Yes! You should definitely all be screaming with excitement right now!! I have on my blog today, a fantastic new author that just debuted her first contemporary novel. Choose Us is the sweetest love story and so fun to read! You need to pick it up now, if you haven't already.
Caylie is going to talk a little bit about her journey into publishing her first novel and how she succeeded in a great release-day and release weekend. If you are an aspiring author, listen up! This girl has great advice.
So... without further ado... Here is Caylie!
I’m a published
author.
Yes….I’m still
freaking out about it.
First, I’d like
to thank Rachel for letting me ramble on her blog today.
Second, I’d
like to thank whoever recommended Reckless Magic on a forum on mothering.com.
If it weren’t for you, random person, I would never have found Rachel’s books. I
would never have joined Rachel’s street team. And I would never have been able
to join the Rebel Writers. Thus, I would never have finished my book or
published it.
I pretty much
owe it all to you, random person.
Today I’m going
to talk about how joining a writing group led me to become a published author.
Then I’ll let you know what I did to make my release weekend unbelievably
unexpected.
Okay?
Okay. Let’s
begin.
In
the summer of 2013, my mind was suddenly flooded with book ideas. I sat down
and typed out ‘Chapter One’ of three different books and sent them off to one
of my closest friends (and reading buddy). She liked them all and told me I needed
to write them. She figured the bmx/dating show novel would probably be the
easiest to write, so that’s what I started with….
But
I never wrote any more.
June
turned into July tuned into August turned to September turned to October.
I
never wrote a thing.
Finally in
October, I was checking out the comments on a post in Rachel’s street team and
someone mentioned starting a writing group for new writers.
My first
thought was, “Psht. I don’t need to be part of a group.”
Honestly, I
just thought a group would be a battle of who has the best book.
But then I
realized I hadn’t written a word in three and a half months.
Three in a half months!!
And I realized…
maybe I did need help. Maybe a writing group was the push I needed. Maybe
talking with new aspiring authors would get the ball rolling.
So I asked to
join.
At first it was
quiet. A few introduction posts. A few posts about goals. A few posts on how
far we were into our novels.
That was when
it hit me. When some of the girls were saying they had 10K words written… or
even 30K. And I had a measly 1,500 words written.
I mentioned my
word count to them.
And you know
what?
They were full
of support. They mentioned writing just 100 words that day, just to get
something down.
So I did. I
wrote 100 words. Then 100 more…and 100 more. By the end of the hour I spent
writing, I had 500 words written.
And I told
them.
And they were
my own personal cheering squad.
The days went
on, my word count went up.
Then one day
one of the ladies posted a chapter of their book.
Holy hell, they had balls.
I could never
post a chapter of my book! Never!
And then I read that chapter from her.
Um… no. This is WAY too good. No way am I
posting mine!
Then another lady
posted a chapter from her book.
What the heck?! Another great chapter! These
girls are too good. No one will like my book if I post a chapter. I’m sure of
it.
(See my crazy
insecurities?!)
Four days… that
is how long I knew these ladies when I finally posted Chapter One for the group
to read.
Want to know
their response?
“Very good!”
“I really liked it! I enjoy friends to lovers stories (which is where I'm
assuming this is going).”
“I liked it. Not
normally something I would pick up, but I did like their relationship.”
“Perfect start! I
got a really great feeling of the characters (you're dialogue is spot on!). I
also really like the friends to romance angle (as this is hopefully heading
for!). Can't wait to see what's next!”
“Looked good! Intrigued
to see where it goes and to learn more about who Riley is.”
Um. Wait.
What?!
These ladies
liked my story?
And not only
that… but they also gave me great feedback on what was working and what wasn’t.
So I posted
another chapter. Then a few more.
Each time,
getting more amazing feedback. They
asked questions, brought up issues with the storyline, mentioned I needed more
description, because they had no clue what Riley looked like – and they were
already reading Chapter 10!
At the end of
November, I got stuck. I just couldn’t figure out what to
write.
Major
writers block.
If
I hadn’t been in this group, I would have given up. I would have just walked
away from it and probably never came back. But I mentioned my issue to the
ladies. And they pushed me. They said I could do it. They told me to write 100
words… even if it was crap… even if it would get deleted. Just write something
down.
So
I did. I wrote 100 words here, 100 words there.
But
they were all just…blah.
And
I was losing my motivation to finish this story.
One
day Stormy posted that she had finished her first draft.
Then
Regan finished. And Theresa. And Deanna.
Well…I’m a huge slacker!
But that was the push I needed. I wanted to finish my novel too! No…I needed to finish my novel. Travis and
Riley’s story needed to be told.
