"Failing Out Loud"

With guest blogger.... suspense author Lisa Phillips!

Bestselling Failure

Here’s something no one ever told you about being an author: it won’t be perfect.

Sure, we all have visions of NYT Bestseller status dancing in our heads, and that call. You know the one, the one known as “The Call”. Where a New York number flashes on your caller ID, and you gasp. Choke. Almost drop the phone. Yes, yes I was working out (obviously) that’s why I sound breathless. Yes, I would be very happy to sign whatever you send me so that you can then send me a check and I can do line edits for the rest of my life. (Not really.)

I still don’t like edits. Surely by now I should just be able to spawn a fully formed book that’s technically and spiritually perfect. That should be a thing, right?

Sigh. (In case you’re wondering, it’s not a thing.)

Or you self publish. I do that, too. Clearly you’re going to rush up the ranks and sparkling five star reviews will commence. Maybe you’ll get one or two bad reviews, plus that lady on Goodreads who thinks I might not be saved, but that’s not so bad right? RIGHT?

How about starting out with fifteen bad reviews, like this book:

Or this book:

Yes, both of them.

Sometimes it looks like Amazon’s fault, and sometimes there’s a technical issue that makes you look like the most inept, wanna-be, blatantly “self-published author, did you know she does that?” and you want to throw up. Good thing I’m not a crier, because boy would there ever have been some days I’d have used a whole box of tissues. Costco sized.

But we plough through.

I’m British, so I have that stiff upper lip thing happening.

I lead worship at my church, and wouldn’t you know it’s not always perfect?

I would have thought God would want His people to represent Him in the best light. I would have told you that He was going to make it sound amazing so that people could worship without the worship leader’s mess-ups distracting them. There is this neat Holy Spirit filter that kicks in, people forget you’re on stage and just worship. Never mind the mess ups, they’re all in, praising Him regardless. Those beautiful people who do that.

It’s like a good review: “I don’t know what all those other people were talking about it, I thought that book was great!”

God lets us be human, in all our humanness, in all our tarnished glory (not very glorious I’ll tell you) because it grows us. But that’s a whole other post about character, and stretching and fun stuff like that. (Ouch.)

So it’s inevitable. You’ll mess up. And the nature of writing books people are going to read is that you’ll do it where everyone can see—where they can read it for themselves. Especially if you’re self-published, taking all that work on your shoulders and trying to convince yourself you wanted to do it in the first place.

Or you could give up.

But who wants to do that?

If other people’s opinion is greater than your will to write then you will spend your whole writing life sinking, until you finally drown.

Feel like you’re drowning? Find that will to write in the hard moments when the kids are yelling and there are dishes in the sink, when dinner needs making and the hubs will be home in fifteen minutes but you just need a few more words.

Find the will to write when you bow your head and give up the fear. When you think about that one person, that “ideal reader” who gets what you were trying to say, who takes on board the message and finds new ground in her own battles. That reader who takes your book to her Bible study and tells all her friends about it, before she emails you to ask when the next one is coming out.

Pleasing the crowd doesn’t work. Write to that reader. The one. YOUR reader.

Because they can’t wait for your next book.

Lisa Phillips is a British ex-pat who grew up an hour outside of London. Lisa attended Calvary Chapel Bible College where she met her husband. He's from California, but nobody's perfect. It wasn't until her Bible College graduation that she figured out she was a writer (someone told her). Since then she's discovered a penchant for high-stakes stories of mayhem and disaster where you can find made-for-each-other love that always ends in happily ever after. 
Lisa can be found in Idaho wearing either flip-flops or cowgirl boots, depending on the season. She leads worship with her husband at their local church. Together they have two children--a sparkly Little Princess and a Mini Daddy--and an all-black Airedale known as The Dark Lord Elevator.

Lisa’s latest release is an August Love Inspired Suspense titled DEAD END.

Nina Holmes won't rest until she finds her mother's killer—and proves that her father was wrongly

convicted. And now that she's left the CIA, she finally has time to pursue the case that shattered her childhood. But someone realizes that Nina's digging into the past, and soon it's her own life that's in jeopardy. Deputy US marshal Wyatt Ames is just as determined to keep Nina safe as he is to keep investigating. But as he helps her with the case, they discover that this killer may be even more dangerous than anyone expected. And to capture him, Wyatt and Nina must be willing to do whatever it takes—even use themselves as bait.

Lisa is giving away FIVE signed copies of Dead End today!! Tell her your best author-failure story, and get entered to win!