Judith Hale Everett
1. Don't give up. Discouragement and rejection is normal, and so is taking a long time to find your audience. Just keep writing good books and it'll happen.
2. Don't be a diva. Humility is the name of the game. There is no way to improve your craft if you can't take criticism. Seek and seriously consider helpful criticism of your books. Find people who will tell you like it is but who have some sort of background that qualifies them to give you good feedback.
3. Don't read non-editorial reviews. Online reviews are for readers, not authors. My husband keeps an eye on the reviews and chooses positive ones to read to me when I need a morale boost, but I never read them. It's too psychologically fraught. Online reviewers are not professionals and their criticism isn't what you need to be listening to. You can never please everyone, so don't try. Just write what you love and you'll find your audience who love it too.
2. Don't be a diva. Humility is the name of the game. There is no way to improve your craft if you can't take criticism. Seek and seriously consider helpful criticism of your books. Find people who will tell you like it is but who have some sort of background that qualifies them to give you good feedback.
3. Don't read non-editorial reviews. Online reviews are for readers, not authors. My husband keeps an eye on the reviews and chooses positive ones to read to me when I need a morale boost, but I never read them. It's too psychologically fraught. Online reviewers are not professionals and their criticism isn't what you need to be listening to. You can never please everyone, so don't try. Just write what you love and you'll find your audience who love it too.
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