This morning, I woke up, checked my email and opened the Post Gazette online to find my book was reviewed in the Arts & Entertainment section. It was a glowing review—one that spoke to my willingness in taking chances with my characters and tropes. For an author, this is golden. We all receive our fair share of negative reviews, so when someone “gets” my story, it’s better than winning the lottery.
HERE’s the thing though.
It may look like getting a write-up in the PG or any other small achievements I’ve made are EASY.
Listen to me: they’re not.
Most days, I still hear no or that idea won't work or do it again.
In this day and age of everyone wanting to be an Internet celebrity, we are beginning (have begun?) to see a rash of craziness. The need to be a celeb is rampant. To want it quickly is even more rampant. Hideous shootings, people scaling buildings, and sex tapes to name a few.
Then, there is a monsoon of people wanting to be bloggers, influencers, writers or what have you…
So everyone is setting up shop in some way, seeking their five minutes of fame and somewhere in all this shtick, the amount of work needed to do anything is lost.
My grandmother would call it elbow grease. She worked for several decades as a secretary and office manager. My “bubbie,” as I called her, worked hard, and I will never forget the retirement party her staff held for at the end of her term. As a young girl, my bubbie’s work ethic made an indelible impression. As a secretary (which is what it was coined back then), she was an intrapreneur. She tried to be the best she could be, moving her agency and department forward, inserting her best effort and hard work into every action.
I’ve been at this writing thing since 2010. For close to seven years, I’ve been typing and trolling the ‘nets, attempting to carve out my own corner. There have always been and always will be, better, bigger and badder fish than me. BUT, I like my space and I’m proud of it. Back when I first penned my first blog, my mom was my only reader. Gradually, I reached a broader audience, but not without lots and lots of work.
AND education. Conferences, online courses, workshops, and research.
What makes it all more complicated is the ever-changing landscape of the Internet. Several hours per week, sometimes per day, are often focused on best practice in self-publishing, self-promotion, marketing, and social media verticals.
Back in 2012, I spoke at Spark and Hustle with @ToryJohnson, and I was asked, “How do you get close to someone like Tory?”
I mean the golden egg is to “know” a celebrity, Right? Have a celeb endorse you on your path to fame ---
I forget my exact words, but they were something to the effect of networking on the web is like in real life. IT can’t be ME, ME, ME. In other words, don’t ask too much but give more than you take.
In any given week, I hear from a lot of people. They want to be bloggers or authors. They want something instantaneous and fast.
It happens for a small percentage of people, and when it does...it takes a lot of hard work to HOLD ONTO IT!
So even when you have a day like today where something so amazing happens, one would believe, I put my feet up and made myself a mimosa.
Actually, I hit my desk (on a Sunday) and put in a little work.
