What I've learned from being published

So what words of wisdom have I learned from the process of becoming a published author?

1.     Don’t do things you don’t enjoy. You’ll read endless articles saying you need blogs, a Twitter presence, a Facebook author page. Google + etc etc. If you enjoy this, fair enough, but I've realised that not all of it is for me. I enjoy reading other people’s blogs, sharing writing tips etc, but social media is the thief of time. Just be aware that all these activities will take you away from your writing. It's best to find one or two social media activities you enjoy, and use these to genuinely engage with people than to spread yourself too thinly.

2.     Don’t let anyone dictate to you what you should be doing. If you don't want a launch party/to speak on the radio/to have your photo in the paper, then don't do it!

3.     Don’t obsess about your sales figures. I was miserable for half of November because I thought I’d sold no books, only to find that the publisher hadn’t updated the website. But why obsess anyway? Let’s face it, very few of us will ever make a living out of this, so if it sells a few every month, surely that’s good enough?

4.     Develop a thick skin.  I’ve been lucky enough to receive good reviews so far, but as my book reaches a wider audience, those one star reviews on Amazon will be inevitable. Of course one novel won’t appeal to everyone. Accept it.

5.     Remember to write for fun. Once writing becomes about marketability, it loses something.

6.     Live a balanced life and do other things that make you happy! After all, surely that’s the point of it all!

And that’s my New Year Resolution for 2015, to rediscover the joy in this process! Maybe I'll never be JK Rowling, but I'm a writer, not a publicist, and I'd rather spend the majority of my time writing than promoting myself.