Visiting old friends

As I was setting up project folders and getting my morning pages ready to write for the year, I got to revisit some projects I haven’t gotten to play with in a hot minute. Some ideas I am ready to play with when it is finally their turn, but every time I think it might be their turn, another project cuts in line, and I have to honor my beautiful muse with her idea of what to work on when. Part of why I do the morning pages is to keep in touch with my projects and keep them in the fresh in my mind. I want them to know I haven’t forgotten them, they are still on my mind and in my heart.

I changed my routine a bit with the morning pages. I used to use a composition book but then would have to put the notes of my morning pages into the corresponding folder for each project. and that is time consuming, which causes me to get behind and have just piles of notebooks to take note from. I used my Kindle Scribe this time because I can take the scribe anywhere and can just email them to myself to put in to the corresponding computer folder so I can keep my projects organized and not have to recopy everything mulitple times to allow for more forward progress and not as much back and forthing.

I have some projects who have been with me for years. Your time is coming, friends. I promise. I love you just as much today as I did when you came to introduce yourself to me. You are not forgotten. I promise your turn is coming.

Series – the good stuff

I love reading a series if it is well-written. “If a book is well written, I always find it too short.” Jane Austen (this quote is attributed to her from a character she created). And it’s true. there is a sadness that comes when a good book is nearing its end. How beautiful a feeling when you are nearing the end of a book and you find out your time with these characters is not actually coming to an end.

One of the best books I ever read was actually book 5 of a series. My mother had bought it for me because it was purple on the cover and had a lion on it (my favorite color and favorite animal) and the book was good…but t was even better when I read books one – four and then five -eight. The nice thing about a series is that you get to know the characters and love the characters and then you get more time with them. One book isn’t near enough once a character or group of characters has wound around your heart. You care about them, you stress with them, and you feel like you know them in real life…if the author has done the job correctly.

When I was looking at the projects I have coming up, I really have more series than stand-alones, and there is actually the question of how many active series can an author actually have out simultaneously before the readers join in a lynch mob screaming FINISH SOMETHING BEFORE YOU START ONE MORE SERIES.

I did a random poll on social media some time back to ask this question…do I need to work on on series at a time and not have multiple series all growing and swirling around each other. Some of the people who responded said they didn’t care if an author had multiple series because not every series is going to appeal to every reader. Some people said it didn’t matter to them because they waited until an author finished a series before they started reading.

I am going to get one fiction series from start to finish out this year. I am also going to finish the non-fiction series I started last year which is the Wanna Write workbook series. I am also going to start my Romancing of the Stones series in December. I may wait for some others of my series to make sure I don’t confuse anyone or get my characters hanging out in the wrong book.

Need to up my game

Okay, friends…I know my author career is a marathon and not a sprint. I know it is my long-term plan and not an overnight thing. I want it to be long-term. I want it to be slow and steady and not an overnight sensation. I don’t trust things that happen that quickly, and usually something that comes quickly disappears just as quickly. I am okay earning my spot and finding my way. I am perfectly okay with this and will do all that i can to keep pushing myself to do whatever I need to do. Here are some ways I know I need to up my author game:

Banner. At the author event I went to on Feb 3rd, every author had a banner; an eye-catching way that people could see their author’s names across the way. I want people to be able to see my name. They may not know how to pronounce it, yet…but I want them to see my name and be able to find me easily. I looked at everyone’s banners that surrounded me, looking for ideas as to what I wanted to represent me. Some people had their books on the banner…but then do I update my banner every time I get a new book out, because that would be expensive and crowded…and I have books in a variety of genres, so a more neutral banner is what I am thinking about…

Audio books. I need to have this passive income. Part of me wants to have someone record them because time is not always my friend, and I feel this is something I could delegate fairly easily…ish…(my control issues are clearing their throats and making their presence very known). Finding someone who will read my books the way I think they should be read, who will love my characters the way I read them, and will get things done to my timeline and work ethic seems to be a tall order. If I read them, I get to decide how my characters sound, I get to decide on the schedule, and I don’t have to share the royalties…I am still considering, but I am leaning toward reading my own books for audio format.

