Posted in inspiration, my books, Thoughts

Success versus Failure

What is The Meaning of Success?

Success is just a leap of faith into the abyss and surviving the fall.

I’ve been struggling lately with feelings of failure. My sales haven’t been great, and I’ve been wondering about whether I’m spinning my wheels and wasting my time. What is the meaning of success? Everyone categorizes success in different ways, for some it is accolades from their peers, awards, notoriety, for others it is about the money, the lifestyle, and still others it is the level of achievement, a goal reached.

Like most small business owners, I’d like to make more sales and as an author, I’d like to build more fans. I’d like more people to read my books and fall in love with them. Somedays it seems no matter how hard I work I’m just not making it. But then something amazing happens and I feel renewed, like I have a reason to keep believing. What does it mean to me to succeed? What is my idea success? Yes, I want to sell more books, become a well-known author, be able to pay my bills with my writing career but is that really what success is? Is that all there is? How do I define success?

As we begin the new year, I am doing some real soul searching about what my future holds. What does success mean to mean? Contentment, happiness, peace… I’ve achieved that. I’m happy with my life. Maybe not every minute of every day but mostly I am happy and content, with my family and friends, and even my work. I feel good about what I’m doing. I’m doing what I love. It’s not always easy to juggle my writing career with my “real” job, other obligations, family, and friends, but mostly I manage. Some days I’m tired. I’ve stretched myself a little too far, but I know if I want this, I have to push myself.

Each year I try to add something else to my resume. I try to write new books, have my books available on new retailer sites and be visible on new social media platforms. I try to learn new things and even have new experiences. Some years, especially during Covid, those experiences might be limited to online, other times, I might be able to attend a writing conference in another state. Whatever new adventure I choose, it is usually something that will advance my career or at least help me learn. While I might not be able to quit my day-job just yet, each step, even some of the negative ones, have helped me on my journey to success.

No one can define success for you. Each of us have to decide what it means for us. While I might want to win the lottery and be independently wealthy, that won’t make me successful. Success for me can only come when I feel I’ve done my best and I’m happy with the outcome and selling lots of books wouldn’t hurt either.

True success is a life well-lived, and a heart well-loved. (I think that is slightly misquoted from Tuck Everlasting).

Wishing you all a happy and successful New Year. Just remember to be HAPPY!

You can find my ebooks at your favorite ebook retailer or right here at my own online store.

Posted in News

I’m an ALLi Ambassador!

I have been selected as an Ambassador for ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors)

Some of you may have noticed a new addition to my banners and cover photos. I am so proud and excited to announce that I have been selected as an ambassador for ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors). ALLi is an advocate for the equitable treatment of the independent author. Their campaigns operate and advise globally creative industry professionals, literacy programs and cultural organizations, the strive to influence and inspire government bodies and decision makers in seven core territories: Australia, Canada and the Commonwealth, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States.

As an ALLi ambassador the goal is to be a good local source of information about ALLi’s work: their campaigns, membership, efforts on behalf of the industry, and to let authors know about their great resources both free and paid. While ALLi wants to THINK and work globally, they wish to ACT locally. Using the knowledge, resources and experience of its members, ALLi can reach independent authors on their own turf and assist in their market.

While there is still much I do not know, I am constantly learning and seeking information. That is where ALLi comes in. I started following Michael LaRonn, JoAnna Penn and Orna Ross via YouTube and podcast before becoming a member of ALLi. If you have heard these names then you know they are large part of the ALLi family and their efforts on behalf of independent authors has made a big difference in our acceptance by readers and retailers, our education as entrepreneurs, and they given us an advocate for the protection of our rights. If you haven’t heard of them, check them out, and others.

The Creative Penn Podcast https://www.thecreativepenn.com/podcasts/

Orna Ross and her husband founded the Alliance of Independent Authors in 2012.

