20 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before…

1. Sometimes the book you’re most passionate about doesn’t do well, when a book you aren’t as passionate about succeeds.

2. Quality of writing doesn’t = sales. And the fickle nature of sales is nearly impossible to figure out. Best advice? Write what you’re passionate about and leave the rest in God’s hands.

3. People move all the time in the CBA. Expect it.

4. This is a long, long journey. Don’t let a myopic view of today’s rejection color the whole path for you.

5. Promotion takes A LOT of time and energy.

6. Most likely you won’t make enough money to live on. Plan accordingly.

7. Burning bridges is not a wise idea. Learn to keep your tongue in check (cheek)!

8. Establish specific relational boundaries with the opposite sex in the very beginning. Think through how you will respond to different situations before they arise. Have a small accountability group who you’re brutally honest with, to keep you on the straight and narrow. The best defense? If you’re married, talk about how amazing your spouse and kids are at every breath. That’s one thing I love about several of my male friends in the CBA—they are absolutely in love with their wives, which creates a terrific boundary and makes me feel safe.

9. Develop a prayer team the moment you sense God is calling you to write full time.

10. Humility trumps self-promotion and self-importance. I wished I hadn’t been “all that” in the beginning.

11. The words you write on a blog, even if taken down, stay in folks’ minds. Be cautious about what you write.

12. Learn to apologize and mean it. We’ll all make mistakes on this journey, but having a humble, contrite heart is how Jesus would be. Maybe we should go back to WWJD, asking ourselves how Jesus would respond to whichever CBA situation we find ourselves in.

13. Remember God is the one who holds your reputation in His hands. When we live for our reputation instead of His, we get into trouble. It’s not our job to micromanage our reputation, but just to be obedient and trusting.

14. There is always something to learn editorially, and often I find that the more I write, the harder the edits become.

15. Awards are nice, but they don’t sell books.

16. Bread and butter income = writing for magazines.

17. Novels are unwieldy creatures that are notoriously un-tameable, but I’m so grateful to have the chance to write them.

18. Learn to steer clear of folks who always have something awful to say about others in the industry.

19. There really is no room for slackard, shoddy work.

20. Being faithful in little gets very little fanfare, but God sees. He rewards those who have integrity in taxes, little moral choices, and the way we treat others. Those little “habits” we have now that cut corners will become large, hairy monsters the more “famous” we get.