Tag Archives: author platform

Under Fire: Talking about Hot Takes

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bonfire in the dark on some rocks. mountain silhouettes in background

I’ve seen a lot of hot takes online recently and I thought maybe it would be fun to talk about some of them. I know most hot takes are just engagement or rage bait (like arguing that a romance doesn’t need a happily ever after–if you don’t want to write a happily ever after ending, your novel is a love story–see the movie that is actually called Love Story with Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal where she freaking dies at the end) but there are are some hot takes that are worth discussing. When we talk about writing, publishing, and marketing, there is no one way to do things, and we can get caught up in the drama of opinions equalling fact or causation equalling correlation which usually is never true because there’s always going to be an exception that proves the rule.

Let’s go over some of the ones I’ve seen recently, and I’ll give you my opinion.

Releasing quickly doesn’t always mean writing fast or using AI
I’m kind of surprised more people don’t realize this–that an author can write a book or five, get them all prepped, and not do anything with them until they want to publish them. I think a lot of this stems from the idea that authors don’t sit on books, only because their own impatience dictates that they publish the second their book is ready.

If you’re a slow writer and have been working on a book for the past three years or whatever, I can understand the excitement of releasing the second your book is put together (edited, formatted, and cover done and blurb written), but for some people, waiting until they have a launch strategy is normal. Also, some authors like to rapid release books in a series to drive read-through. And while we, okay, I mean I, think it’s a pipe dream, there are authors out there who do this for a living and have the time to write for eight hours a day. They aren’t scrolling Threads or Twitter–they’re getting their books written because their paychecks depend on it. If you’re going to accuse someone of using AI because they released six books this year, take a step back, check your jealousy, and admit there are plausible reasons for how that’s possible.

Prologues and epilogues are fine . . . if done correctly
Talking about prologues and epilogues is always going to irritate some people because it’s not only a matter of preference, it’s a matter of craft.

Of course there are going to be prologues written by new authors who think they need to use one to “set up” the story rather than sprinkle in the details readers need to know throughout. They haven’t written enough to understand how to do it, so they info dump all the “important” parts first thinking a reader needs to know all that before they start reading the “real” story.

I’ve only written two prologues in my life, and that was in books one and five of my fantasy series I’ll never publish. Did it work? I’d like to think so. The series is about a women who gets pulled back in time because she’s a Healer and a sorceress needed her power. Then I added another prologue to the end of the last book where her ex-boyfriend also gets pulled back, and then later finds her living it up engaged to a prince. I thought it was quite clever, actually (don’t tell me it’s not), but then I switched to contemporary romance where prologues aren’t used as much.

Romance authors like to use epilogues, and there those make sense. Readers love a glimpse at the happy couple years later, and a lot of romance authors write more than one epilogue and use them as bonus material for newsletter signups. Sometimes I label my epilogues epilogues and sometimes I just label them the last chapter and put “three years later” or whatever at the top. I don’t think it really matters. With the way my “newsletter” is a blog on my author website now, it doesn’t make too much sense to write bonus material unless I wanted to pay for email collection on Bookfunnel. I don’t care about it that much and by the time I get done writing a book, I’m really not in the mood to write ten different endings. It’s one of my greatest faults as a writer is to say “See ya!” practically before I type the last period.

Whether you love or hate prologues and epilogues, either writing them or reading them, that’s personal taste. If you write a prologue make sure it serves purpose beyond an info dump, like letting us into the head of a murderer in a thriller, or letting your reader take a peek into the foundation of a world like GRRM’s prologue in Game of Thrones when the book opens beyond the Wall and the men of the Night’s Watch encounter the White Walkers.

When it comes to prologues and epilogues, it’s essential to know where your story starts and where you want it to end. Make each word count.

Tropes don’t take the place of stakes
A while back there was a lot of heated discussion about those book graphics that have the cover of the book on it then the squiggly arrows that point out the micro-tropes. Like this:

black background. cover of Twisted Alibis by VM Rheault. man looking down, stage in background. arrow graphics pointing to hot, wounded rockstar, slow burn, betrayal and murder, rating (four stars) reconnecting with family and friends, depression rep
made with a template in Canva

People were saying that they love them because they give you a quick glance into what the book is about, others said they hated them because it’s just a long list of spoilers. I’ve been of the mind that spoilers don’t spoil a book. After all, a happily ever after in a romance is the biggest spoiler of all–it’s the couple’s journey to get to that point that matters. And that’s where stakes come in. There’s no hook, there’s no exciting plot, without stakes, motivation, and consequences. What will the couple lose choosing love? What will they gain? What will they lose if they go their separate ways? Is what they will gain be enough to make up for that loss?