If you are an independent author or an organization that represents independent authors, then ALLi might be the options for you. Have you checked into being a member? I am a fairly new member to ALLi but I have been contemplating joining for several years. With my work with the Pamlico Writers’ Group and the Romance Writers of America especially, my local chapter, the Heart of Carolina, I felt that belonging to one more writers’ group might be too much. I am already the chairperson for the Pamlico Writers and VP of communications for HCRW, but I realized there are still things I need to know. As a leader, I need to be on top of what was happening in the industry and while I could read things after the fact, being part of the Alliance of Independent Authors allows me to have an inside view of what is happening. ALLi has a list of approved businesses who other authors have worked with and the have a watch dog desk to keep authors aware of predators.

Education is the key to any successful business. My husband is a mechanic and each year he has to learn about the new cars. It is important to have reliable resources. I hope to use ALLi to better help my local writers’ groups and to use my local writers’ organizations to help ALLi better serve authors in our community, to broaden their understanding of what is happening here, and to help them make the decisions that will affect changes that will allow more authors to support themselves with their craft.  

If you are interested in being a member of ALLi, or are thinking about it, here are their four branches of work:

ALLi’s mission is to foster excellence and ethics in self-publishing.

We empower authors through community and collaboration—author forums, contract advice, sample agreements, contacts and networking, literary agency representation, and a member care desk.

We advise, through our Self-Publishing Advice Center—blog, podcasts, emails, magazine, guidebooks.

We monitor the self-publishing sector—watchdog desk and approved partner program.

We campaign and advocate for independent authors throughout the publishing and creative industries globally.

Membership benefits

Discounts on self-publishing services

Approved partner directory and database of services e.g. editors

Free guidebooks, member magazine and resources

Sample contracts & agreements and a contract review service

Watchdog desk

Dedicated literary agent & rights services

Private member forums—ask questions and receive helpful advice

from ALLi team, advisors, ambassadors and members

If you are interested in joining ALLi you can use my affiliate link below or just go to https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/

Posted in event, News, promo, writing inspiration, Writing tips

Publish and Thrive

As an indie author it is sometimes difficult to take a leap of faith and spend money on ourselves and our careers, especially when we have a limited budget. We tell ourselves it’s a dream or hobby and it’s difficult to believe it’ll ever be anything more.

I put off taking Sarra’s class for a couple of years because I was afraid. I was afraid I wouldn’t be good enough, that spending the money would be a waste of time. That I would never be a success. But learning to believe in myself, is one of the greatest gifts I received from taking Sarra’s classes. Sarra’s Publish and Thrive gave me the tools I needed to build my career and I learned to trust myself with my publishing future.

A brand new round of Publish and Thrive is coming up, starting on July 30th. I know y’all have heard me talk about my adoration for Sarra Cannon and her program. Sarra is a “Feel Good” person. Even on her YouTube channel you see her shining spirit. She does her best to lift up her students and followers. Sometimes I listen to her videos on repeat just to lift my mood.

As a Publish and Thrive student alumni Sarra’s classes are available to me for a lifetime. I can re-take the program whenever she offers it, even when she makes changes like this year. There is so much to learn and do as an indie author, it’s not just about writing a great novel. Sarra helps her students navigate the immense challenges of planning, publishing and marketing our books. She is available for questions and we often learn from each other during the question and answer sessions, and the Facebook group.

Sarra is rerecording the lessons and adding some new features. I can hardly wait to see what she has planned for us. While I am more of a pantser than an outliner, but thanks to Sarra’s programs I’ve learned to plan both my stories and my jobs to be done.

PUBLISH AND THRIVE:

  • $399 Pay in Full
  • $75/ month for 6 months
  • $38/month for 12 months

THRIVING AUTHOR BUNDLE:

  • $499 Pay in Full
  • $90/month for 6 months
  • $45/month for 12 months

The course begins with a live kick off call on Saturday, July 30th at 2PM Eastern.

The course has been extended to 6 weeks, so our final live Q&A will take place September 10th.

HB90 will start that following Sunday on September 11th.

