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Technically this week’s topic is mentoring. I've always liked this quote: “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to
listen, and a push in the right direction.” — John Crosby
In the old day job I definitely had mentors and owe a great
deal to all of them. One thing I ran into, however, is expressed well by Steven
Spielberg: “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in
your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” Because
I was a woman in a spot where there had been few if any women at that time,
some of my early mentors at NASA/JPL had
definite ideas of who and what I should look like when I ‘made it’…and their
vision didn’t always match mine. That was definitely my first chance to adopt
the adage “Your Mileage May Vary” and there’s no one right way to do ANYTHING.
Later in my career there I participated in the formal
mentoring program at NASA/JPL, for which we had training, ‘contracts’ between
the mentor and mentee, a time limit and a lot of structure. I also informally
mentored a great many people. Having been one of the first women in management
in my particular specialized business area of the Lab, I had insights to share
and I wanted to pay forward the wonderful help I’d received from my own
mentors.
As an author, I’ve had several wonderful mentors, who shared
their experiences with me and to whom I’d turn if something happened I wasn’t
sure how to handle. Our own Jeffe Kennedy is one of my primary mentor resources
to this day! Susan ‘SE’ Smith is another terrific fount of advice and support,
generous with her time.
I do some mentoring of other authors if I’m asked a question
or to give a presentation. I belong to a variety of online author groups and
I’ll weigh in on the discussion if I feel I have something to contribute from
my experiences or from things I’ve observed in the scifi romance world. I think
my main message usually boils down to: There’s no one way! Everyone has their
own path and their own definition of success.
Here are some points from the speech I gave a few years ago
to a Los Angeles-are writing group, which represent my basic approach to giving
general advice:
First we need to pause
and acknowledge that finishing a book is a HUGE accomplishment and deserves
celebration and kudos. So few people actually manage to complete that first
book, although so many talk about writing a book ‘someday’, or may even write a
few pages and find out what hard work it can be and stop. So if you’ve
completed that first book, take a moment to bask in the well-deserved happy
feels.
But then the author
needs to ask where on the spectrum of expectations they fall. Is this the book
of their heart, the one and only book they ever want to create and just having
it available on Amazon for friends and relatives to buy will truly be enough?
Holding that paperback version is a thrill all right. So if the book sits at
#3,000,000 in Amazon forever they’ll be ok with it? Or are they secretly hoping
to become J. K. Rowling someday, with billions of readers and theme parks and
movies and so forth? I think we’d all like to be that person and yes, someone
does win the lotto and yes, a few authors do rise to that level…but there’s
nothing specific you can do right now to become JKR.
So accept that you
fall into the middle of the spectrum with most of us authors and realize writing
is a business and you’re going to have to treat it as such.
First, you have to
have a social media presence. How are readers going to find you and your book
if you aren’t out there to be found? No, magical thinking doesn’t qualify as a
strategy, especially nowadays with the huge volume of books being published
every week. If your book hovers around #3,000,000 in ranking, readers are not
going to stumble over it.
I always encourage authors to find the social
media that works for them and where they feel comfortable. Even if they aren’t
yet published, they have interesting lives, hobbies, fan favorites, general
book talk they can share. And the internet always loves a good cat picture or
two!
The one thing I
strongly urge a writer to have is a blog or a website. There needs to be a
central point a reader can go to learn about you, your books, what’s coming
next and when, and a way to contact the author. Yes, you can have an Author
Page on Amazon and also collect followers on BookBub after publication – I do
both – but that real estate doesn’t belong to you. You don’t even know who
those readers are and the company can change its business practices on a dime.
So have one internet spot that’s all yours!
Your first internet presence doesn’t have to be full of bells and
whistles and expensive.
Six more quick points
of advice?
Develop a thick skin
because this is a business.
Never engage with
reviewers, especially over a negative review.
Find a group of
likeminded writers, on Facebook or wherever, for encouragement and tips and
cross promo!
Practice self-care,
physically and mentally.
Don’t compare your
journey to any other author’s because everyone’s path is different.
Most important: Stay
true to your own voice!
When I saw the topic for the week here, I realized I do very
little mentoring as a self-published author. Certainly not
like it was in the old day job, where my office door was always open and I was
happy to sit and chat. Pondering this today, I think in part it’s because most
of my interactions nowadays are online.
For health reasons I don’t travel to conferences any more
either, so I don’t actually meet too many people in real life these days!
Many of the answers a person new to self-publishing might be
seeking can be found in the rich archives of the various author groups on
Facebook, with people willing to answer or advise on more complex issues as
they arise. Find one or two or more of these groups that feel like they might
be on your wavelength and lurk and search their old posts…if asked, I do my
best to steer people to the groups I’ve found that work for me but there’s a
much larger universe out there than the few I frequent nowadays.
I’m pretty much set in my path, writing what I write,
publishing and doing promo the way I’ve found works best for me and my readers
and prospective readers…
General advice and periodic posts on my blog are the way I
roll nowadays, as far as providing mentoring.
My latest release:
