I struggle with the green-eyed monster when it comes to other writers. I see their success, their sales, their rave reviews and there’s a part of me that twinges. The salt in the wound sometimes is that they are very dear friends and sometimes they are just really nice people. I have met an incredible array of writers throughout my years in RWA – giving, funny, intelligent, hard-working men and women who love writing and telling stories.
I don’t want them to fail. I don’t want to take away one iota of the success they’ve earned. I’d just like to find a sliver of it for myself.
But as jealous as I sometimes get, I would never take that out on anyone other than myself. There’s a trend on social media whereby authors – all levels, published, unpublished, traditional, self, hybrid – will go out of their way to attack another author. Be it personal, be it professional, it’s a fucking bloodbath. And I don’t get it.
The industry is massive. There’s room for all of us. We’re all looking for the magic formula in our publishing journey. That mix of marketing and social media presence that will attract a new reader, entice an existing reader to buy the next book, or encourage a follower to retweet. I would rather learn from other writers who’ve found success than try and dampen their success.
I’m finding a new community of writers since moving back to my home state. The really great thing is I haven’t completely left behind the previous groups I found while moving around the last twelve years.
There’s a hashtag on Twitter #writerslift and I think it really encapsulates what our community should be doing. Even if today’s not our day, tomorrow might be and I’d like to think that my friends will celebrate my success as much as I’ve celebrated theirs.