It wasn’t that long ago that I read a romance blurb that was packed full of mini-tropes. Small town, second chance, fake dating. You name it, and it was in there. But what the blurb lacked was stakes. What did they lose if the fake dating scheme didn’t work out? What did that couple stand to lose if the MMC didn’t stay in the little town he left so long ago? What would she lose if he leaves? Her heart? The blurb sounded exciting until you dug just a little deeper and realized that blurb could have been the blurb of any small-town, second chance book out there. Nothing made it that author’s. Nothing in that blurb screamed, “I’m different! Read me!”

I think arrow graphics can definitely be used as a quick “at a glance” vibe for your book, especially if you add something that is unique to your characters. And I wouldn’t worry about spoilers. If a little spoiler can ruin your entire book, you better rethink that plot.

Not everything is Amazon’s fault
I’ve defended Amazon quite a few times in the past on this blog. I know they have their flaws, just like any other employer or company that you do business with, but a lot of what I see isn’t just Amazon, it’s authors refusing to take responsibility for their actions, like missing a preorder date and having their privileges taken away or not ordering stock in time and blaming Amazon for not getting their books to them during the busy holiday season. I actually saw someone on Threads complaining that it will take six weeks for their books to come, and that it happened to them last year. Like, if you know this is going to happen but don’t take the steps to avoid it, then all you’re doing is blaming someone else for your own mistake.

I know that Amazon isn’t perfect. They’ve shipped my books with a body lotion order and that could have had a poor outcome. I have also seen pictures of books coming damaged because they weren’t packed correctly. I’m not saying they’re entirely blameless, but instead of making Amazon the eternal bad guy, it would be nice to see some people just taking ownership of their actions like the adults they are.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
Indie authors have a lot of freedom, and that can be great. We can re-edit a book and upload new files or change our covers whenever we want. We can run ads or not, use social media to promote our books or not. We can take five years to put out a book or we can publish twelve novellas in a year. We have 100% say in how we run our businesses.

But we should use that freedom wisely because I see a lot of hot-take behavior from indie authors that makes me squirm. I see authors canceling preorders, airing their dirty laundry on social media, making fun of readers for their reviews, making fun of other authors for what they like to write. The list is endless.

We are in an era where nothing online seems real. There is so much AI and so many scammers out there that it’s difficult to parse through for real and true information. I read a Substack article by Claire Taylor and she was saying that one of the most important things readers will be looking for going forward is trustworthiness and integrity from the authors they choose to read. I think this is a valid point and really important. Do what you tell your readers you are going to do. Have follow-through. And be kind while you’re doing it.

Your peers and coworkers need to know they can trust you too. Don’t say you’ll send out author copies for an event if you don’t think you can. Don’t sign up for book conventions and then back out. Don’t say you’ll help a fellow indie and then change your mind. I know life happens, and so does everyone else, but at some point you have to look at yourself and ask if you’re dependable. If not, you need to figure out why and what’s going on in your life that you need to change.

I think Claire is on the right track when she says that trustworthiness, integrity, and dependability is going to be your number one marketing strategy next year. How are you going to show up to your readers? As 2025 draws to a close, it might be a great time to think about that.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And what kind of person will you look like if you do?

Hot takes are hot for a reason: they spark debate and can hurt feelings. They can ruffle feathers, not only for their basis of truth (or not), but because they force us to question ourselves and our beliefs. And what do we think of the people who have a different opinion than we do? I like listening to hot takes. Some of them are valid, some are pure BS, and some challenge what I think.

In the end we all make our own choices–write a prologue or not, save up your books before publishing or not, follow through with that promise or not–but remember, hot takes were made to get attention, so keep your cool . . . at least where people can see.

As part of my “favorite things” segment I’ve been including until Christmas, I want to highlight the Authors Guild YouTube channel. They have great content like where to find your readers, querying tips, and how AI is changing the publishing industry. You don’t have to be a member of the Authors Guild to watch these videos.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to learn about the publishing industry, this is a great channel to subscribe to. There are some videos geared more toward traditional publishing, but as an indie, I think it’s important to keep up to date on what’s happening in publishing as a whole.

