Lessons I learned in my year as a debut author.
In case this is literally the first piece of content you’ve ever seen from me and you somehow stumbled here from a more qualified person’s platform, hi. I’m V. Renae. I wrote a book called CIVIL BLOOD. It came out in October of last year. It’s pretty okay.
Which means at the time of this post, CB has been in the world for NINE MONTHS. That’s a long-ass time. That means I’ve been a debut author for almost a year now.
And boy have I learned some stuff. Lemme teach you some of it.
You are so not prepared for your parents/grandparents/former teachers/exes/best friends to read your sexy steamy scenes.
Folks, I write YA paranormal romance, and I find sex scenes cringey to write (personally). Which means as far as hot and heavy goes, CB is about as tame as Twilight or any other tween fodder you can think of. What I do love to write, though, is sexual tension. Which somehow, is more scandalous - at least when your friend’s mom tells you that chapter 12 got her so hot and bothered. Or when your friends tell you how hot they think your male MC is. Which like, thanks, I know, but also, that’s my child and you stay away from him he’s just a baby. Every time someone I know buys my book I am mortified and thankful in the same breath.
2. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, cares about your book as much as you do.
I was blessed beyond belief to have an awesome street team to help me promo CB in the few months leading up to publication. I was truly humbled to see my friends and family posting pictures of their fresh from Amazon copy of my book baby, tagging my official writer’s instagram, and linking the goodreads page so people could review it. And this enthusiasm lasted all of one week. I’m not even kidding. After the initial high of, holy shit a person I know published a book?! There was...crickets. I couldn’t believe it. How could people I know not be freaking the fuck out for months at a time over this book I wrote?! Maybe...because most people don’t freak the fuck out over books for that long? And especially if it’s not their usual genre. Like, they’re supportive but, they also didn’t really read it because they don’t like cults and witches and demons and southern gothic steamy teenage romance. Fair. Just wasn’t prepared.
3. You will notice things in your debut that will haunt you forever.
Despite the proofs upon proofs that I reviewed for my editor, I will gift you with a gem in CB that will take me to an early grave: “That was why I wasn’t supposed to (let myself go to the darkness). It was like giving an addict their drugs.” This little tidbit is in one of my favorite scenes and I FULL BODY CRINGE at that line. Like, we get it, dude. This is a perfect example of treating the audience like they’re stupid and spoon-feeding them things they can easily infer. Thanks! I hate it.
4. Good reviews feel like snorting cocaine. Bad reviews feel like getting punched in the face.
If you crave validation like air, then you’re probably a writer. At least, I feel like a lot of us need pats on the back or we will shrivel up and die. That being said, reviews are a double-edged sword for this. Anyone can write a review. ANYONE. On goodreads, on amazon, on twitter - all they need is an email address and a minute or two to type up a statement about a piece of your soul. When someone writes “I loved this book” on CB’s goodreads page, I could literally levitate and astral project into the stars, I’m so thrilled and happy and fulfilled by that. But guess what? We’ve all had negative opinions about a book. Some of us voice them. Often. Loudly. Some of us don’t bother. But guess what? If you’ve written a book, there’s about a one million percent chance that someone will write you a bad review. It could be an ex-boyfriend who’s jealous of your success. It could be a troll. It could literally be someone who didn’t like your book - I know. Hard to even fathom. But it’s gonna happen. Opinions are subjective, and so is taste. That doesn’t make it hurt any less when someone has a lot to say about how shitty your book is in their eyes.
5. If one person likes your book, you will feel worthy of continuing to write.
I’m going to shout out one person in particular here because although I have quite a few people who are ‘fans’, this person is a little different. Meghan and I went to high school together, and while we were friendly, we weren’t like, friends. She offered to advance read CB for me so she could write a review which I could use during promo season, prior to the release. Instead, what I got was a frantic facebook message telling me she had devoured CB in three hours and couldn’t stop thinking about it. She did the same with its sequel, reading it all in one day and giving me detailed notes within hours. She is my cheerleader: constantly encouraging and hyping me up, promoting and supporting me on social media, giving me endless advice and feedback. She’s the one I trust with in-depth theme questions about Thistlewolf. Honestly, sometimes, she’s the one I write Thistlewolf for. I owe it to Meghan to finish that trilogy because I know she wants to know how it ends. And that’s all it takes, sometimes, is one person needing you to finish your story.
And that’s all I have for you today. My debut year has been a whirlwind of fuckery and exhilaration and wonder and love and doubt and anxiety. I wouldn’t change a thing, except the things I wish I could change.