I recently finished the first round of edits on Sentient Being. I scanned the entire document and “approved” or “rejected” my editor’s changes. It took about 20 hours, not as long as I thought it would.
Now on to step two: addressing the comments my editor made within the document, and fixing as I go…
To make the process less overwhelming, I simply highlighted the spots where my editor had left a comment (see above), so I could return to it later. When formatted for publication as a 6×9 novel, this book expands to about 800 pages.
Phew, what a doozie!
I mention the length because I imagine most people might be overwhelmed by the notion of writing, revising and publishing such a huge book. Yeah, me too. I’ve chosen to go about it by way of the Tao: one step at a time. I break it down into simple tasks. The first task is complete, second task is to focus on comments and addressing those. After that, I’ll address the more significant plot points that need the most attention, that will be the most energy-consuming. You’d think it would make more sense to tackle the larger issues first, but I disagree. Not in this case. For me, getting the hundreds of little issues out of the way first helps me feel like I am accomplishing a lot in a little bit of time, so it gives me motivation to continue. And with all the little problems out of the way, I will have more energy and clarity to dedicate to those things that need the most attention. One step at a time.
I mention this because, for any project you might be working on, no matter if it is a creative one or not, when the size seems overwhelming, consider breaking it into pieces. Tear it apart, so to speak. Find ways for things to be sectioned off, and focus on one section at a time.
It’s how I’ve written six full-length size books in four years.
My intent moving forward is to provide you with a deeper dive into my process, as if this were a baking show and you were watching all the steps that create the beautiful cake in the end.
But what I really wanted to talk about is how I got here. Not how I got to writing all these books, but how I got to the place of realizing that I needed to let you in on my life more than I have been. That if I am truly going to succeed, I need to be more open about my process, my life as an author on and off the laptop.
About a month or so ago, I was at a crossroads with my author career. How do I market more effectively? How do I find and reach my audience in a way that is more authentic and doesn’t feel so…sleazy? For three years I’ve worked really hard at marketing and promotion, yet have gotten nowhere.
One day, I stumbled upon a website for a Marketing Consultant by the name of Dan Blank. I discovered his info through other reputable sites, such as Jane Friedman. I emailed him. We talked. I believed for a second I might be able to find a way to pay him for one-on-one coaching. He was expensive. I wanted to take the risk. I felt lost and I felt scattered and afraid of failing. I also felt afraid of putting out money I really didn’t have (credit card debt, anyone?).
So I asked God for a sign. Yes, I believe in those things. One evening I called out, “if you want me to work with Dan Blank, please show me a sign. Please show me a brown hummingbird by tomorrow morning”. When I had made the request, it was in the evening. I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth, yadda, yadda, yadda. Every night I use a meditation on Insight Timer to help me sleep. I went to pull it up, and here’s what popped up on my screen:
Do you see what I see? Right there, below my Yoga Nidra meditation, was an image for another meditation I like to use for anxiety relief. See the image? Yep…a brown hummingbird.
That felt like a sign to me.
I got on it the next day. I emailed with Dan, and we signed an agreement, but man was it going to be costly. My fear mounting at how I was going to pay for three months of one-on-one help, something I believed would truly change my life, I got a second opinion from my writing coach and my previous marketer.
Both of them advised me not to pay for Dan’s services. I slept on it, and decided they were right, but only for financial reasons. I believed so much in Dan’s expertise and human-centered approach to marketing, and he was very gracious in allowing me to bow out without any bridges burned, that it disheartened me to say no. I began to question whether the sign I had received was accurate, or meant anything at all.
I spoke about this with a friend, who reminded me not to take signs like the hummingbird so literally. Ehem, I am neurodivergent. How do I not take things literally, lol!
Turns out, she was right. I got on Dan’s website, not wanting to give up on myself or my hopes and dreams, and I did the next best thing: I ordered his book:
I’ve since finished reading the book and let me tell you, it is a complete GAME CHANGER. For anyone pursuing creative endeavors, who wish to become authors, artists, musicians, READ THIS BOOK!! It cost me only $14 with shipping, and it might very well save my entire author career.
My intent over these next several months is to tell you more about this process, how this book has helped me. Turns out, the hummingbird sign wasn’t wrong. I was supposed to be guided by this Dan Blank guy, not because he’s some guru and supreme expert, but because his work is the only work out there I have found that focuses on the most important piece of marketing, something I instinctually knew in the back of my mind, but ignored because I was too busy following advice of “experts” who told me to jump through this hoop or that: “pay for Amazon ads over here, pay for Facebook ads over there, promote, promote, promote!!! “And I missed the true success in marketing that has remained true throughout time:
Building relationships. One person at a time. Word-of-mouth marketing. And none of this costs a dime. It takes time, yes, but I’ve recently stepped back from some volunteer positions and a contract job so that I now have the time to pursue this avenue. I believe in it whole-heartedly, and I trust my instincts.
How am I going to go about building these relationships? One step at a time, just the way I write and publish books. Using this book as my guide, I’m going to go through one chapter at a time, and I’m going to use the very practical steps suggested to build my audience. To find ways to be more generous, and do more truth-telling so the right people can find me.
It’s definitely scary. Putting ourselves out there always is. Social anxiety, yep. Introversion, also yep. Awkward autistic, you betcha. But there are others like me. And I know I’ve got a lot to give, to offer, and it begins with one message. My message that I want to get out into the world.
And I’ll end with that. Ending at the beginning. While contemplating what I was going to write about in this blog, I thought, “If I wasn’t afraid of what other people thought, what would I have to say to the world?”
Well, if you’ve read this far then you deserve to know what it is:
I believe in the transformative power of relationships. When we connect with ourselves, others and nature, we can cultivate empathy, acceptance and a desire to help. And if we REALLY want a peaceful world, then we might want to consider finding empathy for the other side. Our willingness to take time to understand people not like us, of opposing political or religious affiliation, of opposing viewpoints on any grounds, is in direct correlation to the amount of peace we can accomplish, and we will only be able to get there together. Not through separation and division. How do we do this? One step at a time. One individual at a time.
Building relationships. It’s the most important thing. It’s time to build bridges, not tear them down.
If you agree with me, or even if you don’t and you’re still curious, then sign up for my Substack, follow me, and let’s dig in.
Next time I’ll start where we left off, speaking more about relationships, my process in building them, etc, etc.
I hope you’ll join me.