Friday, April 24, 2015

What I Thought Being Published Would Be Like vs. What It's Actually Like

From my weekly blog on my author website: http://www.taylorfenner.com


Okay, so imagine you're a kid and you're dreaming about what you want to be when you "grow up". You love reading books and you love to make up stories so you dream of becoming an author. As you grow older you dream about what it will be like if and when you ever get published.

I don't know about other writers out there but I always thought being published would be this amazing fantastical thing where you were sent out on book tours and had a glamorous lifestyle. Even after I signed my contract with Whiskey Creek Press I had this illusion that being published would mean getting to become friends with some of my favorite authors and getting to read some of their novels before they became available to the general public. After all, you see it all the time on social media. For example, one of my favorite authors is always hanging out with other authors I love and jetting all over the world while another of my favorites is always reading books I'd love to read sometimes even a year before they're set to release.

Allow me to burst that illusion for you. I mean don't get me wrong, being a published author is amazing and beyond my wildest dreams. I never thought this would actually happen for me. But being published isn't as grand as big name authors project it to be. I was inspired for this blog after reading this blog on buzzfeed: Why Being a Debut Author Isn’t Exactly a Dream Come True. To quote the article "For a lot of writers, it will prove to be the most emotionally unsteady period of their lives." And that was true for me. I was excited and nervous, happy and scared out of my mind all at the same time. I experienced mood changes that made me feel like how a bipolar person might feel. I was so proud that my book was going to be available for the world to read while at the same time being afraid that nobody would buy my book.

All I'm really saying that being published isn't as easy and carefree as authors project it to be. For me, as an author whose publisher is a small one, it requires a lot of hard work and effort. I don't get sent on a country-wide book tour, the authors I've befriended are "indie" authors like me, and although it would be fantastic to be able to read upcoming books before they've been released; so far that hasn't happened for me.

I spend a lot of my days updating and checking my social media accounts as well as my website, answering questions from people about my novel / book signing / anything else writing related, and trying to balance self-promoting my book without being too sickening. I divide my time between promoting The Haunting Love, getting Finding Elizabeth ready to self-publish this fall (hopefully), and working on my current works-in-progress. It's at times stressful and nerve-wracking and is in itself a full-time job.

Why do I bother you ask? Because, for me writing is saying all the things I can't say out loud. It's being able to create worlds for myself to slip into and creating characters that live on in my imagination. It's my escape from my sometimes lonely life. While I have a few close friends, I've never really been that outgoing and writing allows me to live vicariously through my characters. And at the end of the day when someone tells me that they've read my book and love it; that they can relate to one or more of my characters it makes it all worth it. Are you with me?

Wow, I feel like I've ripped a vein open and bared my soul to you here, my devoted readers. And in a way, that's also what writing creatively is. I hope this shows you that although being a published author isn't nearly as glamorous as it looks, at the end of the day it's still really rewarding. I wouldn't choose anything else for myself.

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend everyone! I hear it's supposed to be a somewhat nice one, at least in this little corner of the world.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Running Around

From my weekly blog on my website http://www.taylorfenner.com for the week of Saturday April 11- Friday April 17, 2015:

Morning everyone! As usual I hope that you all have had wonderful weeks! Mine has been crazy busy from the word go. Luckily I had taken a break last weekend to go book shopping and to spend some time at the library. I stocked up on a bunch of books by authors that I love. I'm finding that the Appleton Public Library has a good selection of books by indie authors. 

Monday brought the second shipment of copies of The Haunting Love. Not to diss UPS but I can't figure out why when I get something from FedEx I always get it early in the morning but UPS doesn't get here until almost (or after) 5 at night. This time the guy handed me the box (32lbs mind you) and says "It's a little heavy". Don't even get me started...

Tuesday luckily brought my posters and promotional items for my book signing from Vistaprint. I'm now fully ready for the book signing on May 9th! On the otherhand I spent a lot of Tuesday online answering mundane emails and not getting much writing done. Thankfully I got quite a bit of writing time in on Wednesday to make up for not getting much done on Tuesday.

