Writing, world-building, practical and encouraging discussion of the creative life, vlogging the cozy and simple day-to-day. I've been a professional novelist for 15 years.
This was a great simple but informative tutorial on FB advertising! I tried it once for a short story collection but it didn’t seem to affect anything. Maybe I’ll try it for my next book. Thank you!
I've been writing (copywriting, B2B, and ghost writing) for years, but have my first novel coming out in November. I found you a couple of months ago and have really enjoyed hearing your insight. You are a realistic, relatable person. Myself, and my smother writer/author friends are enjoying your content!
Probably most of my TBR is from Facebook ads. I’ve seen an ad for The Broken Queen about 3 times since it’s been out. Each time I’m like “oh look it’s Lydia! “
I just love your broadcasts. You are so honest and refreshing and non-market. This broadcast soooo important to me as tomorrow I begin editing my novel MS which I just got back from my Editor, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I WANT to make this all happen by end of August, so giving myself a month. Will be following your tips and report back at the end of the month. Thank you.
"An undercurrent of ....a movement of artists and mindful people trying to shake off this capitalism and consumerism hustle culture...(07:17)" I heard this empowering statement and now I'm a fan! You rock, Lidiya!
Thank you for your honesty, bravery, and encouragement. My first book, the first tattempt, was an embarrassing disaster. After I rewrote it and re-did it, it did much better and the reviews got much better, but I feel like I'm forever damaged from that first bad experience, although I learned a ton from int.
You're a natural story teller! Great video. I'm so impressed by your strength to keep going with writing. I wrote a non-fiction book proposal and i did my research well and found an agency that i could see that my book type was missing from their catalogue and thst they'd probably like it. And they did and i signed on with them and got working on the next book proposal... then out of the blue they email me to say that they were cancelling my contract as it wasn't marketable and i had too low a number of followers on social media. I was crushed. Even though they didn't say it, my great fear was (and is) that my writing was just really bad. I am still sorta shaken by that and doubt my writing very much to this day whereas before I had a natural confidence in jt because i enjoyed it. Also...as they had wanted me to grow a social media following i tried many things to try and achieve that and it basically took over my life at that point. I was making all the trendy short form video content and none of it was true to me and actually it was embarrassing because i felt pushed to do it. So i guess my lesson was that i should stick with things i enjoy and find people who like what i like rather than trying to appeal to mass market. I'm now attempting to write another book and doing so under a pen name as that is giving me back some confidence. My alter ego is far more confident than me so that's good 😅 I guess I'm going to have to have a thicker skin. But when do you heed advice and when do you believe what you've got going is good!?
I doubt they dropped you because you were bad, if they had already signed you! Chances are either they changed direction and wanted people with more social media followers, as they say, or my hunch is that there is some behind the scenes trouble within the agency. It's also possible that you just chose a shady agency (I can't know this for sure from what you described, but there are plenty out there and it's not always easy to know how to tell). If you're a nonfiction writer and you don't really enjoy short form content, is it something you could start a Substack for? Then you could focus on that and only use social media mainly to tease longer form content... As for the insecurities, you can try to find some fellow writers to exchange critique. You can sense the vibe (if you share your work with people who are interested in the subject, especially people who are not family or close friends, do they ever engage with it?). But there is also a certain point where you just have to believe in what you're doing because someone will always be there to poke at your insecurities.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor thank you so much for such a thoughtful reply. That's so kind of you 😮 Substack is a great idea and I should definitely seriously consider it! They were a reputable agency but I think if they'd taken me that far they might have critiqued my writing and they didn't, so I'm hoping they means I wasn't awful. I think you're right and I need more people to read my work 🙏 really appreciate your insights, thank you x
I had such a great writing streak going on my second draft until my husband had to work mandatory overtime - 10 hour days for 12 days with only one day off in the middle. I had to stop writing completely as I struggled to handle my usual tasks, homeschooling, and my husband’s usual tasks. On a good note, my daughter and I got to build a duck coop for our ducks.
This week is all pre-book-launch for me =] I'm listening to the last few chapters of the audiobook edition to get it approved and into Audible/Findaway's QA department and filling out the Kindle X-ray feature before it releases. This book is a lot longer than my usual ones (book eight in an epic fantasy series that ran long), so it's taken a lot longer to get these last few things done. I can't wait for August, when I get to go back to writing again. In the mean time, I picked up Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree to read.