Posted in event, News, Writing tips

Just one Author

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

If you can touch one life, make a difference for one person then you have led a successful life. I am just one author who has benefited from following Sarra Cannon’s Heart Breathing YouTube channel. I fell in love with her honesty, her openness and her willingness to share the bad as well as the good parts of being a published author. As an indie author, we have to be our own boss, manage our own business, do everything from plan the stories to marketing our books and making sure all the bills get paid. It can be overwhelming. That’s why I am so glad Sarra offers her Publish and Thrive Course. As an alumni, I can take the course for free anytime she offers it. The next round begins Monday, February 7th and I’m going to be front and center. Sarra has some new things she wants to share and I am so excited.

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

I understand that $399 is a huge investment. Sarra allows students to break the payments down in a couple of ways, $75 a month for 6 months or $38 a month for 12. If you can’t afford to take Publish and Thrive at this time, believe me, I understand. I’ve raised six sons and had to do some creative bookkeeping to make ends meet. Check out Sarra’s YouTube channel https://youtu.be/7vMuLBV-TIU

I have been following Sarra’s YouTube channel for several years. It wasn’t until I met her in person at a Heart of Carolina Writers’ Conference that I got brave enough to take a chance on myself. That is what this investment is, it’s about believing in yourself, your craft and doing whatever you can to be the best you can be. I am so thankful for this program and for the chance to take a refresher. There is so much I need to learn, re-learn, be reminded of, and I’ll be honest with working full time, sometimes I have to make a choice on what I’m focusing on this time. Each time I feel like I’ve gain another piece of the puzzle.

Check out her website https://sarracannon.com/

Sarra has touched so many lives, both readers who enjoy her books and authors who have learned from her courses and channel.

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

Posted in Creekside Cafe, interview

Creekside Cafe Chat with Seralynn Lewis

Today I’d like to welcome fellow Heart of Carolina RWA member, Seralynn Lewis to my virtual café. It’s good to have you here.

Seralynn: Thank you, it’s an honor to be here.

Sherri: Your novel, Cassie’s Secrets is your debut novel? Are you traditionally published or Indie? Tell us about your journey to publishing your novel.

Seralynn: Yes, Cassie’s Secrets is my debut novel. I will be self-publishing the book with a release date of September 1, 2020. The journey to publication has been uphill, downhill with crazy twists and turns along the way. Originally, I wanted to traditionally publish and after attending my first major convention in 2018, an agent requested the manuscript and I thought my goal to publication was secured. But after working with the agent for over a year, I realized the process of publishing traditionally would take an extraordinarily long time and I was unprepared to wait that long. My agent and I eventually parted ways and I began my journey to learn what I could about self-publishing and couldn’t be happier.

Sherri: Have you always been a writer? When did you start writing? When did you decide to be a published author?

Seralynn: Years ago, when my daughters were toddlers, I got the bright idea that I would write a novel. I was addicted to reading romances and thought I could write one. So, with a notebook and pen, I wrote my first novel. It was so long ago that I used my mom’s old electric typewriter to type the manuscript. In those days, a writer could send their manuscripts to a publisher without the benefit of an agent. Sadly, the novel was rejected. But it wasn’t surprising since I had no formal training as a writer. In fact, the letter I received from the publisher said, “Take some creative writing classes and get a better typewriter ribbon.” I was crushed because I knew I’d never be able to take classes. That manuscript sat on a shelf and after quite a number of moves, I couldn’t bear to look at it and I pitched it. Life happened and I was a single mom for almost twenty years until I married my current husband. He encouraged me to take the classes and I did. It’s a long-awaited dream. This book, Cassie’s Secrets, began as one scene I had to write for my first creative writing class and it morphed in the full-blown novel it is today.

Sherri: Cassie’s Secrets is the first in a series set in the town of Worthy? Is this an imaginary town? Tell us about your town? The inspiration? This is also an inspirational romance, why is it important for you to write romance with a religious (Christian) theme?

Seralynn: Worthy is an imaginary town located about forty miles south of Columbus, Ohio. I chose the area because of what happens in book #2. When I wrote my proposal for the agent, I knew I had to have three ideas for the series I was planning and I wanted the book to be set in Ohio, since I was born and raised in Ohio. But I needed it to be a small town. The novel is an inspirational romance. It’s important for me to write this novel because there are messages I want to readers to have and who may need encouragement in their lives. The message is key. In Cassie’s Secrets, the message is about forgiveness. We all need it and we all should give it.

Sherri: You have won several writing awards. Tell me what it means to be a Serious Writer, inc Writer of the Year finalist?

Seralynn: I was incredibly excited to be one of twelve people to be a finalist for this award. The winner has not yet been announced due to the pandemic. There will be one winner, of course, but there will also be second to fifth place winners as well. I had forgotten I entered the contest only to be told by another writer friend who also placed that I had placed as a semi-finalist. Then we had to wait an inordinate amount of time to find out the finalists. We’re on tenterhooks waiting. The contest entry was for book #2 of the series.

Sherri: What do you hope readers will take away from reading your books?

Seralynn: I hope the readers will enjoy the story and learn there is hope. Hope in everyday life and in everyday people.

Sherri: What writing project are you working on now?

Seralynn: I’m in the process of editing book #2 of the series, Mia’s Irishman, which will be released sometime in November 2020. I’m also currently writing book #3 of the series.

Sherri: Why did you choose to write romance?

Seralynn: I chose to write romance because I love to read romance. From the time my children were babies, romances enthralled me and I’m a voracious romance reader. So many titles and not enough time to read them all! I enjoy most all sub-genres with a few exceptions.

Sherri: Tell us about your blog A Woman’s Heart (seralynnlewis.com)

Seralynn: I wanted to be able to touch women’s hearts by writing about faith, life and romance. Those three categories just about covers any topic I can think of. The Faith part of the blog is where I choose Bible verses and write about how they impact our lives today. The Life part of the blog is mostly day-to-day things from birthdays to holidays. And the romance part of the blog deals with romance and the adventures my husband and I had while living in Germany and visiting castles. 

Sherri: In Cassie’s Secrets you have a match maker as well as a little suspense. What are your favorite genres or authors to read?

Seralynn: There are so many fantastic romance writers out there, it’s very difficult to choose even one. I have two favorite genres I like to read aside from contemporary romances and they are historical Scottish romances and Western romances. But I’ll read Amish, Regency, Sweet & Clean, Medical and other sub-genres with the exception of a few. 

Sherri: What advice would you like to give to other writers who’d like to pursue publishing their work?

Seralynn: The best advice I can give is to write the best story you can, then learn to self-edit.

Sherri: Thank you Seralynn for visiting with me here at my Creekside Café. I wish you lots of luck with your new novel.

If you liked this interview with Seralynn Lewis then follow her on social media and check out her debut novel, Cassie’s Secrets.

Here’s the back cover copy of the book:

When there’s a second chance for love and you have secrets, are you able to share them to gain the love of your life?

Single mom, Cassie Verano, and her two young daughters move to small-town Worthy, Ohio to be near her brother and his family. After years of secretly writing best-selling novels, she longs to raise her daughters without her ex-husband’s family’s controlling interference and live in peace. Her daughters befriend two girls who are cared for by their aunt who urges Cassie to meet her brother. It’s the last thing she needs or wants.

Widowed business owner, Steve Nardelli, wants nothing more than to complete his huge Australian deal and expand his deceased father’s electronics firm to secure his family’s future. But his sister’s matchmaking antics over the past two years frustrates him. His disastrous marriage caused him to distrust women and he can’t seem to make his sister understand he doesn’t want or need any entanglements.

Despite Steve’s misgivings about Cassie’s secrets, when his sister disappears, he enlists Cassie to help care for his daughters. When Cassie has an odd dream, Steve blames her for his sister’s disappearance. Can Steve and Cassie overcome their mutual distrust and expose their secrets to one another to have a second chance at true love?

Cassie’s Secrets is a second chance Women of Worthy romance.

Here are my social medial links: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeralynnAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeralynnAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seralynnauthor/

Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/seralynnlewis/

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seralynn-lewis-65258716b

Seralynn Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized

Sarra Cannon’s Publish and Thrive Course

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

I’m an alumni of Sarra’s Publish and Thrive Course and a huge fan of her Heart Breathing YouTube Channel. If you are an unpublished author or one who has yet to reach their full potential, you will benefit from taking this program. I did!

The price of the course for this round is $399 if you pay in full. Sarra is also offering a 6-month payment plan of $75/month. It’s worth it! I have learned so much from this program and from following Sarra on YouTube.

I have become an affiliate of Sarra’s Publish and Thrive. If you sign up using my link I’ll be rewarded but if you have been following me on social media you know how much I love Sarra and her methods. I would promote this course with or without the reward.

Sarra Cannon has such an uplifting spirit. She teaches the course in such a way that you will be inspired and I guarantee you will learn something! I wish I’d taken her classes before publishing my first book but even if you have already published and made mistakes, she can help you fix them. Thank goodness!

Since taking Sarra’s course I have increased my sales. I will be auditing the course in August to refresh my thoughts and because I can. Some of the great things about taking this course: Sarra, the Publish and Thrive Facebook group, and the alumni group. Once you take Sarra’s programs, you have the freedom to view the videos at anytime or you will be invited to sit in on the newest version of the course at no extra cost. You get a lifetime of Sarra and Publish and Thrive! Ne do the math!

The course begins with Module 1 on Monday, August 10th, and will run until Friday, September 11th.

The HB90 will start that following Sunday on September 13th. I also took that program and for someone as unorganized as me, that was a major eye-opener!

My Affiliate Link: https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

Students also have the option to bundle Publish And Thrive with HB90 in September for a rate of $499 or a payment plan of $90/month for 6 months.

Posted in Creekside Cafe, interview

A Creekside Café Chat with Michael Gatti of Schlogastic Books

Schlogastic Books

Welcome to my virtual café Michael Gatti. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to drop by my virtual cafe. I’m so glad to have you here even if it’s not in person.

Michael: Hey Sherri great to be here thank you for having me!

Sherri: You are much more than a writer. I thought I was busy, but you have me beat. You have your own publishing company and your own YouTube channel. What other business projects do you have going on?

Michael: Well it all kind of falls under the same branch. But aside from helping folks self-publish and social media I’m writing my books and making a video game through the software called RPG maker MV.

Sherri: Let’s break it down tell me about your publishing company, you help people get through the Schlog of self-publishing. So, what do you offer? Why would I want to come to you versus doing it all myself? And believe me, I’ve done it all myself. UGH!Michael: I’ve been doing this for years now and my assistance comes from learning from my mistakes.  Self publishing isn’t easy and it’s expensive.  What I provide is a very low price for editing your manuscript,  I am connected to a network of artists that are willing to discount their services for book covers for you, and I will help promote the best I can and advise. I will also help with formatting because that is actually a part of publishing people don’t realize is a very important thing.

Sherri: I’ve started following you on YouTube. Tell our audience about your YouTube Channel and your Patreon page. What do you offer writers? Who would be your perfect client?

Michael: On YouTube I offer brief 3-7 minute videos usually covering a variety of self publishing topics (sometimes I just promote things hahaha) And on Patreon for $1 I offer a monthly newsletter with great tips and tricks and for $5 I offer unlimited editing with no additional charges. So my customer base for that would be someone who either writes a lot of books a year they would save a lot on editing because it’s just $5 a month and people who have written but never published and don’t know how to get started.

Sherri: You do professional editing. How did you get started editing? What certifications and credentials do you have? Do you do line editing or are you a content editor, or do you help with developing the plot?

Michael: I started offering editing services last fall and experience is the main credential I have.  I have been writing books forever at this point.  I also went to school to be an elementary school teacher so that has also given me the knowledge of our language required for such an endeavor.  My editing services are purely grammatical.  I will offer my opinion on story and plot but that’s not my area.