Look here for a list of their videos and you can subscribe to their channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AuthorsGuild

screenshot of the Authors Guild youtube channel header. AG in green circle Authors Guild @AuthorsGuild • 2.77K subscribers • 199 videos More about this channel ...more Subscribed The oldest and largest community of writers resouces guidance support


That’s all I have for this week! Thanks for checking in and I’ll see you next Monday!

Splitting Your Author Life in Two: Readers vs. Writers

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white background. black piece of torn paper. text says in black and white, splitting your author platform.

One of the biggest mistakes authors can make is trying to talk to everyone from the same place. Back when I first started publishing and writing my blog, I did this, and it actually took me years to figure out that not all readers are created equal. If you don’t know what I mean, let me explain.

It may not feel like it, but once you publish, your author life is suddenly split in two. You have your author pals who support you, maybe read your books (and that’s a big maybe), promote you on their socials that may or may not have readers in the audience, and after a while can even turn into accountability partners, alpha and beta readers, and friends. Then you have your readers, your actual readers who, if they are on social media at all, aren’t part of the . They use socials for other things like connecting with family and reading articles about gardening, cooking, movies, and politics. Maybe they like their favorite authors’ Facebook author pages because that’s where they hear about new releases, giveaways, book boxes, and in-person events.

I came this realization a while back, and when I started my pen name, decided I needed to have a hub just for readers. To be honest, I didn’t want readers reading my nonfiction stuff anyway. I use this blog as a way to help others in their publishing journeys, let other indies know what worked for me in terms of marketing (promos and ads), and just talk about what crazy BS is going on in the publishing industry. That information isn’t for readers, and it shouldn’t be. They don’t need to know how many books I’ve sold, what Amazon pays in terms of KENP, or that I make my covers in Canva and format my own books.

But, I understand this decision isn’t for everyone. I pay for two websites, and some authors don’t even like paying for one. I enjoy blogging for other indies and connecting to the industry makes me feel “professional” so I eat the cost of the WordPress plan and domain name. But, if that’s not for you, don’t feel bad. Not every indie author wants to share their journey, stay up-to-date on what’s going on in the publishing world (both trad and indie) to have something of substance to write about, or pass on what they’ve learned because writing tutorials can take a lot of time. There are weeks when I’m at a loss as to what to say too, and I either just default to an author update or scroll Threads looking for dirt a topic. I feel fortunate when I can share a podcast I enjoyed and/or learned from or I’m able to find a subject like this one that might resonate with someone and help them move in a better direction. You don’t have to lock yourself into writing every week like I have, but if the views and visits are what get you out of bed, consistency will always make that happen faster. I owe a lot of my SEO to my tutorials, particularly my Canva post on how to make a paperback cover. I’ve tried to keep this blog relevant and helpful, but if you already have limited time to write, nurturing a blog that won’t sell books won’t sound appealing.

That said, if you really want to make a go of this publishing stuff, you should have an author website, a place to point readers in the backs of your books. This is where you’ll have your backlist of books and where readers can find them, a newsletter signup, your reader magnet, trigger warnings, direct sales, and any in-person events. If you check out other author websites, you’ll find that they don’t blog about process or complain about Amazon payouts or how they package author copies for shipping. Author websites cater to readers and what they want, not other authors who like to hear about behind the scenes news.

The problem with only writing to only readers is that if you don’t have a lot going on, there’s not a lot to say and that can make you feel disconnected. I write my newsletter on my author blog once a month, and I usually have something to share. A sale, a new release. Maybe highlighting an older book in my backlist that hasn’t gotten a lot of love. Creating content can be challenging if you’re a one-book-a-year author, and it might be tempting to write about what you’re working on, but unfortunately, readers don’t care until you can give them something to buy and read. When that happens, when you aren’t constantly updating, it may feel like people are forgetting about you, but you know, as I’ve said in the past, they will. You can be afraid of something that will happen, but there’s no point to that. There is so much content out there it’s inevitable, but it’s better to jog their memory after a few months of silence than waste their time blogging about something that doesn’t concern them.

If that describes you, if you feel like if you’re not reaching out then you’re invisible, then yeah, you might want to blog for indies who are interested in your process, would like to know how well your promos did, and/or how you make your covers. It gives you a reason to communicate and not feel so alone, and you’re writing to the people who actually care what you’re working on. Sales won’t come of it, which is why in the end I moved my books off this website and put them on my author website, but the more you segment your efforts, the more effective each one becomes and you won’t feel like you’re shouting at people who aren’t listening. Reaching out doesn’t even require a blog. You can create an indie Facebook group or Discord channel. A place where other writers and authors can get together but where you also know the score: your peers won’t buy your books. You can let go of that expectation and just be happy you’re in a group of people who are going through what you are and know how it feels to have zero sales on your dashboard.

