by Angela Ruth Strong, @AngelaRStrong
I’m currently at training to become a flight attendant, so I haven’t been doing much writing or marketing, but I still get to open up my social media accounts and find people tagging me in their book reviews or inviting me to be a guest on their blogs or speak at their writer’s events. This is because I’m established. It’s like when you were a kid and you walked in a circle in your wading pool, but when you stopped, the water kept circling. It’s fun to be able to take a break and have my career carried along, but it takes a lot of work in the beginning.
I’m thinking about this hard work because the training classes I’m currently in are stricter than how it will be when I actually become a flight attendant. For example, we aren’t allowed to wear boots with dresses or we’ll get written up, but flight attendants for my airline are allowed to wear them. It felt unfair at first, but then I was reading in Exodus all the crazy rules Moses had the Israelites follow, and I realized it’s because they were being established as a nation. Those who are not committed are weeded out. Only those who have the dedication to create a lasting airline/nation/writing career are going to make it through such transitions.
If you are just starting out, what does this mean for you?
- You are being tested to see if you’re heading the right direction. If it’s not the right thing for you, that’s okay. God has other great things planned for your life. Or maybe you had false expectations, and you simply need to realign them. Or maybe it’s going to take time for you to work up the courage to submit your first manuscript or you need to take more time to polish it before pushing send next time. We all have different journeys, and they all have challenges.
- The work is worth it. The work is always worth it. Even if your first novel doesn’t sell, you learned a lot through writing it. Even if it takes a long time for you to build your social media platform, you’re still one step closer to the numbers needed to impress publishers. Even if you get bad reviews, you grow thicker skin. (Beware: The most “successful” people need the thickest skin.)
- It does get easier. At my first writer’s conferences, I got nervous about meeting editors and agents. Now many are my friends. They don’t only send projects my way, they text me silly stories and mail me Christmas cards. On top of that, strangers recognize me. I’ve become known. And that’s what it means to become established.
I still work on growing my platform and improving my writing. I still succeed and fail. But even though I haven’t yet signed any contracts for new books, I have a peace that the circling waters are bringing them my way.
My writing career will probably change with my new job flying the friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) skies, but I’m excited for the opportunity to travel and share more of the beauty in this world with you. Also, you can be watching for an upcoming article titled: How to Write on the Fly.
In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?
Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.
When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .
Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.