No writer knows everything.
Find joy in learning new writing skills, learning marketing, learning promotions, and learning how to navigate different platforms. It feels better if you can find joy in all the things we constantly need to learn rather than hating every minute of it. And realize just when you learn something, it will change, and you will need to learn something new.
No matter how perfect your book is, there will always be someone who hates it.
Go look at the reviews for your favorite book of all time. See there’s always someone who hates it. Accept that your book isn’t going to be for everyone and that you will get bad reviews. Move on.
Embrace rejection.
Being a writer subjects you to constant rejection. Whether it’s from an agent/editor, a promotional company, a promotion you want to be a part of, a reader, or people in your life who aren’t supportive of your writing. Embrace rejection. Brush it off. And carry on with your goals.
Find your writer tribe.
Cultivate writer friendships. Writer friends are different than regular friends. Writer friends know all about rejection. They know how overwhelming it can be to have to learn all the things and do it all yourself. Writer friends know the pain of a bad review. Writer friends know the frustration of working so hard to write, publish, and promote a book, but then it only sells a few copies. Writer friends will tell you to keep writing when you have days where you want to quit.
Learn to fill your creative well.
Figure out what works for you. Do you need a day of pizza and Netflix? Do you need time away? Do you need a vacation from social media? Do you need to be around writer friends and spitball story ideas while drinking margaritas and wine? Once you figure out how to fill your creative well, keep it full!
Read a lot.
Most writers were readers long before they became writers. Keep reading. Keep finding joy in stories. Sometimes writers have trouble reading because they get into editing or critiquing mode. Consider switching to audiobooks if this happens. Never give up reading. It was your first love.
Take care of your health.
Drink enough water. Eat healthy foods. Exercise. Get a treadmill desk. Get a standing desk. Go on walks. Your body’s health helps your brain’s health, and your brain is where your books come from.
Don’t forget to spend time with your friends and family.
Your time with them is more precious than anything else on earth. Don’t forget that. Learn to balance writing time with family/friend time.
It’s okay to take a break from writing.
Give yourself grace when you need it. Sometimes the words aren’t flowing. Sometimes life gets in the way. It’s okay. Your writing will always be there waiting for you. It will never leave you.
Define success in terms that you can control.
How many books you sell and how much money you make are out of your control and subject to the whims of the market. Redefine success in ways that you can control. Maybe consider success to be when you’ve completed a book or a series. Or when you’ve completed a class. Or when you publish your book. Defining success in terms of sales and money is a sure-fire way to convince yourself that you’ve failed.
Defying Evil: A Dark Romantic Thriller
Abbie Roads
(Blood is Thicker Than…, #1)
Publication date: October 17th 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Thriller
He’s the son of a serial killer.
She’s his father’s only surviving victim.
He’s obsessed with her.
She’s frightened of him.
Before it’s all over they’ll need each other to survive.
Cain Killion’s life has revolved around blood. From a childhood of torture by his father, to his gruesome ability to solve crimes. When a current case is directly connected to his past, there’s only one person with answers.
But she isn’t talking, and the bodies are stacking up. The only solution… Kidnap her.
Defying Evil is the first book in the Blood is Thicker Than Series of dark romantic thrillers. It features a man tortured by his past who never thought he was capable of love. If you devour edge-of-your-seat thrillers and romance novels, you’ll love a series that combines both in a roller-coaster ride of mind games and tragic love.
Read this dangerously dark romance today!
Trigger warning: Depictions of violence.
Previously published under the title Saving Mercy.
Author Bio:
Abbie Roads is the best-selling author of the Fatal Dreams Series and the Fatal Truth Series. Her novels have been finalists in many prestigious contests including The Golden Heart, The Greater Detroit Booksellers Best, The Oklahoma National Readers’ Choice Award, The Write Touch, The Strut Your Stuff Contest, The Aspen Gold Contest, The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, The Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award, The Midnight Sun, The Kathryn Hayes Contest, The Chanticleer, The Daphne du Maurier, The National Readers’ Choice Award, The New England Readers’ Choice Contest, The Beverly Award, and The Maggie Award. Her debut novel Race the Darkness was Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall and Never Let Me Fall is an Amazon Editor’s Pick.
By day Abbie Roads is a mental health counselor always focusing on the bright side. By night she writes on the dark side, putting her characters through the wringer before she gives them their happily-ever-after. She loves a good inspirational quote and is a fan of true crime.
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