We love it when authors share personal insights and guest posts with our readers. This week, we are fortunate enough to share JW Lawson's thoughts on just why self publishing is so very scary. JW knows a thing or two about the definition of scary--and we are also excited to put her latest book, Mummy's Little Angel, into the spotlight today too! Check out JW Lawson's insights into the fears faced when self publishing, learn about her new book--and enter to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.
Why is Self-Publishing So Very Scary?
By JW Lawson
After
three and a half years of research and writing, my first two books were almost ready
to share with the world. The day of reckoning had arrived and my masterpieces were submitted to my copy
editor. I recall my hand physically shaking as I pressed the ‘send’ button on
my email, knowing that despite my blood, sweat, and tears, she would brutally
dissect my words, tossing them aside into a dark abyss, never to be used again!
Copy editors are
so cruel. It broke my heart reading the
criticism of my beautifully crafted Chapters, yet I knew she was right. Copy
Editors always are! And so, an incredibly
stressful six months followed, full of sleepless nights and anxiety and chopping
and changing the manuscripts. Then came the cover design, preparation for
e-books, more edits, and at last, the submission through Createspace. I was so
excited, then, when the proof copies of the paperbacks finally landed on my
doorstep, I was terrified. I panicked.
My books were real. I loved them. My friends and family did too, but, would
anybody else?
What if they hated my thrillers? Oh, God. What if …?
I then reminded myself of something very important.
Writing my books was an extremely personal experience. My heart and soul went
into Third Time Lucky and Mummy’s Little Angel and, naturally I
wanted everybody to love them both. But
I knew that I had to be more realistic about how much opinions should matter,
and whether I should let fear of controversial or negative reviews stop me
doing something so important to me.
I’ve already had one major boost by winning The
World’s Best Story 2015 for my thriller, Mummy’s
Little Angel. I’m sure I’ll get some fantastic and some not so brilliant
reviews – every writer does, even the best in the world. But, I won’t take criticisms personally, I’ll
learn from them in order to improve, then
I’ll re-read some of the positive comments I’ve received, to help me get
balance.
I may not be the most experienced author; however,
I am proud that I have made it this far and have won a major accolade for my
second book. So, I guess that I shouldn’t be scared anymore. I should embrace
every review, hold my head up high, and remind myself of my achievement. But
there’s still a little piece of me that remains nervous every time I see a new
review. I believe that’s because I genuinely care what
the reader thinks. The feedback will enable me to grow and improve as a writer
allowing me the opportunity to write even better books in the future. Not scary at all is it? But, trust me, my
books are!
Meet the Author:
Award Winning Author, JW Lawson is already gaining recognition for her writing talents in the US and world-wide. The second of a trilogy of sensational thrillers,Mummy's Little Angel is the winner of the highly acclaimed Worlds Best Story competition and has also received some outstanding reviews from the professional team of judges in the competition. She is currently writing her third thriller, Crossroads which will be available in 2017 and the final book of the current series, Hush Little Baby will be available in 2018.
Learn more about Mummy's Little Angel
Mummy's Little Angel is the first place winner of World's Best Story!
Joanne didn’t believe that her life could become worse than it already was. She had lost everybody and everything she had loved. She was alone. Surely she had suffered enough? The press had called her identical twins psychopaths. Her Maggie. Her Annie. But she still loved them, even though one of them had killed her husband, Jeff. Joanne believed that his murder had been an accident. How could one of her girls be a murderer? She knew them better than anybody else. They were good girls really.
She just had to prove it.
The brutal murder of her god-daughter Laura had never been solved. Items were missing when Laura’s remains had been discovered: clues that could lead to the capture of her killer. One of them was Laura’s doll … the doll that Joanne later discovered in her home. Joanne is facing the most horrific dilemma of her life. Has the wrong woman been imprisoned? Could her child have used such brutality against her best friend? Or could both women be innocent after all?
She needs to find somebody for her daughter to confide in; somebody she will trust. She needs a miracle. There is only one person who can help. He is compassionate and caring, with an amazing ability to gain the trust of the most difficult patients. He is Joanne's only hope. He is Jonathan Davies.
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We have joined with iRead Book Tours for this post. All opinions and experiences are our own.
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