Writing is unlike any art form I’ve ever played with. Instead of always being a competition, a giant ME! ME! ME! contest, it’s about sharing, listening, backing each other up. Writers are pack animals and the cooler you are with helping others out, the better off you are.
Anytime I meet success, I feel indebted to everyone. My expectations for myself continue to grow because I feel it necessary to live up to the name I have built. We all screw up. I am as far from perfect as anyone, but I always strive to be better (whether I fail or not).
Things have been very up and down for me this summer. BUT lately I have more to be thankful for than I envisioned.
https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Rule-Jessica-Marie-Baumgartner/dp/1943755191/
My latest children’s book: The Golden Rule won a Summer New Apple Award, is currently nominated for an award that The Pope Won, AND today the tweepoles of the wonderful land of Twitter got me up to 9k followers.
That may not seem like a lot to some people, but it means a lot to me. And then to bring everything ahead, sales climbed again! The Golden Rule is back in the top #100 books in its genre. I like to celebrate every victory as if I’ve won a Pulitzer.
So to thank my dear readers (who are the best readers!), and everyone who’s helped me along the way, I am not only doing an amazon giveaway (which should open soon – links to come), but I found a cool way to reward my authorly buddies, some of which already have all my books.
I found myself baffled by the lack of indie author quotes on Goodreads. Unsure if the website enters them electronically or has some Quote Department, I played around on the site and found that anyone can enter an author’s quotes! FROM THEIR BOOKS!! (Maybe this is old news?)
The first thought that struck me was: I have to grab my copy of Wild Ink and get Richard Smyth’s words in here so everyone can know how brilliant he is!
My 2nd thought was: I can add all my favorite quotes from all my favorite indie authors!!
And then it hit me: Holy Moly, does that mean I can put some of my own quotes on here? haha
I am on a new quest now. Not only am I eager for the amazon giveaway to open so I can reward newby readers for taking the time to look into my wordy workings, BUT a book defiler like me should put all the underlinings and earmarked pages to good use.
The best Richard Smyth quotes from Wild Ink are now safe and sound on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/richard-smyth
(You should read them…they really are beyond words)
And I’ve added the best of LM Bryski’s musings from Book of Birds:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15867367.L_M_Bryski
I plan to continue donning the quote fairy role for as long as I need to, but I need your help. READERS, WRITERS, WORD LOVERS, take some time to check Goodreads for your favorite indie author quotes. If they’re not there, add them. It makes a huge difference and will leave a larger impact than you know.
There I go again, thanking people while putting them to work at the same time. Must be the mom in me. haha Don’t feel bad if you don’t have time. I’ll be at it. It all comes from the same place. We all have different stories to tell, stories we wish to shares; the thing that gets me is how they bring us together or give us the ability to light the darkest places.
Jessica Marie Baumgartner 