Victoria Lambert and Jennie Miller wrote their first book Boundaries – How to draw the line in head, heart and home together in a successful collaboration which surprised and delighted them both. Here Victoria, CEO of Miss Dashwood’s Register, explains the life lessons she learned from putting pen to paper…
Don’t be afraid to aim high.
When Jennie Miller and I began to write Boundaries, we didn’t have a commission or even an agent. But we did believe that the subject was too important to ignore, that it had intrinsic value for others as well as ourselves, and that if we did the best job we could, someone would want to publish it.
Practise what you preach.
We encourage readers to set healthy boundaries around modern life – and that’s how we wrote the book too. That meant picking a writing day (Monday) and sticking to it, breaking to take a walk at lunchtime and to eat soup and salad at the table talking about other things. Being authentic in everything you do matters.
You may never be satisfied – and that’s OK.
Even when the book went off to be published and there was no chance of making further edits, part of me wanted to start at the beginning again and do it better. But instead of torturing myself over re-writes, I decided to put that energy into writing a second book. Watch this space!
You need to be your own cheerleader (and that’s OK too.)
Promoting a book in the 21st century requires almost as much dedication as writing one. Whether it is making yourself available for interviews, signings or talks – or simply reaching out on social media to potential readers and influencers, you can’t sit back and hope to get noticed. Here’s a surprising fact – it’s fun and rewarding.
I enjoyed reading this thank you. One of the themes I certainly recognise, is having to be your own cheer leader.
As a writer I know that this is exactly the case – You have to believe in yourself. Plus – you are your own boss. No-one tells you that you must sit down and write. And no-one gives you advice about how to spend you time for example on advertising or marketing your own book. You have to be completely self motivated.
Also in general – everything you do, appears to cost you money – plus- not earn you any money! Those twice yearly book sales are a long time coming.
I have recently started a system of Guest Posting, having been contacted by various authors on Goodreads. This is more or less free – so long as you can get a free copy of your author’s book. It is time consuming, but it’s a win- win situation. You get a review of your own book on Amazon and Goodreads, plus a guest post on your site, plus your guest post on their site! It’s been popular and fun.
I thought other authors might like to hear about it. If anyone wants to contact me please feel free to do so.
That sounds like a good idea. And we know just what you mean about finding self-motivation. These books won’t write themselves!