Tuesday, September 5, 2017

#IWSG Surprise! You're a (published) writer!!

Welcome to another chapter of how the pages turn....oops. Another chapter of the famous, Insecure Writers Support Group! (let ya in on a secret--most all writers are insecure, so if you are one, and you haven't joined us--do so now!)

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

The wonderful folks behind this global event, offer a question that can be addressed each month in our blogs--today's was if we had surprised ourselves with our writing at any time.

IF? Every single time I write I am surprised by something. Now granted, sometimes it's a "who wrote this crap?!" thought. But many times it's more of a shock at what I have created.

I have a mini book empire!

Now the fact that I write isn't a shock. I've done it off and on for as long as I can recall. But the fact that I went forward when editors and agents were finally saying, "love this" but it was followed by the, "But I have too many of this sub-genre", or "Humorous fantasy isn't selling to NY right now".  I went forward and shoved my babies out into the wild anyway.

Now self-publishing isn't for the weak at heart. You have to know what you can do, and what you can't. I hire professional editors, an amazing cover artist, and a formatter. 

But my books are out there.

Two have won awards recently.

Three have been "Top Picks" from RT Book Reviews.

I've had all four of the fantasy books in the top twenty for their category at the same time.

Can I quit my day job? No. Am I a household name and auto buy for millions of readers? No.

But I am a published writer. I did what I had to do to get my worlds (two so far, more on the way ;)) out there. And folks like them (some do, some don't--it's the way of life ;)).

So, my biggest surprise about writing, is just that, writing. The stories are a surprise, my path as a published author is a surprise. Everything.

Happy IWSG day and may all your surprises be good ones!

26 comments:

  1. So far I'm still of the "weak of heart" writer. I have not self published. However, I am quite surprised whenever a story unfolds itself on the screen.

    Such a marvelous feeling.

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    1. It's not easy, I gave myself a year to really get behind it. But whatever path you choice- a story unfolding is an amazing thing! Thanks for coming by!

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  2. Congrats! and that's no surprise for me. :-)

    https://emaginette.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/iwsg-40-the-words-began-with-me/

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  3. Your post just made me smile from ear to ear. Thank you for that! Truly inspiring. I felt like you were behind me with pom poms saying, "Go Elsie! You can do this!" :)

    Enjoy the rest of your week!
    Elsie

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    1. Thank you! And, *waves pom poms*, "GO ELSIE!!! You got it! Go! Go! Go!" :)

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  4. A mini book empire? Sounds like there's no stopping you. You rock!
    I love your energy!
    Happy IWSG Day!
    Writer In Transit

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    1. Thank you! :) I do get stopped, a lot, but the trick is to keep getting back up ;).

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  5. You are a success story I one day hope to model after. :) You are awesome!

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  6. Great attitude! A feel the same way. The sense of accomplishment of knowing it was completed and I did that is an amazing feeling. Agents and publishers aren't knocking down my door, but still I aimed to do something and got it done.

    Best of luck with all your future books.

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  7. Good going! I hope to be where you are soon. Taking a bit of a different route with the self-publishing, though. :-)

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    1. Thank you! We all have different paths, and adjust them as needed :). Good luck on your adventure!

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  8. Glad you kept pushing even when it seemed you were hitting a wall. It's stories like this that keep me plugging away. Thanks, Marie.

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    1. Never give up, never surrender! :). It's not just a movie quote. Keep pushing forward, Ken!

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  9. Congrats on the great accomplishments!

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  10. Wow! Great accomplishments. I don't look at those statistics--too depressing. But maybe I made it onto one of those lists and didn't know it. I can dream, right? LOL You are so right about self-pubbing. So much harder than selling a manuscript to a publisher. But very rewarding.

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    1. I usually don't look at the rankings unless something big is going on--those weeks spent with four in the top 20 for my category were directly the result of the Book Bub feature ;). Thank you!

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  11. Congrats on being awesome and getting yourself published! I know it wasn't easy work!

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  12. I just recognized your book from SPFBO 2017 (it has a lovely cover)! You seem to be rocking the book world!

    (I was rather brutally cut from the first round of SPFBO over at Fantasy Faction myself).

    Good luck with the contest, and congrats on continuing your book empire!

    IWSG September

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    1. Thank you and hello fellow SPFBO friend! I'm sneaking up on taking it over, right now I sort of feel like a tiny dust speck :). I haven't been cut yet, because my blogger hasn't gotten to me-LOL!

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  13. I love this! Writing as an act and as a journey contains so many surprises! I hope all your surprises are good ones, too!

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