Marketing and networking. So many aspects of the author world are in and of themselves a full-time gig. Pairing this with the actual full-time gig that I currently have and love is where the trickery of the clock and calendar is where I have fallen short so far. Writing is a full-time gig because you need new content to keep readers’ love and affection. Editing is a full-time gig because you have to have a good quality product. Revising is full-time gig because there are far more books than there are readers and the slightest misstep can cost you a reader buying your next book. Marketing and networking is where I have dropped the ball. When I started writing and getting my books out, I knew I needed to do this more but I felt I needed more product before I went whole hog into marketing and networking…now I have 22 books out, and I feel like I have maybe waited too long and should have been doing more as I went along.

New books. This is definitely something I need to improve on…All of the “how to author” books I have read and workshops I have attended say the same thing…no author’s book are the only books any reader has to choose from, and if you don’t have new content on a fairly regular basis, your most devoted reader will forget about you because the other authors are putting out new books on a regular basis and they have already read everything you have created. I haven’t put out enough books in the last couple of years, but this year is going to change all of that. I am going to clear my plate of some of the proofs that have just been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I am going to work on getting more readers and keeping my existing reader happy and loyal.

And

Author conference

On Feb 3rd, I attended Flirty in Kansas City, an author conference with just fellow authors and their readers. Prior to this, I had attended craft shows and had had book signings and had experienced other events where I could sell my books. This was nothing like those things.

This event was put together by Anytime Author Productions, and it was intense and amazing, and I was completely surrounded by and immersed in my PEOPLE. At the craft shows, there had been various people coming up to me, surrounded by my books and the patrons would stare at my books, ask if I was the author, and then say those hurtful, hurtful words “I don’t read.”

At the author conference, there were people who wrote books and people who read books and people who collected…you guessed it…books. And I learned so much and experienced so much and fell in love with every aspect of it. I have already signed up for next year and am considering going to the one in Denver, Chicago, and Las Vegas (two of the three of those I can drive to…).

First of all, being surrounded by that many people who love books did good things for my heart. If you pay attention to social media, people don’t read anymore…and that is heart breaking to think might be true. Feb 3rd showed me it is not in any way true. (Last year, my friend had invited me to an author conference in Texas, and I had treated it as a writer’s retreat and didn’t bring a single solitary business card or way to advertise my craft…)

People were buying books. People were celebrating books. People were standing in line to meet their authors and were getting books signed and autograph books and boxes signed. People were finding new authors and taking a chance on falling in love with a new creator of words and worlds and characters.

There are many things I need to do to increase my author world…to have my bit of space in that world. and to leave my mark. Find my readers, find new readers, and just get my books out there. I sold some books at the conference, people brought books previously purchased for me to sign, people who took a business card to check me out on Kindle, and people who did what I do when I am surrounded by books…just touched the covers as if they were saying hi to future friends.

2024 my theme is to be more of a grown up…as a female, as a general person, and as an author. I want people to know my name…

Paving the way

I enjoy learning how to author. When I taught, I felt like I had to know all of the answers before hand. I didn’t want to be caught unaware, and I certainly didn’t want to seem lacking in any way. I feared having to tell a student or fellow teacher “I don’t know,” and this fear was almost paralyzing.

As an author, it is actually freeing. I don’t know. I don’t know all of the steps, all of the processes, all of the answers. There is a joy in the learning and a joy in discovering. I will find my way. It probably won’t be the same way as others have discovered, but I learn something from everything I write, everything I edit, and everything I publish. I learn how to be a better author with every word I put on the page and every step I take toward joining the ranks of authors, I am free.

Recently I went to

Grown-up author things

It’s way past time…but I’m ready now

I have lost track of how many times I have said this.

I have lost track of how many times I have prayed for this.

I have lost track of how many times I have asked the universe about this

And then I dropped the ball. And then I dropped it again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

Now I have my projects in color-coordinated file folders.

A file cabinet that is “almost” put together.

I have my domain name michellesodaroauthor.com purchased.