So you might ask how is my author platform split in two?

Here’s what I do, and I made a graphic in Canva so you can save it or print it out if you want a quick reference.

png image: SPLITTING YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM* Nonfiction/Authors/Writers Fiction/Readers Website: Blog Indie news, writing process and progress, marketing tips and progress, tutorials Website: Blog/Newsletter New releases, cover reveals, sales, promos (mine and events like Stuff Your Ereader Day), ARC opportunities Facebook Personal Profile Author groups like Vellum, Optimizing Amazon Ads, Romance Support League, Grow Your Publishing/TikTok Instagram I don't post nonfiction content on my Instagram account. Threads I use Threads to stay up to date on industry news. I follow people like Jane Friedman and Kathleen Schmidt. Sometimes I'll post a blog like my Canva tutorial if I think it will be helpful Facebook Author Page Cover reveals, sales, promos like Stuff Your Kindle Day, book memes, snippet graphics. sharing what I'm reading, holiday mentions; running Meta ads Instagram Mostly graphics with snippets. Cover reveals. Some reels but haven't bothered to repurpose what I've used on TikTok in the past Threads I don't promote my work there. I know from others complaining about how useless it is not to bother. *The point is, wherever you choose to spend your time, decide if you want to attract readers or authors. They are not the same.

There are a lot of places to hang out that I haven’t listed. I just can’t be everywhere and don’t want to be. Lemon8 is popular, so is Pinterest, and let’s not mention TikTok because I really don’t want to use my time making videos, but the fact is, if you’re a slow writer and you want to talk to only readers, you’re not going to have a lot to say. You can share book memes and pet photos, where you went to dinner on your anniversary, but you’re going to lose readers to other authors who publish faster. The industry in some ways is very slow, such as trends are very very slow to change, but when they do, it feels like it happened over night. Trad authors can seem like they get away with a book a year, but behind the scenes, they’re worried about getting a new book deal, if their publisher will pay for marketing, how their launch is going to go since they haven’t had a new book out in however long. Indies face the same trouble, trying to find traction while others are zooming ahead because they have more time/motivation/whatever than they do.

Figuring out where and what to post is a mental health issue, it really is. I’ve gone through my own struggles, beating myself up for not wanting to post on my Facebook author page, not making videos for TikTok when everyone says that’s where you belong if you’re an author. I boosted a post on my Instagram account and got a few new followers, but they aren’t going to do me any good if I don’t post. And you know, I’m pretty prolific, so it’s not that I don’t have content, it’s just that I don’t care. I let Amazon ads, promo newsletters like BargainBooksy, FreeBooksy, and Fussy Librarian, and author-driven book blasts like Zoe York’s ZoeBub pickup most of my sales weight, which I can do because my series and trilogies have solid read-through. Maybe I have to pay for it, but I’m reaching readers, not shouting at other authors then getting mad when my books aren’t selling.

Splitting up your author platform can take a lot of the stress off your shoulders. You know who you’re talking to and what they want to hear. Shouting to everyone will never work and you’ll only get frustrated. It’s difficult to break out of the bubble, but the longer you do it the more natural it will feel and the feedback will become more positive because you’re staying in your chosen lane and once you draw the lines, you’ll actually have more time to write because that urgency to post and reach anyone you can will be gone.

Again, I know this advice isn’t for everyone, but if even reading this makes you step back and look at how you’re posting on social media, you may make some small changes that could turn into big results. Let me know what you think!

I better get off here and finish proofing my proof of Loss and Damages. I’m almost done then I can put the changes in and order another proof. I’m really excited to jump into more hockey research. I’ve put that aside to get Loss and Damages ready for ARCs next month, but I’m eager to start again. Take care everyone, and have a great week ahead!

Author Update and Personal Organization

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Time to read: 5 minutes

My Christmas WIP is coming along. I’m 45k into it, and I’m actually kind of surprised I’m as far as I am. It could be it’s because in some way, this plot has been rolling around in my brain for years, or it could be I’m having a lot of fun writing the two. I don’t know, but I started writing Sawyer and Evianna on July 6th with a deadline of August 31st. I’ll be done before then, and I’ll have a few extra days to let it breathe. Last night I went back to the beginning, read from the first page, and made notes of all the breadcrumbs. This isn’t my first twisty book, and I’m getting better at writing them, but it’s helpful for me to keep track so I know what scenes I need going forward.