Honestly... Anime, JRPGs and table top games inspired all the fiction I ever wrote as a hobby more than I realized early on. Always a delight to see this sort of thing spoken about.
I hate how my entire life seems to contract around a project; but it's the only way to get anything done. Even if it means getting up when everyone else is asleep, the work has to get done, if the work is to get done. Getting up earlier than everyone else--super early--is the only method I've found to doing this. Good luck on cranking out the 25k. Cheers.
I related to quite a bit of this. I used to write one book at a time, but ever since the pandemic and experiencing burnout, i find myself bouncing between ideas... but i think that comes more from brain fog for me. Honestly don't worry about jumping between projects; you're such a productive writer! As ive been recovering from burnout, your videos have really helped me start getting excited about the process of writing again
First of all, as someone who has a few years on you, I have to say I think you’re doing everything right. I accidentally found your channel and just love watching your videos. When I had turned 40 I was completely unfazed. I still look like someone who was barely in her 20s, even though I had had a baby 10 years prior to that, I still had a very girlish figure. I can remember going to the ABC store and having the gentleman behind the counter asked me for my ID, after he had looked at, it very thoroughly said “well I guess you’re not doing too bad then.” it was such a great feeling for me. Now let’s move on to 12 years later and I do not look like that anymore. Life happened, my mother was dying of pancreatic cancer, and I had to become her caregiver. Which, although I would do it all over again, was truly the most difficult thing I ever had to do. We also had a pandemic, which came with a quarantine. My husband has been home ever cents and my son. So, the fact that I am never alone hinders my creativity. I read short stories for my doll Instagram soap opera. However, now that he is home all the time I’m never alone my thought process is literally blocked by him coming in and out of my work corner. Also, during the pandemic, I had needed something to bring a little joy in my life, and as a Barbie collector, I began to purchase Barbies online from eBay or Facebook marketplace. It got a little out of control. But mostly what I’m saying is, we all do what we can to survive whatever it is that we’re going through. Do not feel better. You have to apologize for your manga collection or really anything. You are not the type of person that goes on massive shopping spree‘s, wear overly priced clothing, or even have any type of plastic surgery done. Just like myself. What do you want to do with your money and your time is really your business and no one else’s. I love your work, I love your channel and I love you.
I went from being an unmarried 29 year old to a married 30 year old in the span of a week this year, and I definitely feel different, I feel like I've finally become a real adult
I love your content. You make me feel ok with life. Like I'm talking to a really good friend. Thank you for these! As for deep convos, I think living a life where we always want to do more is one of the greatest blessings out there. 'The endless pursuit of magic,' is what I like to call it. So long as we are happy with our efforts, the result won't be what we remember most in the end. It'll be how much fun we had getting here. That awareness comforts me. ...in my brief, non-nuerotic perfectionist moments 🙃😆 One day. These stories will escape my head I swear 🙃
I love your insight and at 34, I feel a lot of the things you talk about starting(or I’m already in the midst of)-career and age-wise-you’re adorable and I laughed out loud at “cruising toward the crone zone” I’m totally using that 🤣🩷 Happy to be a new sub 🩵🩷🩵
Ooo I love the idea of having the characters comparing their lives to the literature in their world. It's such a relatable thing that we all do (right? or is it just me? lol). I'm totally going to steal, er, *borrow* this idea for my current WIP. Since my story is in a medieval Europe-type fantasy world, I'll use an epic poem recited by bards rather than a gothic novel. Keep sharing your ideas. I definitely won't steal any more of them. Narrator: She absolutely would be stealing them.
It's okay! I was, in turn, inspired by the Emily Wilde books because I loved how everything that happens is referenced with a footnote to some fictional scholarly text about faeries. It made me think that I needed to really make the literature of my characters' world feel real with references to specific books and literary styles since both mcs are booksellers & very avid readers.
I doubt I'll be keeping this habit in the cooler months but when it's 80 in the house and the groundwater isn't even that frigid...they really are energizing!
Ah! I'm so glad you mentioned the Emily Wilde series. It is my favourite reads of this year! I also love watching all of your videos, every single time. You're so genuine and interesting.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Enjoy your vacation! I would still argue that down time and going with the flow and with the seasons ARE part of the creative work! Maybe the most important. Truly. It’s not just a thing that 4 hour work week people say.
