely to win.

Sadly, Jadren has never been all that clever…

 

     

 

As a special treat, here's a little excerpt:

It wasn’t as if magic made logical sense at the best of times anyway. Closing his eyes, trying to screen out the worry that he hadn’t heard Seliah’s heart beat in far too long—you wouldn’t be able to hear it from here anyway, idiot—he let his fingers drift over the gadgets. Waiting for one to speak to him. As if a metal doohickey could speak.

You’re wasting time, his inner voice observed. Wasting what little life Seliah has left.

I’m not. She wouldn’t survive a trip to find a healer. She might not survive the next few minutes.

At least finding a healer has a chance of working.

An infinitesimally small chance.

Still a non-zero chance, whereas this… What are you even thinking? You might as well dance around the bed beseeching the spirits of our ancestors to intervene.

He paused. Is that something people do?

You’re asking me? I am you. I don’t know anything more than you do.

I’m not asking you. I’m wanting you to shut up.

Then shut up.

You shut up! Cursing in frustration, Jadren took his own advice and attempted to quiet his mind. If this had any chance of working—It doesn’t. Shh.—then he needed to give it his all. Quiet mind. Trust his wizard’s intuition. Seliah deserved his best effort.

 

     

 

Meet the Gatekeeper on a Mission from Hel

 This Week's Topic: Book Promo! (Ours or someone else's)

Ayo, lemme introduce you to my gothic pinup girl with the scary skill of opening gates as small as a capillary or as large as a continent. In the completed 7-book Immortal Spy Urban Fantasy series, Bix (no last name, she's waaaaay too old for that) teams up with a motley crew of spies and a battalion of Berserkers to defend the Mid World collective from enemies foreign and domestic.

• Urban Location: Greater Washington D.C. Metro Area
• Featuring: Fates, Gods, Dragons, Angels, Berserkers…and one very special goblin.

Get the Series in eBook or Paperback

Maybe She Was Born Lucky. Maybe She Worked Her Butt Off

1 Image credit by PIRO4D from Pixabay

 

In any creative field, there are those who stand out, and publishing is no different. You know who I mean; we call them overnight successes or media sensations, and talk about how they breezed through the publishing process. We refer to their work as lightning in a bottle, because of course the acclaim and attention it’s receiving is a one-off. There’s no way the critical acclaim and subsequent popularity could be the result of something as mundane as hard work.

And yet, it almost always is.

The thing is, when hard work pays off it invariably looks like luck. Why that is I’ll never know, but I’ve seen it happen time and again. For instance, a friend of mine started out ghost writing ten years ago, and back then she made about one hundred dollars per book. Now she makes in excess of ten thousand dollars per book, and has worked with some of the biggest names in publishing. 

Another friend of mine (see how I’m not naming names? That’s another aspect of luck—I know enough about the legal system to keep myself from getting sued for libel) released an unconventional YA book that shot up the charts, was translated into multiple languages, spawned three sequels and many reprints, and is currently being made into a movie. All the articles touting her “overnight success”—her luckiness—conveniently ignored the first five books she’d released in the same genre.

2 image credit: by Adina Voicu from Pixabay

Therefore, my friends, I must conclude that the appearance of luck is really the result of many months, years, or even decades of hard work. This may seem daunting at first, but I rather enjoy the concept. Any one of us can improve our chances of success by working hard, honing our craft, and continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

And that is how we make our own luck.

How do you make your own luck? Tell us in the comments, and as always, happy reading!

 Jennifer Allis Provost writes books about faeries, orcs and elves. Zombies, too. She grew up in the wilds of Western Massachusetts and had read every book in the local library by age twelve. (It was a small library.) An early love of mythology and folklore led to her epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Parthalan, and her day job as a cubicle monkey helped shape her urban fantasy, Copper Girl. When she’s not writing about things that go bump in the night (and sometimes during the day) she’s working on her MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Get to know Jenn at https://authorjenniferallisprovost.com

Jenn’s latest release, Oleander, is available here: https://books2read.com/poisongarden-oleander

Luck Fuel

 How do we know that Marcella is back at the day job full time and that all the projects are on fire? 

She forgets everything. Everything. 

My humble apologies. But. To answer the question: Luck or Hard work

Luck is lovely and you definitely need all of it you can get in this business, but hard work is what makes luck in the first place. Working hard is luck fuel. Stockpile that stuff.

