.jpg)
The Daring Author
The Daring Author
Dare to Be Seen as an Author
Fear grips us all in different ways, but for authors, the fear of being seen might be the most insidious barrier to success. While we pour our souls into characters and plotlines, many of us freeze when it comes to marketing our work and building our author brand.
This deeply personal episode explores the paradox we face as writers: we're comfortable weaving our truths into fiction, hiding safely behind screens and sometimes even pen names, yet we panic at the thought of genuine visibility. That fear of judgment and rejection keeps us molding ourselves to fit expectations, wearing masks to gain acceptance, and ultimately disconnecting from the authentic voice that could be our greatest strength.
The breakthrough comes when we recognize that our thoughts and emotions aren't who we truly are. By separating our essential self from the frightened mind, we can witness our fears without being controlled by them. This separation creates freedom to show up authentically, which magnetizes the exact readers who resonate with our unique energy. These connections aren't just marketing wins—they're soul-aligned relationships that make the author journey infinitely more fulfilling.
Your authenticity is the most powerful marketing tool you'll ever possess. Those raw, real posts that terrify you to share? They're precisely the ones that will connect most deeply with your audience. In a world of AI-generated content and cookie-cutter marketing, your human voice is what makes readers stop scrolling. I challenge you to post something this week that scares you—something genuine that reveals the person behind the author name. Your true readers are waiting to connect with exactly who you are, not who you think you should be.
Book your complimentary discovery call here!
Discover what social media platform is right for you here!
Download 50 content ideas for authors here!
Website: https://thedaringpress.com/
Hello and welcome back to another chapter of the Daring Author podcast. Now, today I'm sharing something that has been coming up a lot for me in working with my mentors and just what I'm hearing a lot. And when you hear it a lot, it means it's a sign right. So that is on being seen and really the confidence in sharing your voice and who you are, and this is a big topic for me and something that has held me back a lot in the past. So, for me, I think that when I do write and when I do write my stories, when I'm in my journal, when I'm writing fiction stories, romance stories, all of the books that I do write, I love that because I am behind the screen, I am writing my truth, I am weaving that into my characters and it feels easy for me. The part that does feel quite challenging and that I have come up against in the past is that being seen piece is when it comes to actually marketing the book. And you might relate to this, and I know a lot of authors will relate to this, because, yeah, we can hide behind the screen, we can write to our heart's desire, put it in a book, put it out there and even under like pen names, even under names that aren't who we really like, our real name, and even that in itself is like hiding behind a name as well. And the part is that I've realized is when it comes to actually marketing the book and building a personal brand around, sharing my thoughts, sharing the book, sharing marketing, is a real big fear around being seen.
Speaker 1:It's a fear around if I am seen, I might get rejected, and that's a big thing for me. It's something like a big fear I've had for a lot of years and I've moulded myself into certain things that I would do. I would mould myself into a certain way to fit into that group. I would mold myself into a certain way to fit into that group, to be liked, to be liked by these people because I'm being this thing and it's like putting on a mask and that type of concept, and it really is that fear of judgment. It's really that fear of oh, you know, if they can't, if they don't see me, they can't reject me. And there's a couple of things that really frustrate me about this. For so many years I just went, went along with it, because I didn't know any different, I didn't, I wasn't aware of it, which is the first step in this of like being aware of it. You might not realize it yet, but then, when you actually look into it and start peeling back the layers, it's like, oh my God, I'm holding myself back in so many different ways and holding myself back from my true potential because of this fear around being seen, this fear around being judged, this fear around people not liking me or people not agreeing.
Speaker 1:And it's such a big thing when it comes to being an author and we are constantly being judged by our words. You know, through reviews and what people think Like it's a big thing of like people are going to judge us, people are going to judge our words when it comes to reading and reviewing it, and some people aren't going to like that. And do you know what the big thing in this is? That the more you connect with yourself, the more you build a relationship with yourself and the more that you love yourself and that you know who you really are, the more that those words, that rejection, you're not going to give a shit, it does not matter. Why do we matter? Why do we play small? Because somebody said a comment that they don't like this particular thing. Why do we shrink ourselves to fit into the mold, to fit into this particular group, to fit into this author community, to fit into this specific genre? I've got to write this certain way Like, oh, I'm so over it and I'm so like just over shrinking myself and seeing people change to fit into a mold.
Speaker 1:And do you know what the most powerful thing is, and what I am most drawn to is the people that are themselves, that you can feel it in the energy of when they show up online, when they show up in marketing their books, when they show up in sharing their thoughts, those thought leaders that you're just like, you're just in awe, because you're like, oh my God, I so resonate, like they're sharing the stuff that you want to share. You're like, oh my God, I so resonate, they're sharing the stuff that you want to share. But you're feeling like, oh no, I can't be seen. Oh no, I can't be judged, oh no.
