*hiss!*

Today I learned something about this world of words we authors live in. Sure, I never expected to trot into a place of love and mutual support, but I also never expected to find myself in a nest of badgers! There is a clearly defined line between Traditionally Published Authors and Self-Published Authors, and woe to anyone who crosses that line.

I didn't even know a line existed! Someone could've warned me.

Reading through comments from elitist authors made my blood boil. I couldn't believe there were people out there so willing to look down their nose at Indie Authors and immediately expect them to be snivelling little imbeciles with no talent, no tact and no knowledge of the industry they're trying to break into.

Here I am, an Indie Author without the funds, experience, or visibility to make it into a world she desperately wants to be a part of, and not only do I have to contend with a fiercely vicious market, but I also have to deal with being stereotyped into a group already classed as inferior in every way and thus not worthy of even common decency?

I'm all for letting the work speak for itself. Don't get me wrong. And I know there are some individuals who go on every site imaginable and copy-paste the same book promo into every possible page, often times with bad grammar and no regard for the rules of the forum in question (which I shall not name), but we aren't all like that! Some of us are actually intelligent, caring individuals who don't deserve to be stigmatised because they don't have the backing, visibility or the INTENT to try and get published the traditional way.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant. I don't know if there are others out there who feel the same as I do or have experienced this kind of "classism" first hand. If you have, please comment below and share your story.

For now I'm going to ignore discussion threads, channel my frustration, and - in the words of the legendary Neil Gaiman - make good art.

Goodnight!

Kat
xx

Prowling Toward Your Target

A daily 2,000 word goal is almost a necessity for a brand new Author, as I mentioned in my last post, but even if we're only able to manage 1,000 a day (like me!) or 500, there are other victories you can count which are just as good.

If you're a dreamer, like me, sometimes keeping your mind on the same task is... difficult. You need the new, the fresh. Ideas assault your mind constantly and demand to be acknowledged, otherwise your leg will shake, you'll grind your nails to nubs and end up blocked and unable to write.

So if you're having a hectic day where nothing's going right and forcing a moment to write just isn't going to work, do what I did today and listen to the voices in your head. Let's face it, we're writers; our heads are full of voices! But don't just listen to them, interview them. Ask them questions. Give them a few minutes in the spotlight and they may just surprise you with ideas you didn't know were in there.

That's what I did today, and while I'm not 2,000 words closer to finishing Midnight Magick - one of the first Paranormal Romance novels I plan on publishing this year - the little notepad full of plot outlines and a rough road-map for 2014/ 2015 certainly counts as prowling toward my ultimate target. So write your heart out when you can, and when you can't write, dream - but always be working, especially if you're new! Every little step counts.

I'd like to hear back from other writers on this. Are there others like me? How do you cope with bouts of lethargy and hyper-motivation? Do you have daily word goals? Did you think you were biting off more than you could chew when you first started off?

Thanks for reading!

Kat
xoxo

Finding my Feet

My entire time as a writer I thought the hardest part of being an author was the writing, but having spent the last few weeks in the world of marketing and promotion I can say this; writing is at once the hardest, but also the funnest part of being an author. Everything else is an exercise in psychological endurance, and you'll gain little fun from it if you aren't prepared.

When I published my first piece of work I hit the Tweets hard, spread myself all over Facebook and ran myself ragged hitting the Refresh button on the KDP Reports page to see if I'd made more sales. Sales came, and they were awesome when they popped up on my screen, but they were minimal. 

It took me a while to realize it but a few days ago I read something that made me calm down with the tweets, ignore the KDP Reports page - checking it only at the end of every day - and leave Facebook alone. You'll read this on many other blogs but it bears repeating, especially since I'm living through it right now. What I learned was the only and best tip to becoming a successful author: write more books.

So I wrote and wrote and wrote and guess what? The world didn't collapse from not checking my Twitter page, the KDP Report didn't show a drop in sales because I wasn't incessantly refreshing it, and people didn't like my Facebook page any less. Why's that? Because no one knows who you are yet and they're not going to miss you if you aren't tweeting.

By all means go on Twitter, set up and share your Facebook Author page among friends and family, but always remember that the best thing you can be doing is writing. When you have a moment, write. When you have three moments, spend all three of them writing. Tweet on occasion. Look for other blogs and read them, comment on them or write your own. Set yourself daily word goals and hit them every day before doing anything else with your time. Organize yourself and your time well.

I haven't written this until I reached my word goal! If you're aspiring to be an author and you haven't written anything/ enough today, stop reading and write! 

If you want to walk with confidence among all of the other amazing authors out there one day you have to find your feet first. It'll take time, the grass is prickly, but you'll get used to the path soon enough. You just have to take it one step at a time, and the first one is the most obvious; don't stop writing. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this! Follow me for more!

Kat

xoxo