First Author Fair under my belt

Yesterday I participated in my first ever author fair, Oregon Author Fair down in Lebanon, Oregon. It’s a tiny town you probably have never heard of but if I say “near Corvallis” you might nod and say “oh yeah okay I’ve seen that off ramp sign.” Anywho, this was the third year for the Oregon Author Fair, my first year in attendance and what an experience! There were roughly 44 other authors in participation and somewhere around 130 shoppers attended the event, weaving through the isles, checking out what authors had to offer. Not at all surprising, fantasy and science fiction were high traffic tables, as were romantasy and little kid books.

While I didn’t snag any sales, either due to people not being in the market for young adult contemporary, or my introverted inability to market my work lol, there were plenty of people interested and took a bookmark for shopping later. Boy am I glad I printed out a big handful of bookmarks!

It wasn’t overwhelming, and everyone was so nice, so overall, it was a good way for me to dip my toes into author events. I picked up tricks to help improve my table, and how to better my pitch, and now look forward to future author events!

Release month

OK so technically book # 2 released in January, which was last month, but that’s okay. My second book released and with it a feeling of accomplishment. Sure, I was over the moon with the release of my first book last year, but I’ve heard the second one is the most difficult. I’m not sure what’s difficult about a second book. Maybe for some it’s living up to the hype of their first if the release was awesome. Maybe it’s having expended all the energy in writing to completion and now that you have to do it all over again your tank is bone dry.

This particular book was actually my first written. I shelved it for a bit, and went with a different story for my first release, but book 2 holds such an important place in my life. It was the first book I wrote after thinking I was more a short story writer. It was the culmination of late nights and many many read-through’s by a friend, and truthfully I wasn’t even sure I wanted to share it. It was something I wrote for myself and though I did spend many years trying to obtain an agent for it to be traditionally published, I thought maybe it was a story I should just have for myself like I originally intended. But the story had a mind, a voice, of its own and begged to be shared.

If you get the chance to read it, which I hope you do, know I will forever be sending you a million thanks while also nervously chewing my nails down to the quick in hopes you like it.

The Secrets We Keep

It’s the end of October and if you’re following along, earlier in the month I stated that the release date for book number two would be released soon. Well guess what? That soon is now and that book is called (drum roll please) The Secrets We Keep. It’s a YA contemporary that’s Pretty in Pink meets Pride and Prejudice. If you love Kathleen Glasgow books or Courtney Summers, you’ll love this next one. It will be available on Amazon and KU January 15, 2026. Again for those in the back, book number 2, The Secrets We Keep drops January 15, 2026.

This is not a drill!

I was told by someone in the writing community, I don’t know when exactly or even who it was so if you were thinking of asking me, don’t. Anyway, they said have one book ready to publish, one up on deck, and one currently in progress. That way you’re always ready to go. No long drawn out years between books. I mean, in the traditional publishing world it seems to be just that-long drawn out years. That’s just business. Ten to One the author has the next book ready. This author does! That’s right, you read correctly! Book #2 is on deck and ready to go. But because everyone loves the built up suspension, it’s not officially releasing until February 1, 2026. Sure I’ll drop a cover teaser in a month or two, but if you were fans of A Swirl of Colors and Jagged Edges, you’ll love what’s to come.

Beta reader conundrum

It’s the same old story. You finish your manuscript, you’ve edited it to the best of your ability, and now you need to get eyeballs on it from your peers. Maybe you’re not sure if the story flows, or if a particular character adds anything to the story. You’re not sure the ending is convincing, or if the first paragraph has a good hook. You might be lucky enough to have friends or family members who offer to read your work, but sometimes it helps to have an unbiased set of eyes. For this we turn to our beta readers.

If you’ve been writing for a thousand years like me, you already know what beta readers are, but if you’re here reading this and new to the industry and wondering what the heck a beta reader is, allow me to explain. In short, they are persons who read your story and let you know if it kept their interest or made them nod. That’s an oversimplification, but essentially true. Typically they have a set of questions that you, the author have prepared for them, and after reading will answer. They aren’t editors, just early readers. Now, some are paid, but the majority are volunteer.

So where do we find them? Our friend social media. There are dedicated Facebook pages for beta readers, Reedsy, insert social media site here. All places where people post inquiries for beta readers and people will respond. Now for the conundrum. Sometimes you have awesome luck with trusted beta readers. They read your work, answer your questions, and get back to you in a timely manner and it was a wonderful experience all around. But sometimes, they are scamming you in some way. Well in what ways? That’s the question right? In my recent experience it’s been by them reaching out to say they are interested and then either immediately trying to sell me something, or by being a BOT. So I’ve had to learn even when a person’s profile looks to be legit, going the extra step to really research the person is a must.

All of this to say, beta readers are important to the journey, but finding the right ones comes with a great amount of frustration. So from one writer to the next, I encourage you to really make sure to ask questions and research profiles before sending your manuscript to a beta reader, maybe ask other authors in the community for readers they’ve had great success with. And if you have a weird feeling in the pit of your tummy about one, trust that feeling, kindly say PASS and move on.

Debut month…what now?

Last month was debut month. I’d like to say I didn’t check my stats every ten seconds, but who are we kidding? I totally did. I felt joy with every order I saw, but also trepidation because that pesky little friend otherwise known as imposter syndrome settled in and I thought, well what if the person reading this feels it totally sucks and wasn’t worth their money? And then I thought, what if I get a bad review?

I had to tell myself that it’s all part of the game. Much like any product for sale, there will be people who absolutely love it, and some who wont. That has to be okay otherwise maybe this isn’t the right option for me. I choose to believe my skin is thick enough to withstand the bad reviews (should they come but I’m not putting that out there into the Universe)

The hardest part of this whole thing is the marketing and promotion. It’s not easy to be an introverted millennial trying to sell my book. Convince you why you should spend your hard earned money on a novice such as me, convince you that there’s something different about my book than any other in my genre. For me, it’s about sharing my story with others, and hoping they liked it.

So what’s next? You mean aside from the continual navigation of social media I don’t fully understand? Well, more of that, and also making sure my next book (hopefully set to release in January) will be just as great. I think it is, and I hope you will too.