So I wrote. And
I set a goal for myself.
I would finish
the rough draft by the end of January.
And I posted it
to our group, so I could be held accountable.
Know what?
A week before
my deadline… I FINISHED MY ROUGH DRAFT!
I did a rough
edit, then sent it out to my beta readers and to the group to read.
Guess what.
They gave me
amazing feedback, advice and constructive criticism… and yes, that lead me to
re-write my entire first chapter so it would appeal to a wider range of
readers.
And now?
I never
imagined I would become a published author one day, but thanks to the ladies of
the Rebel Writers, my dream turned into a reality.
These ladies
started as a group of my peers. But they have become such great friends.
Seriously.
We’re to the point now where we just talk about anything and everything.
So what did I
do to become a published author and have a pretty successful release weekend?
Join
a writing group! It will help you in so many ways you’ve never even thought of.
Find some beta readers.
I was lucky
enough to find some on Rachel’s street team, and they were amazing. Seriously, I had a good book before they read it, but they
made it great.
Hire an editor (or a friend who freaking
rocks at line editing).
I know not
everyone has tons of money to spend on something that you don’t know will be
successful. I was in the same boat. We have no extra cash, hiring a good editor
was out of the question. My beta readers (and the Rebel Writers) were helpful
in catching major typos and errors. And I was lucky enough to have another
Rebel Writer offer to line edit for me for free…and she did a fantastic job.
The same goes for cover design.
I have a
graphic design degree. So I had an exact idea of what I wanted my cover to look
like. But I also knew, I couldn’t pull it off. So I contacted a friend I
graduated with and asked if she would be willing to help me out. She was and
did – and made my cover exactly how I wanted it to look. And believe me; people do judge books by the cover.
Connect
with other authors.
Yes, you will have a writing group full
of authors who will help you pimp out your book. But connecting with other
authors (especially in your same genre) will help word spread even more.
Now… let’s be
honest here… I’m an introvert. The idea of going outside my box freaks.me.out.
The idea of talking to a published author who has no idea who I am is the
craziest thing ever. But… she writes the same genre I do… so I sucked it up. I
messaged her. Asked her if she wouldn’t mind putting an excerpt in the back of
my book. And guess what? She agreed! And not only that… but she started talking
about my book. And she read my book. And she reviewed my book… posting these
things on her Facebook page. Telling her
fans about my book.
Wha?!
You better
believe that helped boost sales and Facebook likes.
Sign up for a blog tour.
I’ve signed up
for one – but it doesn’t start until April 14th. However, the lady
who runs the tour also has a book blog and a Facebook page with over 4,000
followers. So, not only do I have 30+ bloggers reading/reviewing my book for
the tour, but I also have my book being posted on a FB page with 4K followers.
Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort
zone.
That’s my
story. I’m done now.
I know, you’re
probably thanking your lucky stars I’m not going to ramble on anymore.
If you’re
looking for a fun, light-hearted, quick read, I wouldn’t mind if you picked up a
copy of Choose
Us. ;)
And check out
our Rebel Writers website. It’s
still a work in progress, we currently have introductions up, but we’ll have
blog posts filled with advice on writing, our latest favorites, and so much
more.
If you have any
questions for me, feel free to comment below.
So proud of you Cales! You did everything perfectly! Take note aspiring authors!!
ReplyDeleteOh. And I should also add - having a friend who listens to self-pubbing podcasts and sends you self-pubbing links and is a super awesome marketer, helps a ton too!!!! <3
DeleteThanks for the advice! I feel like I'm you before you joined the writers groups, so here's my question. How do you find a good writers group that isn't already full?
ReplyDeleteHi Naomi! Thanks for your question.
DeleteOur group formed from one member asking an author (Rachel) if they could post about creating a writing group. You could go to a FB group focused on reading or writing, or an author you follow and ask there.
Or you could create/find a group on Goodreads. There are also a place on the NaNo forums where you can either post for a new group or join an existing one (http://nanowrimo.org/forums/writing-groups-and-clubs).
Things to keep in mind with writing groups though. You should really try to keep the group small. We have 13 people in ours. Not everyone is very active, there are about 8 of us who are active daily on the group. But a small group let's you focus more on each person. Let's you get tighter as a group because you don't have so many people to get to know.
Another thing - there is some luck involved in finding a group of people you mesh with. It may not always happen on the first try, but there is NOTHING wrong with continuing to look until you find the perfect group.
I hope this answered your question.
Thanks, Caylie! P.S. Loved Choose Us. Congratulations; great job!
Delete