Inspiration ~ Do NOT Compare

  

 

Such a small word with so many definitions, depending on who you ask. 

 

And so many synonyms.

 

i.e. accomplishment, achievement, happiness, prosperity, triumph, victory--the list goes on and on.

But what really defines success? Is it based on emotion? The way we view the world?

 

Elana Johnson shares an excellent blog post HERE Why We Don't Compare Ourselves.

 

So many people fall into the trap of comparing and tend to forget the whole point in trying to achieve that goal. I mean, wouldn't you agree the sole reason to achieve that goal (most of the time) is because we had passion for it in the first place? 

 

At some point in time, we became ambitious and a seedling of passion rooted within our hearts. 

 

It shouldn't matter what the other person is doing or achieving for we all have different paths to take and work at different speeds. It's one of those beautiful things in life. No two people are alike. Not even identical twins.

Please don't let comparisons take that passion, that happiness, that gratitude away from you.

 

A few weeks back I came across a video *see below* from a very awesome person who is full of inspiration and love. A person who I admire for who she is and the light she brings to all.

 

This girl is top notch successful and she still finds the time to reach out to people (which is another future blog post I will be addressing later). 

 

She was on the first season of The Apprentice and is the co-founder of The Campins Company, a premier real estate brokerage firm. And she has also been working on a book. It has been a big blessing that I have gotten to know her. 

 

And that person is the fabulous, yet modest, Katrina Campins. 

 

"Don't focus on your competition. Focus on yourself."

  "Never give up. Have confidence."

How about you? What do YOU define success as?

"Do not compare. For everyone has their own path." ~Martha Ramirez

The Kindness Project

Thoughtfulness. Graciousness. Patience.

Kindness has more than a dozen meanings and a dozen more ways to show it. A simple smile can brighten up a person's day. Allowing the person behind you to cut in front of the line before paying is a small token of kindness. Little things make big differences.

Don't forget to share your kindness today. Acts of kindness are contagious and very heartfelt.


How do you practice kindness?

Be sure to follow--and join!--The Kindness Project is around the web today. Stop by Elana Johnson's blog to learn a little more.

Interview with YA author Elana Johnson

I'm so excited to have YA author Elana Johnson as a guest today!

If you all haven't checked out her blog yet, you must. Elana has a ton of awesome info for writers among other fun stuff.  I'm always linking her to something helpful.

She is also the author of From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer needs to read before they query. It can be downloaded for free on her website. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! See her bio at the end of the interview for the link.

Welcome, Elana! Congrats on your new release, SURRENDER!

For those who haven't already heard, SURRENDER is the second book in the POSSESSION series. Click HERE to see my review on POSSESSION. Awesome read! Great world building!

Okay, so here we go…

How long did it take you to hook an agent when you first started out querying (BTW if you don't know by now, Elana is Queen of Queries!)?

Ah, querying. I queried my first novel for 8 months. Result: Fail. No agent.

So I prepared another novel and began querying it. 8 months later (seriously), I’d talked on the phone 5 times and done a few rounds of revisions. Result: An offer!

I sent 189 queries for POSSESSION. Over 50 fulls and partials.

Wow! 50 fulls. That's amazing!

How did you come up with the concept of SURRENDER? And how long did it take you to write the novel?

SURRENDER was unique, because I’d never anticipated writing a series. I knew the novel needed to take place in Freedom (the capital of the Association), but I didn’t know much else. When I finally figured out who the narrating characters were, everything flew from there.

Like most second novels, the middle book in a trilogy is the “Now that we know what’s wrong with our world, this is what we’re going to do about it” book. That’s what SURRENDER is.

It took me 25 days to draft. Over 3 months to outline before that, though…

What is the first thing you like to do when planning a new project?

Write it! I don’t really plan, let’s be honest.

Do you work with critique partners and/or beta readers?

Yep. I have an in-person group that meets every other week. We read slowly, so I use betas when I’m in a pinch.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Write more. And then read. And then write some more.

Where can we find out more about you?

The best place is my blog: elanajohnson.blogspot.com where I don’t really hold anything back, or Facebook, where I censor myself a bit better, but not much: www.facebook.com/possessionthebook

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/elanaJ 

Thank you so much for being a guest! Wishing you much success, Elana! 

Bio: Elana's work including POSSESSION, REGRET, and SURRENDER is available from Simon & Schuster wherever books are sold. She is the author of From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer needs to read before they query, which can be downloaded for free on her website. She runs a personal blog on publishing and is a founding author of the QueryTracker blog. She blogs regularly at The League of Extraordinary Writers, co-organizes WriteOnCon, and is a member of SCBWI, ANWA and LDStorymakers.

She wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.

About SURRENDER: Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.

Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque…. 

Purchase your copy here

Marketing Tips

Does the word marketing make you cringe?

Do bookmarks, postcards, buttons, pens, notebooks, t-shirts, oh my--make your head spin?

 

No worries. It happens to all of us. 

I'm here to share with you a few fabulous posts that I found to be very helpful. I hope you find them as useful as I did.

Before I begin, I'd like to ask, what kind of swag do you all like to receive from your favorites authors? 

 Any successful marketing tips you'd like to share? 

If so, please leave a note in the comments section. Looking forward to reading your thoughts.

Okay, here we go:

What Makes Word-of-Mouth Work? 

Rob Eager shares his thoughts at Writer's Digest HERE. Good stuff! Also be sure to check out his whole list of marketing blog posts. Very helpful.

Author/agent Lucienne Diver shares an excellent article on TKA's newsletter:

No-Fail Self-Marketing Tips HERE

Author Elana Johnson shares a series of blog posts on marketing. Extremely helpful. A MUST READ.

The Basic Marketing Plan for Authors Who Have Bills to Pay Too

The Basic+Plus Marketing Plan For Those Who Are Nearing Wealth

Using Facebook and Goodreads In Your Marketing

Also, agent  @Natalie_Lakosil 
has some great Tips on Marketing Your Novel



And here's a little video for your learning entertainment: 

Liebster Blog Award

 

I’ve received the Liebster Blog Award from Cera Dubois and JenniferLowrey!  Thank you so much Cera and Jennifer!

The Liebster Blog Award originated in Germany. Liebster means dearest or beloved, and Liebe is love.

To accept this award, the recipient will:
- Thank the person who gave it to them and link back to that person’s blog

- Copy and paste the award to their blog

- Choose 5 blogs to award in kind, and break the news by commenting on those blogs

- Hope those people pay it forward in turn by accepting and awarding “The Liebster Blog Award” to bloggers they’d like to honor.

Pretty easy to do, pretty amazing to award! So here are my five (note I added five more since I was nominated by two people):

Elana Johnson- http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/

Shannon Messenger  http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/

Alyson Noel- http://alysonnoel.blogspot.com/

Sheri Fredricks- http://www.sherifredricks.com/

Trish Mccallan http://www.trishmccallan.com/blog.htm

Victoria Adams: http://victoriaadams.blogspot.com/

Casey McCormick and Natalie Aguirre- http://caseylmccormick.blogspot.com/

Jessica R. Patch- http://jessicarpatch.blogspot.com/

The Bookshelf Muse- Angela Ackerman-Becca Puglisi-

 http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/

Denise Grover- http://www.denisegroverswank.com/blog/blog/