Sherri: You lead or are a member of several groups online, would you tell us about them and what they do?

Michael: Yeah, you know when I started giving Twitter a try and my follower base built I found myself involved in the #writingcommunity what that # is for, it’s a group of us promoting and lifting each other up. There’s also the shameless promo chat I am in and that I met you from, which is similar to the # but we have gotten to know each other and have become friends and the chat we guarantee promotion of each other.

Sherri: But even with all of this, you are an author too, tell us about your book Earth’s Best Friends.

Michael: Earth’s Best Friends is a culmination of a lot of different ideas I’ve had in my entire life going back to childhood. I am heavily inspired by the MCU, a connected universe, so within my book you follow multiple heroes and villains and as you read you see this greater event unfold.  I have Part One available now and Part Two should be available by Christmas. And I’m not stopping at two.

Sherri: Have you always enjoyed writing?

Michael: Oh yes. It may sound corny, but I was born for writing. 

Sherri: How did you get started writing?

Michael: As long as I can remember I was always making up special stories for my friends, toys, sister, I have been a writer even before I knew how to write on paper.

Sherri: Who has most influenced your writing? Your business?

Michael: Writing I am inspired by a variety of Saturday morning cartoons, Disney movies, and of course Marvel. If I were to pick writers I love I’d say Stan Lee, Lewis Carrol, Friz Freleng, Bob McKimson, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.

Sherri: What do you hope a client or fellow writer learns from their experience with you?

Michael: The bottom line is I hope I improve their chances for success and hope they know not to make the mistakes I’ve made in the past.

Sherri: Thank you for stopping by my Creekside Café, if you are ever on the Carolina Coast, stop by, I’ll show you the spot where I dream of having my café.

Michael: Sounds good, thank you again for having me!

Sherri: If you enjoyed this interview follow you can follow Michael on social media his links are below or check out his book, Earth’s Best Friends.

http://www.earthbestfriends.com/

https://Facebook.com/Schlogasticbooks

https://Instagram.com/Schlogasticbooks

https://YouTube.com/Schlogasticbooks

https://Patreon.com/Schlogasticbooks

Posted in inspiration, my books, Thoughts

I am a dreamer…

I am a dreamer but I also believe in working for those dreams. Nothing happens without a little work-equity. I have been taking an online class to help me reach my goals of becoming a better author and entrepreneur. If you are a writer or a small business owner I suggest following Sarra Canon’s YouTube videos Heart Breathings or better yet, take her online author course, Publish and Thrive or her HB90 organization course designed to de-clutter your thoughts and help you focus on what is important. What do you truly desire? How can you make it real?

One of the first things Sarra tells us to do is to envision the life we want to have. She instructs us to build a vision board. Above is my dream for the future. Thought in truth, I already have the life I dreamed of. No, I haven’t got a movie deal and I still have to work my “paying” job, but I’m writing and I’m publishing my books.

There was a time not too long ago when I did not believe I would ever be a published author. I was terrified of self-publishing. With good reason, it is a lot of work, and truthfully, the burden of success or failure falls solely on your own shoulders. It is daunting at times. Once I became a published author, I’m no longer just a writer. I’m now a business owner. I am a book designer, book-formatter, cover designer, promoter, marketer, seller, and advertiser. Sometimes I have so many balls in the air I cannot even count them all.

Even after five books there is still so much I do not know. Oh my goodness, five books, really. Wow…I have to just stop and absorb this a minute. Five books. Before I published the first book, I’d written several books but I’d hidden them in spiral notebooks under my bed or in the bottom of my closet. In December of 2017, I published Chrome Pink. Less than two and half years ago I published my first book. Sometimes I feel like I’m moving at a snails pace. I want it all and I want it yesterday. In my haste I have made so many mistakes, some of them costly. Like many other indie writers, I juggle a real job, family and home along with everything that goes along with being a published author. Sometimes the learning curve is a little slower for my foggy old brain but I’m happy I’m still learning. I’m still moving forward. It maybe at the speed of a turtle but I’m still moving.

