What Should Authors Have in Common with Bees?

What Should Authors Have in Common with Bees?

Spring officially starts this week. The one thing I like about winter is that I don’t have much outdoor maintenance in my home … unless it’s an emergency of some sort. My attention is on indoor needs: writing, getting ready for the next season to unfold, continuing clearing out the basement area, and reducing the care of a large home.

My eyes were on alert as the Winter Solstice passed, knowing that January will deliver two more minutes of sunlight each day as the season begins to morph and February will generate three minutes more daily. I embrace the promise of warmth and daylight to come. I wonder, what day will I see my first bee? A promise that spring and warmth is coming could happen this week. A promise of growth. A promise of sustainability and rebirths.

I’m a fan of honey bees. Amazed at what these insects do and are. One summer, I found myself in the gardens of impressionist painter Claude Monet in Giverny, France. Mesmerized by the bee dance that unfolded in front of me. Each bee doing solo steps, but all in synch with their tasks—the gathering of the pollen. Their tiny legs were laden with the golden harvest. I spent hours just watching them before my daughter pulled me out with her, “Mom, everyone is looking for you. The bus has to leave.”

It has been one of my favorite memories. The brilliant colors of the gardens. The extreme calm I felt as a myopic voyeur of the bee dance. In awe of the amount of pollen that they accumulated on their legs, ready to transfer to their hive. Just being there. My kind of a drop-out and drop-in day. A perfect day. And yes, I did love the water lillies, too.

Which brings me to authors … just what do we authors have in common with bees … or should have?

Lots.

The worker bees that I observed were working individually but gathering for the masses within their hive. They had one job—get the pollen and bring it back. As wintertime comes to an end, a new Queen will be hatched. The old Queen leaves the hive with about half of the bees to start a new hive, leaving the one behind with a new crop of bees, and Queen. It’s all about increasing.

As an author, think about the “increase” … your increase. What would it look like for you? More writing? Faster publishing? Become more efficient? Successful marketing? What?

Ask yourself, do you need to bring in other bees to assist you? What about your own productivity? What can you do to eliminate what’s not working and enhance what can? If interruptions are constant, what can you do to reduce them?

Focusing is always a factor for book marketing success. Identify your distraction factors and create boundaries around them.

Bees are myopically focused. A good idea for this year of the Fire Horse and an Irish wish for to envelope your author success.

Dr. Judith Briles is the award-winning and bestselling author of 48 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.