Serendipity and Success - Acknowledging the Reality

 

A lil reminder that my FALLING UNDER trilogy is now re-released and on Kindle Unlimited! These books are NOT fantasy, but are contemporary erotic romance. If that's the kind of thing you like, then you may like these! 

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is hard work vs. luck as applies to authorial success.

One of my least favorite pieces of advice from successful authors is when they declare something along the lines of "Just write a good book!" This happens a lot with debut authors, happily reveling in the out-of-the-gate success of their first effort. I say this because authors who've had lots of trunked books or only midlist success almost never say this.

Why?

Because they know that writing a good book isn't enough.

Yes, writing a good book is key. Improving our craft as authors is critically important. That's where the hard work comes in. At least, one kind of hard work, the foundational kind. If the books aren't written and revised and polished to the best of our ability, there's nothing to sell. 

On the other hand... luck is a huge factor in publishing. It just IS. That's why I roll my eyes at any successful author who fails to acknowledge the role of serendipity in their rise to (relative) fame and glory. As human beings - especially ones with egos sufficient to withstand the slings and arrows of creative life, which is rife with downs as well as ups - we like to credit ourselves with being awesome. Are we fortunate or are we just that good?

We'd all like to think we're just that good.

The thing is, lots of creators are really good. And lots of good books go nowhere. Acknowledging the role of serendipity in success not only keeps us humble - remember that ego is the enemy! - but also should reassure us when things don't go our way. Authors careers, as previously noted, are rife with ups and downs. We can't control the luck. What we CAN do is work hard and put ourselves out there so the luck can find us. 

Best of luck to you all!

93% Hard Work; 7% Luck

 This Week's Topic: Luck vs Hard Work

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity"

-- Roman philosopher Senec

I have to agree with ol' Senec on this one. There's a lot of luck needed to be successful in any business, but no amount of luck will propel you to the commercial heights of King, Steel, Roberts, or Patterson if you don't put in the hard work. With an ever-moving goalpost of what defines success for each of us at various stages of our career, we simply cannot sit on our laurels hoping for "the call" that will vault us into the next level of achievement. Would I love to have a Scalzi or Bardugo eight-figure publishing deal? Suuuuure. Would I be beyond giddy if Netflix or Amazon purchased, produced, and aired one of my series? Yup, yup, yup.

Do I have the sales to attract that sphere of attention? [slaps thigh, dies laughing] Erm, no. Do I have the fan base or critically-placed influencer to put my work in front of the right people? Not that I'm aware. [Yo, I love the fans I do have!] Do I have the angel investor whose resources will ensure my licensed work will survive the gauntlet through the graveyard of abandoned projects? Again, no. [I keep checking the feathers in my yard, but they all came from buzzards. Sigh.]

So many things go wrong behind the scenes over which authors have zero control, be it a traditional 2-book publishing deal or a tv-rights purchase. For the sake of my sanity, I can only stress about the things I can control. The rest is up to...luck. 

There are chances I missed because I wasn't ready for them. I thought I was, but no. I hadn't done the work that would've made me eligible, much less competitive. There is no one to blame for that but myself. Opportunity knocked and I couldn't answer. Sucked, no doubt. Lessons learned the hard way are effective motivations, though. So, now, I put in the hard work. I focus on what I can control. Regardless of whether fortune will favor me, I continue the write, to improve my craft, to organically grow my fan base, and to build a revenue-generating backlist that proves to myself that I've done the best I can.

Should luck visit on the heels of opportunity, I hope to be ready this time. After all, success is 93% hard work and 7% luck. 

What I Do for Health Insurance Rant

Funny that health insurance should be our topic today. I'm in the process of navigating the travesty that passes for healthcare in these United States. I'm up for a hip replacement. I'm going to physical therapy first because I'm a firm believer that strengthening muscles around a bad joint might delay the necessity of surgery and if it can't, it will only speed the recovery from said surgery. But. Today, someone who works in a teaching hospital associated with a local university sat me down, looked me in the eye and said, "Get a second opinion." I must have looked blank. She shook her head at me and said, "Listen. Everyone in a medical specialty is making a Porsche payment. Don't be someone's Porsche payment."

I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. You'd like to believe that healthcare is there to care about you, but all too often, I find that isn't the whole story. Or even most of it. I think long and hard about the story of getting a hip replacement in Portugal. Surely you know this one. It goes:

For what it would cost to get a hip replaced in the USA, I could move to Portugal for a year, rent an apartment for that time, see all the sights, learn to speak Portuguese, even. Then I could have my hip replaced in a state of the art medical facility, pay cash, stay for two more months to recover, and STILL have paid less that what a hip replacement in the USA would cost.