I will start my website over again.

I have my business account.

I have my inventory ordered.

I have my first audio book 1/2 recorded.

I have started a podcast on you tube. (Please like and subscribe)

I am posting more to my author pages on Facebook and Instagram.

I am going to try to conquer my fears and start to promote my books on tiktok.

I have a Kindle Scribe that I can write my notes in (and potentially write my novels in) to help streamline my process.

I have consolidated the “stuff” around my home that was just clutter and less useful to my authoring and mental health.

I am claiming my author career…and it’s about damn time.

Get it together, Sodaro

When I get frustrated with myself, I tend to refer to myself by just my last name (a nod to what some of my favorite people used to and still call me). As I get my author stuff going again, I have to keep saying, “Get it together, Sodaro.” Turns out…if you want to be an author and all the good stuff that goes along with it, you have to put in the work and keep that going. I dropped the ball. I dropped all the balls. In fact, I dropped all the balls, the baskets the balls came in, and the shelves that held the baskets that the balls came in…

I could blame 2020…it’s legit…I had more of my ducks in a row before all of the weirdness that was that year.

Regardless of what caused it…it is way past time that I fix it. (Oh, and I do apologize for the mixed metaphors with baskets and balls and ducks.)

But I am happy to say, I have finally gotten some of my ducks to bring me some of the balls to put in some of baskets to have on some of the shelves.

🙂 I now have a new PO BOX 12627 North Kansas City, MO 64116

🙂 I have copies of all of my books and am looking forward to selling them and promoting them.

🙂 I have my business bank account re-opened.

🙂 I have my business cards.

🙂 I have my address labels.

🙂 I am rebuilding my website.

🙂 I have ordered my proof of the first book of a 3-book series.

🙂 I have started writing stories for my 2nd volume of short stories.

🙂 I have started planning events where I can sell my books.

🙂 I am working with a friend as she builds her business as well.

Finding my way back

When I logged back in to my blog, I didn’t look back to see how long it had been. I have a general idea, but I don’t really need to see the date in black and white to know that it’s been, as they say, a minute…There are a thousand “reasons” which all boil down to excuses and we can’t move back the hands of time, so let’s just not play the “I wish I would have” game.

The truth is, I have been lost. A lot of us have. the last two years have been, to put it mildly, off. I, like many others, was in survival mode where it is hard to do more than the bare minimum and harder still to do that without a nap or twelve.

In 2020, I had so many goals, as I always start out each new year…and then when every thing happened and the world shut down, all of my goals boiled down to one goal. Hit 20 books out. If I accomplished nothing else, I would get to 20 books out. So I did. I got Making Sunbeams (an edition of Making Sunshine for younger people) and Don’t Let Go to proof status with their copyright dates of 2020.

The problem is, that those two proofs stayed in in proof status, and that caused a bit of a blocked drain in the production line of Sodaro world. I couldn’t get new books out, I didn’t want to create more proofs to just further clog the drain, and I put my author goals on a shelf until I could get it all sorted out.

When I quit teaching to focus more on authoring, I tried different jobs to find my place outside of being Ms. Sodaro. This job wasn’t right for this reason or that job wasn’t great for that reason, though I met amazing people every where I went. The job I have now is just right, and the Goldilocks fit of the job I have, which allowed me to get the loft I have always wanted, and I can finally say I am finding my way back to my author life, which has been patiently waiting for me (mostly because there was no other choice than to wait).

I am recording audio. Starting with Dear Teaching: I Want a Divorce.

I have Don’t Let Go out into the world.

I will redo (again) my website.

I am updating my inventory to have a book signing and get people excited about my book again.

I have plans for a 3-book fiction and a 3-book non-fiction series to have out this year.

I am, my friends, finding my way back.

Getting to 20 in 2020

So this has not been my favorite year, but I made a goal to get my 20th book out this year.

Kindle sale

First Down (Lucky Charms Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0714NR5JT/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_sMMzFb7275JFM

Check out the first book of my Lucky Charms series, where Josh, Dillon, and of course, Lilly, kick off the adventures of the whole crew.