If you saw me running around the area it was probably on Thursday. I got up early and spend the morning running to libraries in the area (Marion, Clintonville, and Shawano) to drop off posters for my book signing. Be sure to check them out if you need more info about the book signings. I also dropped a larger poster off at the coffee shop where my book signing will be held in so they can use it as the date gets closer. I had a few other errands to run considering book stuff before getting to everyday household errands. I swear by the time I got home yesterday I felt like a chicken running around with my head cut off. That combined with my phone ringing every two seconds made for a busy day. 

As for today and the rest of the weekend I'm just going to relax and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts. I'm reading a new book by an author I hadn't read anything by before (Torn by K.A. Robinson) and I'm really enjoying it. Maybe I'll grab a blizzard at Dairy Queen and take my book down to the lake for a little while once my laundry is finished. 

I hope you have a nice, safe weekend! Until next week! 

Friday, April 10, 2015

Disconnnected Memories

From my author website: www.taylorfenner.com:

     Here we are at the end of another week. I nearly forgot today was Friday because it definitely didn’t feel like a Friday; then again it’s been a long week. I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Mine was alright, the best part of course being my chocolate coffee cheesecake.

I realized the other day that last Saturday, April 4th, would have been my great uncle’s 92nd birthday. I grew up living with my grandmother and my great-uncle Robert Fenner (my grandmother’s brother), so he was a big part of my childhood. Some of my fondest memories of him were him sitting in a chair reading a book, usually something historical. He taught me all sorts of things, about the Civil War and the trail of tears and the railroad; all things he loved to read about.

In 2005 he was diagnosed with colon cancer and he eventually passed away in June of 2006. He was alright for a while, but towards the end the cancer had spread. Even though he’s gone I still have the memories of good times.

My week, since Easter has unfortunately been pretty unproductive. The Wi-Fi I was using went out before Easter so I couldn’t do any research for my current work-in-progress. We finally got the issue resolved yesterday, when we had Wi-Fi put in here in our apartment and now I’m back up and running. I did manage to order some posters for my book signing earlier in the week from my grandmother’s computer so I should get them sometime next week. I’ll also be receiving a second shipment of The Haunting Love (http://amzn.com/B00SW1B940) on Monday so I have that to look forward to.

Next week will mostly involve me getting caught back up on everything I couldn’t get to this week. My book signing is only a month away now so I hope to see you soon!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that you have some nice weather to get out any do something fun!

Friday, April 3, 2015

Hope to See You May 9th!

From my weekly blog on my author website www.taylorfenner.com:  

        Hello everyone! It's Good Friday, so thank you for taking time out of your long weekend to read this week's blog! After I finish this post I have to get my chocolate cheesecake in the oven, so I'll try to keep this week's blog short and sweet. 

As I'm hoping most of you saw earlier this week, I got the details for my book signing finalized. For those of you in Wisconsin that are interested in attending my book signing it will be held: 
Saturday May 9, 2015 
at 
The Living Room Coffee Shop 
    in Clintonville, Wisconsin
    from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
I'll be signing paperback copies of The Haunting Love, that are available for purchase at the signing and I hope to see you there! More details (such as the address for the coffee shop) can be found here: http://www.taylorfenner.com/news-and-events

As for the rest of my week I've been keeping pretty busy. I have to get some posters printed up to promote the book signing and I had to write up a couple press releases for local newspapers that I have to send in next week to further get the word out about the signing. I've also managed to get in some writing time this week which was a relief because I haven't had much down time over the past couple weeks. 

I've been busily searching for new music to inspire me with the current novel I'm working on but nothing seems to fit. Do you know of any loud, edgy, dark, and alternative music I might like? Let me know! I'm interested in your suggestions.

I'll be spending the next couple days leading up to Easter baking and making some make-ahead dishes for the holiday. I hope that you and your families have a wonderful holiday whatever your plans are. Try not to eat too much candy. I personally have never seen the appeal in jelly beans or peeps. Especially not peeps, just thinking about them makes me gag, but don't mind me. Anyway, have a great weekend and a great week next week! 

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