We're all being taken advantage of in this country. Health insurance feels like a scam that could finally put a Nigerian prince to shame. Still. The alternative is ruin. So. We carry health insurance. I'm lucky. My partner is employed by a company involved in the healthcare industry so our insurance is -- reasonable. They don't like me much because I'm kinda complicated. They like to come at me from time to time with tsking letters about what providers I choose to see because I'm not impressed by their doc-in-a-box preferences. But for the most part, we get along while eyeing one another with distaste and distrust. Their current 'it's a benefit' shill is trying to assign me a nurse to 'help' me manage my healthcare. The sales person who called to get me to accept the 'benefit' made the mistake of mentioning that the nurse could give me all kinds of information about where I could go to get care. Heh heh. Yeah, no, nameless health insurance company. I'm not playing your game of asking permission to manage my own well being, thanks. 

There are a few reasons that I might one day leave the USA to live elsewhere but let me assure you this Machiavellian structure we call 'health care' is right at the tippy top of the list

The Good and the Bad of Writing

 Health Insurance

Last week I was invited to a friend’s house for lunch because she wrote a book!!! She had so many questions about next steps and her options. It got me all excited talking about the book world and how unique it is! 

Sadly, it’s not all champagne and chocolates and health insurance, our topic of the week, is one of them. 

I’m blessed to have a husband with a corporate job that provides medical coverage. My chronic disease isn’t very common, though sadly it seems to be on the rise, and requires specialists and what feels like endless lab testing. So yes, we pay my providers well for being out of network. It’s part of life. 

I don’t want anyone to jump into the book world and be blindsided. Which means authors need to talk about what it’s really like being an author. The good and the bad. And being mindful of healthcare costs while weighing the pros and cons of jobs and careers is important. 

But let’s not let the negatives overshadow the positives. Talking with my friend brought me back to my beginning and reminded me how excited I was to learn all about the book process and discover communities of people working towards the same goals. Listen to the words to the wise comments, but don’t let it diminish your joy! 

May your weened be filled with words and maybe some eggs!

Announcing My Mentoring Patreon! Also Health Insurance

 Exciting news! I've officially opened my Patreon: Jeffe's Closet, A Mentoring Community for Newbie, Intermediate, & Expert Authors. The Patreon leads directly to a Discord community where all kinds of conversations will occur. I'm super excited to make this into a vibrant community. Right now the Discord is open, but pretty quiet - which means you'll get a lot of personal attention from me. Come and join in!

As far as our topic this week, what we do for health insurance, I self-insure. As a full-time author, I have no employer to provide me with health insurance (or other benefits). My husband took early retirement from his career and was insured through them for quite some time, though each year the premium was sucking up more and more of his retirement stipend. Soon we were going to have to pay in - ugh! Then the concierge health insurance service became available through SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association). SFWA collaborated with other writers' organizations to make this service available to our members. I was able to transfer my husband onto insurance via the Affordable Care Marketplace - and both of us together ended up paying over $1K LESS EVERY MONTH. I'm a fan! Thank you, Obama - seriously. 

Health Insurance: It's Private

 This Week's Topic: Health Insurance

It's likely you, dear readers, don't want to endure my lengthy diatribe on the rapacious US Health Industry, our longstanding corporate death panels, the staggering increases in insurance premiums so the insurance companies can rake in over $350Billion in annual revenue, private equity firms crippling private practices with undue administrative burdens, how the hulking medical complex routinely punishes the unmarried, nor my objections to religious groups operating medical facilities (thus imposing their beliefs on anyone seeking care).

Instead, I'll share what I --a single, self-employed, not-incorporated-- author does about the necessary evil that is health insurance. I have private insurance that is not through the ACA Marketplace. I got it after I left corporate, before the ACA was a thing. It is not part of a guild-sponsored program, so I can't speak to whether those are cost-savers or not. Naturally, I did (and continue to) look into plans offered by the ACA; however, aside from ridiculously high deductibles, the bigger problem is finding doctors who accept that insurance. I'm fortunate to live in a city where hospitals and medical specialists abound, yet it is still a struggle to find practices that accept ACA-provided insurance. Alas, my health insurance is more expensive than the mortgage I have on a 3br townhouse in an urban historic district in a major metro area. This year (last week, as matter of fact) my insurance company informed me of a 30% increase in my premium. 

