All Authors Begin Their Authors Walk in the DUMMY Stage

All Authors Begin Their Author’s Walk

in the DUMMY Stage

Ouch … was that kinda of a kick in the tush when you read the headline, yes?

It’s my personal truthiness from the creation and writing of 49 books.

One of the most highly listened podcast that I’ve done so far this year on the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast was one that quickly went through 14 tools for authors to use. I know that many of you are familiar with some … but not all. That session was seeded when my scheduled guest SOS’d me and said he was in the middle of tech chaos and couldn’t be available five minutes before our recording was to start. And … I so get the tech chaos bit.

The studio was booked. My producer Ben was ready for me on Zoom to start. I was available, of course. I said to him, “Give me five minutes, I will come up with “something” and just go solo.”

Gulp. Breathe. What should I do? Yellow pad in front of me and I asked out loud, “OK Judith … what are some of the things—author tools—you wished you had known about long ago?” And I started listing words. Tool names.

And as always, I told Ben, “Start recording … I’m ready to begin …”

It was a marathon as I just opened up and words followed the many “one word triggers” I wrote on the yellow pad. When the hour was up, Ben’s voice came on with a “WOW …” He gave me a virtual standing ovation as we wrapped the session with no stops.

My goal was to reveal tricks and tips to the “tool” I was covering—why I thought it was the ”cat’s meow to discover and use. Sometimes with just words; and at others, a quick screen share as I did the step-by-step within the tool I was talking about.

Claiming the DUMMY title
is the Staring Point to becoming SMART

For the 40 years I’ve been writing … my starting point was total ignorance. I was the element of dumbness. Today, I have become a MASTER in a variety of areas of publishing. Each journey began with ignorance—at times, I felt I was a dummy of all things.

My 40+ year journey through the publishing maze has delivered an array of experiences, ahas and yes, crashes. I now can quickly evaluate whether it makes sense to keep using and mastering … or to just put it in my “good to know” file the truckload of tools that I come across.

• Is the opportunity right for me?
• Does it fit and support the work that I do?
• Does it add to my social media marketing?
• Is it something that my full time VA can use to enhance my social media that she puts out daily?
• Does it open up an avenue that I haven’t thought about?

Because I allowed myself to be DUMB, I enabled myself to begin the journey to being a MASTER. How cool is that?

As an author, no matter where you are on the path: just starting—almost there to completion of your manuscript or with book in hand—frustration is most likely a familiar road sign you’ve encountered.

Drive through it. Those 15, 30, even 60 minutes of being overwhelmed, frustrated and let’s face it: feeling/saying, “Screw it,” and wanting to throw in the towel may be the seed to a giant WOOT! I so know this … I’ve been there, done that.

Complacency will never move you to mastery in anything. Curiosity and Persistence will. Embrace your dumbness and celebrate the coming smartness.

What say you?

Dr. Judith Briles is the award-winning and bestselling author of 49 books and calls Colorado home. When she’s not in the kitchen or in the garden, she’s working with clients as The Book Shepherd, a book and publishing consulting and project management firm that works with authors at all stages of their book to create and publish a book they never regret! She’s the founder of the first Authors’ Hall of Fame exclusively dedicated to ensuring the legacy of authors connected in some way with Colorado.

Judith’s books have been translated into 17 countries with over 1,000,000 copies sold! They have been featured in over 2,000 radio and TV shows including repeat appearances on CNN, CNBC, and Oprah. She has worked with over 1,500 authors and created 500 plus bestsellers. Print publications include Newsweek, People, Time, The Wall Street Journal and … The National Enquirer! Her popular podcast, AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing is dedicated to authors and writers and their success and is ranked in the top ten in four categories on GoodPods.