No Author is an Island

Writing is a solitary job. Eventually, you work with agents and editors to polish your book up, but the bulk of writing is done alone.

As it is with most professions, the average person has no idea what goes into creating a book, or why it takes so long to do it. I recently had someone ask, “If you are such a good writer, how come it took you 5 years to write a book?” That’s why it’s important to find other authors to connect with.

My first connections made in the writing world were with other writers in the TouchPoint Press family. I sought many of them out with questions, and they were always gracious to help. One that stands out is Kathryn Brown Ramsperger. I wrote her with a question, and she set up a phone call with me so she could answer in great detail. My relationship with Kathy has continued and she’s been so supportive by reading my book and interviewing me for her Story Hour program on Facebook.

There are so many other authors with TouchPoint that have helped and are still helping me day to day. I can’t list them all, but Caroline Barney and Amanda Umfress were on my launch team and several other authors including Scott Rutherford, R.J. Passer, Tabatha Waybright, and Sean Paul Murphy have read (or are reading) my book on their own accord and have shared about it with their readers. I’m sure I’m leaving someone out, so please forgive me.

I’ve shared before that I had a really hard time finding other books I felt were similar to Enemies of Doves. That changed when I read The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. After working up my courage, I decided to send Allen an email asking for marketing advice. After all, his book had been published by a small press and became a USA today bestseller with a movie in the works. I wasn’t even sure that he would respond, but he did and in great detail with insightful and helpful advice. I really wanted to ask him if he would read my book and do a blurb for it, but I chickened out. Maybe next time.

After my book was released, I saw a book come out that Allen Eskens did do the blurb for, All We Buried by Elena Taylor. I thought if Allen Eskens blurbed her book, maybe it was similar to mine as well. I bought it (fabulous read) and sought her out for advice. She not only shared so much knowledge about marketing and social media, she also interviewed me for her blog. Elena also works as a developmental editor (Allegory Editing) and has offered free writing classes throughout the pandemic. I can’t begin to tell you the knowledge I’ve gleaned from these sessions each Wednesday.

Another author jackpot I hit was by contacting award-winning author of southern fiction, Claire Fullerton. We had an hour-long phone conversation where she gave me so much information, I filled up 10 pages in my notebook. She also told me three other authors to contact: Michelle Cox, Johnnie Bernhard, and Kathleen Rodgers. When Michelle Cox and I spoke she said, “Any friend of Claire’s is a friend of mine.” I guess I should have told her I’d technically never even met Claire, but I already felt like we were good friends just by that phone call. All four of these amazing ladies have been so great to give advice, share about my book, and encourage me in my personal and professional life.

There are several author groups I’m a part of on Facebook. I have two personal favorites. One is a group for 2020 debut authors and the other is for TouchPoint Press authors. It was these groups I turned to when my first bad review came in. An author in one group basically said, “Oh honey, you haven’t seen a bad review yet” and shared a truly scathing review of his book. Within these groups we can celebrate accomplishments, learn from mistakes, and have a safe place to vent where we are completely understood.

Besides other authors, reading groups have been a huge support. I’ve followed Ashley Spivey since her Bachelor days and was so thrilled when she allowed me to take over her book club’s Instagram. It resulted in me making the Amazon Top 100 Best Seller List for the first time. Other book clubs that have supported me are Sue’s Reading Neighborhood, Novels and Latte, A Novel Bee, Linda’s Book Obsession, Wild Sage Book Blog, and Kathy Murphy, the Pulpwood Queen herself.

This isn’t even mentioning my blog tour organizers and participants nor the authors who have reached out to me because they read and enjoyed my book.

Sorry if this blog reads like a long Oscar acceptance speech, I just wanted to publicly thank these authors and book lovers who have supported me through my launch. I’ve gotten really good at saying, “I have no idea what I’m doing, and you appear to, please help me!” Without exception, every single author I sought out wrote me back. As writer Kirsten Oliphant puts it, we may write alone, but we don’t work alone.

There is always more to learn, but I feel one hundred percent more prepared to launch my second book thanks to all I’ve learned from these true industry professionals, who I am now lucky enough to call friends.

Now if they could just help me finish writing it…