My proofer is plodding along with my rockstar trilogy, but I just bought my own set of proofs today. Unfortunately, giving up any kind of control just isn’t going to be in the cards for me, so I’ll proof them too, and together I hope we can spot all the typos. Listening to them is the best way to fix missing words, syntax issues, and misspellings (the voice sounds funny if you misspell a word) but it doesn’t catch everything. I always find stuff to fix when my books look like books, So that will be my main priority once they come in the mail.

I’ve been thinking of ways to set a schedule for some social media posts, and I would like to get into TikTok. Not even just because I think it’s a sure-fire way to sell books (like the Kindle Gold Rush, I think the TikTok Gold Rush has passed for everyone but a lucky few) but because creating content is fun, can be used multiple ways, and does eventually find readers. It wasn’t so much what to create (though pulling quotes and writing copy is an arduous task), but focusing on which books. I posted my question in a group on FB and one mistook my scheduling as a want to get an edge over the TikTok algorithms, which is not my intent, and impossible to do anyway. No, when I say schedule, what I basically mean is organization for my own mind (her question prompted the word ‘organization’ which was the correct word I was looking for). I have a duet, two standalones, a trilogy, a forthcoming trilogy, and soon, a holiday novel. I don’t want to create videos and post all crazy, but focus on one book for a week or so, then focus on a different book, etc. I know you can’t push a book for too long or readers will get tired of the same old same old. When you only have one book out, that gets dicey. You run the risk of people saying, “That book again? Doesn’t she have something new coming out?” So I was thinking a month at a time, but that’s too long. Especially if you’re posting multiple times every day. Maybe even go down to a week for each book before starting the cycle over again. Someone in the group did say not to be scared of recycling content–if a video gets few views, post it again. And that’s great advice–especially if you post at different times of the day.

One of the biggest reasons that gave me pause isn’t the idea of showing my face, but something a little sillier: The kind of music to attach to the videos. I’m not on TikTok yet, but I’m under the assumption there are a lot of different artists and songs to choose from. I did a reel on Instagram, and IG gives you a lot of choices too. I’m not a music connoisseur at all. I have certain songs I like and play them over and over again. I don’t listen to Taylor Swift and she seems to be a top choice. Like a book you want to sell, you have to look at the title, the cover, the blurb. I guess for a video to hit, you have to look at the content (the actual video) the tagline/ad copy, and then the song/music you choose. I’m getting better at ad copy, writing one sentence hooks, etc, and a lot of the reels and TikToks I’ve seen aren’t made with complicated videos. The packaging, I guess you can call it, will be important, and eventually the kinds of videos I create will build a brand.

Some people say to jump right in, don’t overthink it. I’ve never overthought anything a day in my life. I’m lazy and overthinking is too much work. But I’m a planster, and with any project, I would like to have an idea of what I’m doing before I start. I grew up around lakes, and I never jumped in feet first. I hate the mud at the bottom.

That’s about all I have for today. Summer is two-thirds over, and I hope you’re getting to relax, get some things done, and enjoy the weather. My sister and I are going to see Oppenheimer on Tuesday, so that will be fun, and in August, my daughter wants to see Barbie. Later in August, I’ll be busy launching my trilogy, and when I start up my TikTok account, I’ll blog about it. Now that I’m not on Twitter anymore, I have a little bit of time to spend on that platform.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Happy New Year! Author Update and Buyer’s Remorse

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Happy New Year! I hope all of you can look back at 2022 with few regrets. I’m sure there are things we all wish we would have done differently, but we can either let that hold us back or use it for inspiration for the coming year. We have 365 new days at our disposal–let’s make them count.

I started off the new year publishing my trilogy paperback to Amazon. I did them a little ahead of time only because KDP’s approval system is so arbitrary and I had no idea how long it would take for them to approve my paperbacks. It took them less than 12 hours, so the publication dates for them are officially December 28th, 2022, but that’s okay. Better early than late. I’m sticking to the ebook publication dates of January 16th, 23rd, and 30th. I usually don’t put my books on preorder, only because I don’t have an audience waiting for them, and since they’re going into KU, they won’t be available for a while yet, but this time I did and everything is ready to go. I published the paperbacks so they would be available on Booksprout for reviews, and I’m happy to say that in the first three hours half of all three were claimed. With the new plan I can post three books at a time for reviews, and I put up all three of them. I wanted honest reviews for the whole trilogy, so hopefully when/if they get to book three, their last review will reflect they liked the trilogy as a whole, as well as enjoying each individual book.