Speaker 1:And the sad thing is we're holding ourselves back to our true potential. Our soul knows what we desire, it knows our path and our journey, and it's the human and it's the mind that start coming in with thoughts and these things of judgment, fear around that holding us back and when you separate yourself, your true self, your soul self, from your thoughts, from your emotions. Like these things, when you look at it and one of my mentors has provided me with this like activation that I listen to every morning and it has been such a game changer for me in separating myself, my true observer self, from my thoughts and emotions and it's like seeing them play out on a tv screen, is like the meditation that we go through, and being able to separate myself from the thoughts and emotions has been such a game changer for me to move through things so much easier of like, oh, that's just my thoughts trying to protect me, trying to to do this and that, but it's not who I am. Your thoughts and emotions are not who you are, which is huge. It's huge.
Speaker 1:And in being seen, it doesn't mean you have to be the loudest or you have to be a particular way. You just need to be real, like who are you? What are you passionate about? When you, like everyone is passionate about something and what they want to share and how they want to show up, and I think it really is being seen equals, being known and then being known equals, really building true connection and that is what our readers crave as well. That connection point to the authors they love your words, they love your books. If you're in that frequency when you do write and you do love your words so much, that's going to come out on those pages. That's going to connect to the readers that it's meant to connect to, then building that true connection in what you do and when you show up and allowing yourself to be seen Like I really think it's like let them misjudge you, let them misunderstand. Your only job is to show up as you and you'll build that confidence. It's gonna connect with the people that are in that alignment with you, that get it that you want.
Speaker 1:Like for me and my readers and this has been a huge thing over the past year the readers that have come into my world like they're the most beautiful people, like they're my people and they're the readers that are like friends in a sense, like they're the community I want to be around. And I have done that intentionally in the way that I write, in the way that I show up and really choosing that courage and stepping into that fear over the comfort Because I could be comfortable, I could sit back and be like, no, I'm going to hide behind the screen, I don't want to be seen, I don't want to be judged and all of that. But that's going to hold me back from my true potential and I know this episode is going to hit a lot of people, no matter where you sort of are in your journey. But I really think it's such an important thing around being seen and it's a fear I've had for so many years and one that I'm still working on, that fear around being judged by others. And the more I lean in, the more I'm connecting to myself, my soul, self, the more I'm really ready to be seen, heard, witnessed, sharing myself.
Speaker 1:And it really comes down to that connection to yourself and allowing yourself to feel that fear and acknowledging that part of you that is scared and really nurturing your system. That is going to be okay, because I think and for me, when I get into that, I have had nearly panic attacks of like, had nearly panic attacks of like oh my god, overthinking and all of that and then it's like about nurturing your system, doing meditation, allowing yourself that you telling yourself that you are safe, that it's okay, and it is really our inner child being like, oh God, this is like my biggest fear. I'm really scared, I'm really vulnerable and really acknowledging that part of yourself telling her it's okay that you can do this, that we are safe, we are protected, nothing bad is going to happen. Nothing bad is going to happen. Nothing life-threatening is going to happen in that situation. So it's a huge topic, as I said, but it's something that is really on my heart at the moment and I'm only sharing content and I'm only sharing episodes. That I just what's on my heart and what is going to truly connect to you and I really, I really I want to do a dare.
Speaker 1:I dare you to post something this week that scares you, to post something this week that scares you Something raw, something real, and just really let people feel you Share something. And that is your dare. Build your personal brand as an author and share more of who you are and your thoughts, more of who you are and your thoughts. And I tell you, these posts, when you are in your true self and you're in that true expression of self, those are the posts that literally go nuts. They're the viral posts. They're those ones that are just out of this world because you're just being yourself and you're letting go of that fear, you're letting go of that judgment and you're just putting that out there. And I want to share something on this being seen and having fun with your marketing.
Speaker 1:Being seen and having fun with your marketing Something that I have opened up is a Patreon account in the past month and a fun way that I am really marketing it is.
Speaker 1:It's called the DARE Vault and you can only get into the vault if you have a key, and that is how I'm marketing it. I'm bringing in that storytelling. We're all storytellers. We wouldn't be writers if we're not storytellers. Bring that funness into your posts, into your marketing, be fun with it. Have that connection point. Ask questions, connect with your readers, have fun with it. I am so over in other industries how they're using the likes of AI, chatgpt to write their posts and they're not connecting because they're not real, they're not human, they're just mass-produced marketing word vomit, I will say. And people are scrolling so fast because they're just not connecting to it. And when you are your human self, when you do put that passion into it, when you are willing to be seen and put that into your words, that's the connection point. That is what is going to make you go viral, make you be seen in your truest light.