Doing things differently

In my last post I blogged about how I wasn’t going to sweat not having thousands upon thousands of readers or making lots of money from my writing. I briefly touched upon why I was no longer in that place. Let me delve a wee bit deeper with you.

Here’s what I did:

Stopped comparing myself to other authors. My daddy told me a long time ago that God only made one me.
Sat down and wrote out quarterly goals. This was a little tricky because initially I had lofty goals for the first quarter that I didn’t meet. For the second quarter, I did a little better. Now that I’m in the third quarter, I’ve learned to break down the goals into tasks I could get done each month. I’m still learning and growing in this area.
Leave all those promo FB groups for romance authors. If I wasn’t in them, I wouldn’t be tempted to promote my books in them.
Recruited an amazing group of supportive women who are my street team.
After I released my last book I simply chilled and enjoyed the feeling of accomplishing releasing another book.
I’m taking my time to write my stories. Realizing and accepting my limitations. I can’t work a fulltime job, spend time with family and friends, and write four books a year. Well, I could and I have. But it was too much stress, left me feeling drained and feeling like I was neglecting my family. It wasn’t a good feeling.
Keeping a better track of how much money I’m spending. And investing in building my brand – like having new logos designed and overhauling my website from scratch. **Side note – if you need a website check out Sean Young with Young Creations. She’s also a romance author. You can find her on FB, Twitter & IG.
Organically build readership through my newsletter, social media accounts and website. My ultimate desire is for my website to be my mecca and not depend on social media for engagement with readers. I’ve heard stories of authors having their social media accounts suspended and losing all their followers. Yikes!
Here’s where I saved the best for last. (Vanessa Williams’ song just popped into my head!) An enhanced appreciation and gratitude for EVERYONE who’s ever read my work. Or told someone else about my books. I love y’all so much. There have been many times when I was on the edge of giving up and I’ll get an email, DM or comment on a social media post from a reader telling me how much they’ve enjoyed books. Trust me when I tell you, there’s no monetary value to that kind of encouragement.