In preparation for some promos I plan to buy when my trilogy is officially released, I re-edited my duet. I was looking for snippets for Instagram and found a couple of typos here and there. Maybe not many but annoying ones like DYI for Do It Yourself instead of DIY, so I reread both of them and made a few changes. They aren’t that old and I had the time to do it, so it is what it is. But I also decided that if I was going to do the insides, I was going to redo outsides. I have a problem with choosing male models, and I have terrible buyer’s remorse when it comes to that kind of thing. One of the great things about being indie is that we can change things that don’t work, but that’s also one of the terrible things. We’re constantly plagued by the idea that what we’re putting out there isn’t as good as it can be. Anyway, I my covers went from this:

to this:

Not a significant change, especially the first one since it’s the same guy, only a crisper photo with a better pose and coloring. I decided I didn’t like the second guy at all and went for a model that’s been used before, but I like the dangerous glint in his eyes and the undone tie speaks to his partying nature in the book. I’m hoping that this change will help with sales. It was a pain the ass to change the ebook, paperback, and hardcovers on KDP as well as update them on IngramSpark. Ingram is giving me a hard time with spine width again, but I think I have it figured out now, and with the fee I paid to join the Alliance of Independent Authors and discounts that go with it, my revision costs were nothing. It took me the better part of a day, and I hope all that work pans out.

Whenever I put together a cover and publish it, I always think I can do better. I think the only cover so far where I haven’t thought that was for Rescue Me. I still love it and I’ve never been able to see anything wrong with it. The guy is perfect, the fonts are perfect. Of course, this means I’m having doubts about the trilogy, even though they haven’t been published for even day. I went around and around and around with those stupid things. It would be easy to say to just hire out–Getcovers makes it incredibly affordable–but I think I would have the same problem. In fact, I might even be worse and never be happy with what they come up with.

The good news is I can stop messing around with my duet. The insides are as perfect as they are ever going to be, and the covers are fine now. I don’t know what I would do with my trilogy covers even if I did want to change them. I searched for hours for the background and the models I finally chose, and the covers went through several drafts. As I’ve said before, my characters are older–Jack is 45 and Roman is 50, and finding models to portray that realistically is difficult. I can always start cutting their heads off, but I’m not that desperate yet.

For now, as the trilogy releases, I’m going to focus on finishing up Twisted Lies and Alibis. The holidays have kind of slowed me down, and now that New Year’s is over, I don’t have anything standing in my way. When I started it, I said I would like to be done with it by the end of January, but I’d really like to get it done within the next two weeks. I’m 67k into it now, and I have no idea how much longer it needs. There is still a lot that needs to go into it, and I want to take my time with the ending and nail it just right.

Luckily, when indies have buyer’s remorse, we can act on it, but obsessing about something and wondering if it can be better can drag you down and hold you back. We always want to do better, and it’s tough when we think changes could somehow elevate sales. I loved my covers until I published, and now I’m not sure. That’s probably common. I can’t say I didn’t follow my heart with my duet, because I did. The covers I published at first weren’t a last resort scenario at all. I was thinking about my brand overall, how they would fit in with other covers, all of it. I haven’t been publishing for 7 years for nothing. I was determined to use all the lessons I’ve learned and start my pen name on the best foot I could. But I guess it doesn’t matter if you’ve been publishing for 7 years or 70, you’ll make judgments in error. You can hang in there and see how things turn out, panic at the first feeling something isn’t right and change immediately, or know that you might need to adjust and take your time with that adjustment so you don’t have to do it again. What’s funny is I love my covers for all my 3rd person books (though all of them are on their second covers except for my Rocky Point Wedding series). I wouldn’t change any of them. I was thinking an illustrated cover for Wherever He Goes would be a good fit since they’re popular now, but ultimately I decided to keep what I have. No, I think I’m putting pressure on myself because I really want this pen name to work out. I know one thing–if I’m going to change my covers, I’ll do it before I publish the hardcovers, and before I publish to IngramSpark, and before I push any promo dollars at them.

Anyway, so that’s all I have for this first blog post of 2023. I hope you all have a wonderful start to this new year!

“Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.” — Douglas Pagels