the craft. one book at a time.

Getting published is hard. So, after you accomplish this major feat, it’s easy to think that once your book is released, that’s just it! You are going to be a rockstar, New York Times bestselling author and ride off into the sunset and well … that may happen for some people. But for most writers, it’s just not. Writing is hard. And it takes work to build up that kind of profile.

This brings me to the thought that you have to be willing to sell one book at a time. I was recently able to meet up with some pretty amazing writers here in LA, and the sentiment was the same. Even for those who have been on lots of roundups, had great press, and landed on tons of “best of” lists. Book events are rough these days. Period. I’m not sure if it’s an after pandemic thing or not, but it just is what it is.

I think I explained to you that there was a reading with four people that I did and one of them was my mom. Lol. But I think it’s healthy to take on the mindset that you are going to be selling one book at a time. Sure, it may feel a little embarrassing when you have a light showing, but I promise, your time will be much better spent selling those few people that are there. I learned that in hosting a lot of my own independent events over the years. You’re always going to want to have had more people. But at times, that discredits the folks that did take their precious time to come. Give those readers your best.

Book marketing can be a hard nut to crack. It’s about relationships (you, your agent, your publisher), timing, and a bit of personal branding. Notice I didn’t even mention how good your book actually is. Because honestly, to get published, it has to be somewhat good as in you know how to write sentences and paragraphs. But after that, I’m not wholly sure that the content is as major of a factor as the other things.

But the best thing about books is that it’s truly a marathon and not a sprint. So many new people will discover your work in time. And although so much emphasis is put on that opening week because of bestsellers and all that, your book has time. But it will be up to you to keep that torch lit once the fanfare has settled.

You know, this idea of one book at a time reminds me of going into this new year. There is normally so much excitement and fanfare around the start of the year. But I feel like our focus should be one step at a time. I don’t know if it’s coming out of the pandemic or what, but I don’t feel that same urgency that I’ve felt in years’ past. I feel like I’m right where I need to be. That I have everything I need to get to the next place I hope to be. And while I’ll still be setting intentions and planning goals, I’m so much more vested in my emotional and mental wellbeing than anything else.

For me, right now, it’s one story at a time. So while I’m continuing to create opportunities for Good Morning, Love, I’m finishing up a draft of a new story. And when that’s done, I’ll move on to revising the other novel that I have in the tuck. And when that’s done, I’m going to work on a script idea. One thing at a time. Complete the thing. Move onto the next.

I was fortunate enough to have a lot of great opportunities to promote my book. Even though we’re not on NYT, I do feel like I’ll be on par to make solid first year sales for the book that will hopefully give me the opportunity to write another. I never imagined being featured on places like Katie Couric Media or Buzzfeed. Being at the American Library Association’s major conference and speaking on a panel there. But each opportunity whether big or small, I gave the same valiant effort because honestly, aren’t we so lucky to even be here? To be writing? To be sharing our art?

So, in your book journey, just remember one step at a time no matter where you may be in the process. Whether that’s drafting, querying, getting close to publication. Take it one thing at a time. And when you get to that promised land, remember, it’s one book at a time.

Happy New Year Permission Granted family! I look forward to continuing to celebrate wins big and small with you. We want to help keep you accountable too, so remember to join us for January’s Office Hours, where we’ll be doing a check-in on those 2023 goals. Reminders will be sent separately.