Hello friends! Sagan here. Welcome back to Indie Author Weekly, where I share my behind-the-scenes journey of writing and self-publishing books.
If you’re new to this podcast, I am a productivity strategist for multi-passionate creatives at SaganMorrow.com: I help people manage their time and energy effectively, through customized, actionable strategies that work for your unique life and business. When I’m not teaching about productivity to solopreneurs, I spend my time writing romance novels, and occasionally, business books. And that is what this podcast is all about: the adventures of the author life.
Now let’s get into this episode of the Indie Author Weekly podcast. Today, we’re going to have a little fun—I want to share with you the 5 things that go through every author’s head when a friend says, “I’m reading your book!”
This is legit what I happens every time I find out that someone I know in real life is reading one of my Polyamorous Passions romance novels. By the way, if you’d like to learn more about those books and read them for yourself, you can search Polyamorous Passions on your favourite e-bookstore, or visit SaganMorrow.com/books.
Okay! Here we go. These are the thoughts that run through my head when a friend tells me they’re reading my books...
Thought #1: Awwww, that’s so sweet!
I pretty much always voice this thought out loud because I can’t contain myself. And yes, sometimes I literally squeal out loud. It really means a lot when friends take the time to read the books I’ve written!
Thought #2: Hmm… is there anything really inappropriate or awkward in that book?
Okay, this is probably a romance-author-specific sort of thought, but there’s definitely a moment of frantically thinking back to what scenes I wrote in a particular book when I find out someone’s reading it.
Thought #3: Oh god, should I be embarrassed? What if they hate my writing style or my story?
I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of authors, even the most experienced, have this moment of insecurity at some point or another. This is an uncomfortable thought that almost inevitably comes up. Luckily, I find that the more we write, the better we get, and the less anxiety or insecurity bubbles to the surface when friends read our work.
It’s usually still there—it’s just not as intense as it might have been towards the beginning of our author journey.
Thought #4: Should I ask them what they thought of my book?
It’s really funny when friends just tell me “I’m reading your book,” but then they don’t say anything else. You’re kind of standing there and thinking, “okay, should I prompt them to give me feedback, or do they have absolutely nothing to say about it?”
I think the reason why friends often don’t volunteer their thoughts is because they truly don’t know whether we as authors want to know what they think. That’s kind of the only conclusion I’ve come to. But for the record, I love it when friends give me feedback of all kinds about my books! I’ve gotten much better over the years at prompting people to let me know what they liked etc from my stories.
By the way, if you’re not sure about the type of feedback to give, I did an episode all about how to write a book review in a previous episode here on the Indie Author Weekly podcast. You can always use that as a starting point. Tune into Episode 12 for those ideas.
Thought #5: Yay, my friend is reading my book!
Honestly, this is what it really comes down to, every time. As much as some insecurities go speeding through your head every time a friend announces they’re reading your book, the main thought is all focused on the excitement and gratitude and happiness that a friend is reading it.
As authors, we put our heart and souls into our work, so it’s very touching when you invest the time, money, and energy to read our stories. Thank you so, so much! We appreciate it, even if we’re sometimes—okay, probably often—awkward as hell when you tell us that you’re reading our books.
And to follow that up… if you’d like to read any of my books, that would be wonderful! I would love that, and I think you’ll enjoy the stories. You can learn all about my Polyamorous Passions romance novels and business books at SaganMorrow.com/books, or search Sagan Morrow or Polyamorous Passions at your favourite e-bookstore.
Now, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Connect with me on Twitter and Instagram, @Saganlives, to chat about it! And you can send me a message on either of those platforms if you have requests for future episode topics, too. The more you tell me what you’d like to see more of on this podcast, the better that I can accommodate that. You can also submit your questions or topic ideas anonymously at SaganMorrow.com/question.
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By the way, you can access complete word-for-word transcripts of this episode and all past episodes, plus sample chapters of my books and a few other bonuses and goodies, on the “secret” version of this podcast. Get access to all of that at SaganMorrow.com/secretpodcast.
Thanks so much for tuning in to the Indie Author Weekly podcast, and I will see you in the next episode.