We’re approaching that time of year again when the Virginia Writers Club holds its annual Golden Nib writing contest and we invite our AAG members to submit something for the contest. Specifics about the contest and submission guidelines can be found at https://www.virginiawritersclub.org/golden-nib/.
 
Victoria Fletcher (President of AAG) recently emailed members about the contest and submissions are due to her by July 13th. We hope to see a lot of entries this year! Since there is still time to write something for the contest we encourage you to come out to our regular meetings where we gather to help each other hone our skills. The next meeting will be on June 11th (see the AAG home page) and we will be having a writer’s workshop from 1-3 pm. These are always a lot of fun and really get the creative juices going. The more people that participate in these events the better they seem to turn out. 

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One of the greatest obstacles most of us face in life is self doubt. Not believing in ourselves and our talent is the biggest hindrance to success. That’s just as true with writing as it is with any career. You may work a traditional nine to five job and be of great importance to your company. You may feel that you have earned and deserve better pay in that job but if you don’t have the self confidence to ask your boss for a raise, you probably won’t get one.
 
As a writer, you have made a personal commitment. You have committed to spending thousands of hours learning the craft. You have taken the necessary time to explore the different ways of publishing and chosen a method that works for you. You have spent hundreds of hours writing your book considering the amount of time it took you to create the story and characters, develop those characters, proofread, edit, revise, and rewrite. You may have even gone through some expense (even if you couldn’t really afford it) to have copies printed to give away for reviews, to set up a website or blog, or even pay for some limited advertising.
 
A writer’s commitment is serious business. But one thing that holds many of us back (me included at times) is that hint of self-doubt; wondering if the book will be well received by readers. One thing that remains a challenge for most of us is promoting ourselves. There are two main reasons for that.

​One reason is that something inside of us is hesitant to be open to the criticism, even the constructive kind. That self-doubt holds us back. We silently hope that once we put our book out there that the world will come and find it. The sad truth is that the world isn’t going to go looking for your book (or mine). We have to take that book to the world and that kind of effort is daunting and difficult. And if we are successful, we have to deal with the fact that the people that love our work will seldom tell us so but the ones that don’t like it will take every chance to tell us. Yes, the dreaded bad review! It will happen.
 
The second reason that promoting ourselves is so difficult is that most of us writers aren’t wired that way. It requires us to push our work in ways that make us afraid that we are coming across as arrogant and pushy. There is a fine line there! But we have to be committed to finding that balance if we want our work to be read and appreciated. We have to have thick skin and be a bit more creative in ways that we are not used to. I’ve spent many hours and more than a few dollars on books that deal with marketing and branding in this age of social media. I have a few thoughts on those books that I’ll share in a blog at a later time. But in order to succeed at selling our work, we have to have this commitment. It’s a tall order, even for the most driven writer.
 
Despite these daunting challenges, every writer should realize something very important about themselves. You are unique. You are special. You bring your own twist to a craft that is vital for every culture. You are a writer. Whatever you write (novels, poems, memoirs) you take your stories and you paint a picture in the minds of your readers. You plant a message in their hearts. You are special.
 
Are you committed enough to your work and overcoming any self doubt to do something that might not be comfortable to you? Are you willing to tell one new person a day about your work? In a year, 365 new people will know about your book(s). Some of them might actually buy one of them. Some of them may tell a friend about you. You may not sell any books at all, but that commitment to yourself may be the difference between where you are right now and being successful in the long term.
 
Now, I will leave you with two important questions as you ponder the topic of this blog. The first one you have to answer for yourself. The second one you have to answer for your targeted readers.
 
What does being a successful writer mean to you?
 
Why should someone buy your book? (Think of a catchphrase or slogan that catches your reader’s attention.)