“The only way to fail is to quit.” –Deanna Roy
Deanna Roy is the six-time USA Today bestselling author of over sixty works of women’s fiction, nonfiction, and middle grade books under four pen names. She is a regular speaker and instructor for authors who choose the self-publishing route for their books. Her books frequently hit the Top 100 of Amazon, and many of her romantic comedies have been named Kindle All Stars.
On Saturday, October 19th, Deanna Roy is teaching a class for the WLT called “Mastering Self Publishing.” This in-depth class is perfect for authors who have experience with self-publishing but would like to dive deeper into the details of release strategy, marketing, and diversifying your writing income.
Here’s what Deanna had to share with us:
Scribe: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you write? How did you come to writing?
Deanna Roy: I write women’s fiction, middle grade books, romantic comedies, romantic suspense, and the occasional nonfiction work. I have sixty-five self-published titles and three traditionally published ones. I started making little stapled books when I was six years old. Story has always been one of my great life escapes, and I’ve loved both reading and writing since I could put letters into words.
Scribe: In your own work, how do you approach overcoming the challenges that come with writing, be it writer’s block or craft or business-related challenges?
DR: My primary personality traits are what the Clifton Strengths call “communication” and “woo.” So when I run into trouble, I talk about it with other authors. In the process of explaining what is happening to me, I can often work it out for myself, and if not, I can listen to others’ experiences and advice. I make a lot of friends along the way. Having a community of writers to help means that virtually no challenge is insurmountable.
Scribe: Has there been a moment of epiphany in terms of your work, when you thought, “This is it! Now I know what I’m doing?” How long did that feeling last?
DR: So many times! The best moments are when your agent or a beta reader or critique partner says — um, this doesn’t work. And you think and you worry and you fear you’ll never get it, then BAM, a solution comes that not only solves the problem, but also elevates your book in some other way. This feeling lasts approximately eleven seconds until you realize this perfect solution created new, more insidious problems in the manuscript, and you have to figure out a solution for THAT part now. It was nice while it lasted.
Scribe: What piece of advice do you find yourself giving to writers again and again?
DR: Don’t quit. Pivot. No agent requesting? Find another way to present your query. Find another aspect of your book to focus on. Maybe even find a new way to start your book. Your indie book not selling? Pivot. Try a different cover. Rewrite that sales copy. Maybe even rewrite chapter one. The only way to fail is to quit.
Scribe: What is one thing that people will take away from this class?
DR: You will start to understand how your book fits into the retailer spaces and begin to market it in ways that actually get it into the hands of readers who will love it.
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Thanks, Deanna!
Click here to learn more about Deanna Roy’s upcoming class.
