YA Wednesday: Why Being A Debut Author Isn’t Exactly A Dream Come True, 10 Things I’ve Learned About Being A Debut Author, 10 YA Authors on Not Being a Debut Anymore

cubicle-dwellersI recently got laid off from an IT job I’d held for 35 years (I really did stay at an insurance company that long) and became a debut author. This has been, without a doubt, an exciting time. But new beginnings, even ones you desperately want, can take some getting used to. There have been moments when I wanted to rush back into the comfort of my cozy Kafkaesque cubical.

A lot of what I’ve had to do as a debut author is way outside my comfort zone. I’ve had to cold call or email total strangers, and get up and talk about my book in front of total strangers and friends who in the anxious blur start to look like strangers. I gave my first class ever (about true crime), was on blog talk radio, and participated on a panel on a real stage in a real theater for the first time. There have been moments at 3AM when I wake in terror thinking, what’s next? This kind of stuff makes me want to scramble for Xanax, but it has also taught me that doing something new is almost never as hard as you think it will be. And with each new thing your comfort zone gets a little wider.

So in honor of ch-ch-changes and new beginnings, here are some thoughts about being a debut author in the YA world and beyond.

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