I appreciate all of you who have been with me since before the first book launched. You saw the seed and have watched it grow. Thanks to you guys, I still believe in the possibilities. I still believe that someday that vision board might come true. But whether I get the dreamed-for movie deal or sell a thousand books, no matter what happens, I’m thankful for the journey and for each of you who have been a part of this dream.

Thank you for your reviews.
Posted in inspiration, Thoughts, writing inspiration

FEAR, my first mistake

How many mistakes have I made on my journey to becoming a published author?

Hmm, there are too many to name, but I will start with a few lingering ones that will hopefully help someone else when they are looking to get published.

My first mistake was FEAR!

I was afraid of trying to get published. I was scared to let others read my work. I feared I wasn’t good enough. When it came to self-publishing, I was apprehensive about spending money, of taking chances, of failing. I was intimidated by everything.

Confession: I am still afraid. It’s okay to be afraid, but if you allow fear to keep you from doing what you love, you will never do anything. Like the heroes we love to read about and watch, remember we don’t have to be fearless, in fact, people love to cheer for the underdog. Think Rocky! So, swallow your fears and do the scary thing anyway. Be the hero in your own story!

Let me start with FEAR ONE: Not good enough.

Well, this was and is true. I’m not as good as I’d like to be, but I am getting better. Practice makes perfect, or at least makes improvements. Like anything else we do, there are people who like my books and others who do not. That’s okay, it is important to remember that we cannot please everyone, and we should not try. The first person we have to please is ourselves. Do you love what you are doing? If you have a passion for it, whether it is writing, painting, or music, whatever it is, your love and joy will show in your effort.

Grammar mistakes are the bane of my writing! I’m working on relearning all the lessons Mrs. Simpson tried to teach me in high school English class. Thank goodness for all of the editing programs available online nowadays and for friends and family members who are great at proofreading and catching my mistakes.

I have talked with other writers and have been surprised to learn that many of my favorite writers say they doubt their work or their ability. They often fear they will not be as good with the next book. Fear is a very real thing and it can be crippling. I repeat, no matter if you are a writer or a dancer, an artist or a musician, when you put your talent out there for others to critique, it is scary. Some will love you and others will not. The person you have to convince is yourself. Believe in your talent. Fall in love with what you are doing. Let your joy shine through your work and others will feel it too.

#2: Fear of failing. Has anyone in history ever done anything without fear of failure? Failure is a very real part of life. The truth is sometimes you are going to fail but the only sure-fire way to not fail is to not do anything and that in itself is failure. I have never attempted anything important without fear of failure from going out for cheerleading, attending to college, to parenthood and getting married, to writing and publishing. If it means something to you, then yes, there is going to be fear. If you are not at least a little afraid then you’re not risking enough. With great success come great risks. You cannot win if you are not willing to put it all on the line. This is true whether you are talking relationships, athletics or art, if you don’t put your whole heart into it, you will not reap the rewards. When the risks are greater, the success is sweeter.

#3: Afraid of taking chances and spending money. I’m sure there are other authors, perhaps even other creatives, who feel the same way I do… afraid to spend money especially before you start really making money. I’ve always been conservative. While uploading to Kindle Direct Publishing is free, there are other costs that a self-published author has to take on themselves. I was talking to my youngest daughter-in-law recently, I’ve mentioned that she is a photographer, like me, she worries about spending money for her craft/business. We know that there are somethings that we have to put the money into, for a photographer it’s the camera, lens, perhaps some classes. For a writer, it’s a computer, maybe editing, cover design, marketing, and classes. I recently broke down and invested in a class I’ve wanted to take for a couple of years. It’s scary to invest the money not knowing if it will be worth it but as my daddy used to say, “Scared money don’t make money.” Sometimes you have to conquer your fears and take a chance on yourself.

What I’m trying to tell you is what I’m telling myself, believe in yourself and take a chance. Don’t let your fears keep you from making your dreams come true.