30% Increase
30%
The national inflation rate
that incited political and cultural warfare was 7% by comparison

Funny how insurance companies send out those premium-increase notices after the ACA Marketplace open enrollment closes, eh? Yes, it makes me incandescent with rage that we have no recourse. Yes, I'm aware that the ridiculous congressionally-sanctioned robbery that is health insurance is all that stands between me and bankruptcy caused by medical expenses. Yes, I know there are tax deductions that can be taken, however, one still has to pay the premiums even if book sales are at rock bottom. 

Do I wish our federal and state governments would overhaul our healthcare system? Gods yes. Health Insurance is the greatest fraud and extortion perpetrated upon the US population.

Photo Credit: Pexels

As the release of my debut, A Realm of Ash and Shadow, draws near, there are three things I’ve learned over this past year that I’d love to share with other authors at the same stage of this journey as I am.

3 Things I Learned as a Debut Author

Learn to Slow Down

You’re going to be pushed and pulled in many directions. It’s inevitable. But you need to learn how to slow down. You can take time for yourself and recharge in the ways that recharge you best. Sometimes that’s self-care; other times, that’s losing yourself while drafting another book.

For me, it’s Saturdays on the couch with a book or binge-watching a show with my husband. Maybe for you, it’s Tuesday nights on Fortnite, or it’s Thursday mornings at Target.

Whatever it is, slow down and relish in the peace of it.

Embrace Rejection

Often, writers believe that once you sign with an agent or sell your book and you’re finally, FINALLY, being published, the rejections just… end. They don’t. They keep coming, and staying positive can be hard when you’re constantly being told no. Or when you’ve put in so much effort to market your debut, and you don’t make any lists. Or when you host a book event with twenty empty seats.

Or when negative reviews inevitably come in, and it feels like a personal attack.

I remember the first one-star review I ever received on my debut A Realm of Ash and Shadow. My chest felt tight, and my cheeks were hot. It was brutal. But I let it hurt, leaned on my husband and writer friends, and then I… got over it.

Not everyone will love your book, and it’s best to accept that sooner rather than later.

Create A Routine

Amidst all the hecticness of debuting, you will want to create a routine. Currently, I’m fortunate enough to freelance part-time while I focus on my career as an author. But it wasn’t always like this for me. Before I cut back on my client work, I was working full-time, drafting a sequel, and going through the entire pre-publication process for my debut.

It was so incredibly draining that I had to make cuts somewhere.

So, I cut back on my client work and forced myself into a routine that looked like this:

Morning:

Before I even start my working day, I enjoy some me-time! I take a long walk with my dog, brew coffee, and scroll on social media. Then, I dive into client work. I spend about three hours doing as much as I can to get all of my client work finished because I can’t focus on debuting or drafting if I have other deadlines looming over me.

Midday:

I always, always, try to remember to eat lunch. Sometimes I think I’m a workaholic, and I can sustain myself on iced coffee. It’s not good for me. (It’s not good for anyone, really.) Then, after lunch, I start working on all things debut. This looks like answering emails, creating social media graphics, calling indie bookstores to see if they’ll stock my book, etc. I also focus on building my author platform. So much goes into debuting that it’s hard to keep up.

Afternoon:

Once I’ve done everything on my schedule for my debut, it’s time to sprint! I most look forward to this part of my day because I love drafting and working on my craft.

All that to say, not every day goes perfectly. Sometimes there are fires I have to put out for my clients, and it cuts into the time I’ve allotted to draft. Sometimes I end up deviating from my routine altogether. But I always go back to my routine because it allows me to set boundaries and focus on what’s most important during those time frames instead of stressing about everything all the time.

Compartmentalizing is the best!

All this to say… you can and will survive your debut year as an author!

I hope these three things I learned as a debut author are helpful. Do you have any tips for debuting? I’d love to hear them! Feel free to comment below or come let me know over on Instagram @laraonfire.

Lara Buckheit is the author of A Realm of Ash and Shadow: https://books2read.com/aroaas. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Wilmington University, is a 2021 WriteMentor Mentee, an avid writer (and reader) of spice, and one time she met Taylor Swift's dad. She started writing at a very young age, mostly fanfiction centered around women with swords and men with devilish grins. And she hasn't stopped since. When not writing, Lara can be found drinking tea, hustling for her day job, and reading from her endless TBR pile. Lara currently lives in Charlottesville, VA, with her husband, dog, and thirteen houseplants named after fictional characters.