This is an excerpt from the forth-coming Third Edition of the
Indie Author Survival Guide (Crafting a Self-Publishing Career 1)
Second Edition is available now

The Guide should be read in tandem with
For Love or Money (Crafting a Self-Publishing Career 2)

Join my Facebook Group (For Love or Money) for monthly consult giveaways!

Taking the Road Less Traveled

This section is all about battling the fears that come along with doing something different. You would think that writers would naturally gravitate to the unique, celebrating diversity and independent thought. And to a large extent that is true; and yet, at the same time, we crave limits, definitions, other markers of approval that our wild musings are somehow worthwhile. Have value.

Sticking to the bounds of conventional thinking, taking a path well-worn by others before you… this brings a certain comfort. A security that your efforts will prove worthwhile. But that cozy comfort zone is not where you want to be if you want to excel as a writer. When you step out of that comfort zone—whether in your publishing path or in your stories—is when you have the chance to do something truly unique.

And that can be terrifying.

I posted this on FB, and it got quite the response…

(reproduced below, in case you can’t read it)

“So I’m trolling through some old files, looking for some notes about a story, and I stumble upon this note from my prior self:

When I’m successful (yay, positivity!) I’m not going to write a ‘how I sold a gazillion books in 4 months’ get-rich-quicker book. I’m going to write about fear; owning it, overcoming it, facing it. For creative people. From someone who didn’t pursue a creative life for a long time and then discovered that creativity can set you free.

Huh. Prior self had some decent ideas.”

This simple idea is truly the inspiration for this entire book.

And Taking the Road Less Traveled gets to the heart of it.

Fear is many-faceted, especially for creative types. The chapters in this section will help you understand your fears (and how you are far from alone in having them), and not so much fight them as learn how to use them to help you fulfill your potential as a creative worker.

Ch 3.1 Ten Things I Believe

Why start a section on Fear with Ten Things I Believe?

What you do proves what you believe.—inspirational TED talk by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek endorses a Why-How-What perspective of explaining who you are (as an author, company, movement). Most people start with What they do, then explain How they do it, and (maybe) get around to explaining Why. Simon says leading with Why allows you to connect with people in a profound way. As we’ll see later, fears are often based on losing that connection with others (ahhh, it all ties together).

So I’m leading with my Why’s first. Hopefully that will bring you along to the How and the What.

Ten Things I Believe

10) I believe that authors should take risks in their craft and their careers.
9) I believe in making your own luck.
8) I believe failure is what happens when you’re trying and success is what happens when you try again.
7) I believe every writer has the ability to improve and is a unique gift in the world.
6) I believe our successes inspire others and our failures prove we are human.
5) I believe the human mind is the most important resource on earth, and the human spirit is the most precious treasure we have to protect.
4) I believe technology is as good or evil as the hands that hold it.
3) I believe the forces of good are more powerful than the forces of evil.
2) I believe one passionate person can make difference in the world.
1) I believe writing is an act of courage that shows the world who you are.

I strive to make everything I do prove these things that I believe, including writing this book.

Okay, now we can dive into the How and What of battling those fears in the next chapter, Fear and the Creative Worker.

~*~

This is an excerpt from the forth-coming Third Edition of the
Indie Author Survival Guide (Crafting a Self-Publishing Career 1)
Second Edition is available now

The Guide should be read in tandem with
For Love or Money (Crafting a Self-Publishing Career 2)

Join my Facebook Group (For Love or Money) for monthly consult giveaways!