#passion2profession

As much as we’d all like to carry the “New Year New Market” enthusiasm past January 1, the fact is the publishing market was the same on January 2nd as it was on December 31st. And we all know that means it’s anything but inspiring.

Because of that, there is a lot of talk about “how to earn,” and a lot of authors offering courses and coaching and mentoring. While I encourage you to keep…

Ok, it’s time to take stock, tally it up, figure out what went right and wrong. Welcome to the Passion2Profession Top 5 edition for 2017!

Top 5 resources I loved:

Writing App:Ulysses. If you know me at all, you know I’m a Mac girl all the way, so forgive me for the Mac-centric advice (sorrynotsorry). One thing I’ve learned about the way my brain works in the last few years is this: I don’t do…

#Passion2Profession: Fear…So Much Fear.

If I were to pick a word for this week, it would be “Fear.” There is fear in the world-at-large with bad men and big weapons everywhere from country music concerts to Asian dictatorships, there is fear in the world of publishing with sales seeming to dip and dip and dip, until we have to ask the question: if we write it and no one reads it is it still a book? And there is fear in me because I’m…

#Passion2Profession: Be Kind to Your Writers

A few days ago Abbi Glines announced she was going to publish a three book series exclusively on iBooks. This apparently did not go over well with her readers. And I get that. I understand it can be frustrating to think there might be something out there you really want and aren’t “allowed” to have. I understand superfans often invest significant time and emotional energy into reading our books,…

#Passion2Profession: Editing, Writing, and Story

When I started this series I swore to myself I wasn’t going to talk about editing, because seriously how many forums, groups, and loops are you on where people ask for recommendations for editors? It’s the oldest, most repeated question in Indie land. So, I’m going to stick to at least part of my pledge, and I’m not going to talk about editors. Instead, I’m going to use a recent blog by Hugh…

#Passion2Profession: New Releases and Stocking Your Store

I had a release recently. One of many this year. And that could be a nightmare…if I still gave a damn. But here’s the thing: the majority of the time, for Midlist authors, releases will be underwhelming. There was a time–before KU–when a release was worth all the watching and hoping. You’d wake up early, check the ranking every hour, watch it rise slowly, then after dinner see it soar, and often…

#Passion2Profession: Social Media or Soul Sucking Waste of Time

  I’m writing a post this week, but not expecting anyone to read it because the world has gone mad, and honestly, what’s a blog about how to do your job a little better in the midst of that?

But, in light of everything that’s going on, the topic today was pretty much a given: Social Media. Let me start by saying I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t post. That’s been done.…

Out my back door, where the hiking is amazing.

This week I finished book #8 of 10 for 2017. And it seemed like a really good point to talk openly and honestly about health–physical and mental–how it fits into doing this Indie writing gig as a profession, and what it means to work your ass off, but still take care of yourself.

Let me start by saying that when I embarked on my “10 books in 12…