(LOGO)
Hellooo, everybody! Before we get into the topic, I have a couple of announcements. As many
of you know, a few weeks ago Cliff had a series of surgeries in order to test out a device called
‘The Spinal Cord Stimulator’ which is designed to manage his chronic neuropathic pain. The trial was
a huge success, which means it's time to implant the permanent stimulator. And this is supposed
to go down next week. Needless to say, I will not be blogging for the next two weeks. Cliff
is gonna need a lot of assistance, and that's where I come in. I appreciate you guys being
understanding about this. We have been waiting a long time for this surgery, and we're both really
excited about it. Onto my second announcement. It has come to my attention that I have recently
surpassed 50,000 subscribers! Holy shit. Thank you all so much for the love and support. It means the
world to me that you guys like my vlogs. Now as you know, for every 10,000 subscribers, I usually
put together a special blog featuring Cliff, but if it wasn't already clear, Cliff is gonna
be out of commission for a while. We definitely plan on doing a vlog together. It's just gonna
have to wait until Cliff heals up. On that note, let's get to today's topic. A lot of you folks
have asked me what I feel are the best and worst parts of being an author. This is an easy question
to answer because duh, I'm an author, I'm living the life. But it's also kind of tricky because my
author-life isn't necessarily reflective of the average author's life. Not only am I an author,
I'm a vlogger. My platform is a lot more public and in your face than a lot of authors out there.
I also write and vlog full time, which isn't the case for a lot of authors. So I'm going to list
the best and worst parts of being an author from my personal experience. Please keep in mind that
my answers aren't necessarily reflective of the masses. Best Part - I get to do what I love every
single day. I think this is a given. Writing is my passion and I get to write all the time,
and I get paid for it. It's fucking awesome. I love telling stories. I love the art of writing.
I love creating worlds, and characters, and violence and romance. And now I get to do this
shit every day. Not many people get to do what they love for a living. So I consider myself
extremely lucky. It's an absolute privilege to do what I do. And I'm just so extremely thankful
that I get to write all the time, whenever I want. It's fantastic. Worst Part - I have to work every
single day. An author's job isn't just writing. It's editing, reviewing, marketing, publishing,
the list goes on. Maybe if you're a household name, you can hire people to do all that other
crap for you. But the rest of us have to put in a lot of hours in order to make an income.
I literally work every single day. I may get a day off here and there for Christmas or….yeah, I guess
just Christmas. This is a really hard industry to make a name in. So if you wanna be successful,
you have to work your ass off, and kiss your free time goodbye. Best Part - I received the kindest,
most thoughtful messages on a daily basis. Every time I check my social networking pages, there are
literally hundreds of the sweetest messages I've ever read in my whole damn life. People go out
of their way to tell me that my book is their favorite book, or I'm their favorite author,
or my work inspires them. Thank you so much. It's insanely rewarding to see people enjoy
and appreciate your hard work. It makes me feel like not only am I pursuing my passion,
but my passion has meaning. Worst Part - I also received messages from douchebags. If you get into
this line of work and don't anticipate receiving at least a little bit of hate, you're an idiot.
The positive messages I received significantly outnumber the negative, but the negative’s
there. And I'm not talking about critical book reviews, because while those aren't fun, they're
a reasonable part of the gig. I'm talking about people who tagged me in douchey posts. People who
send me anonymous hate mail. People who call me an asshole, which to be fair, is accurate. Of course
there's also guys who live in their parent’s basements commenting, “Hey show us your tits.” I’m
a member of the itty bitty titty committee, you're not missing much. Now I have a pretty thick skin,
this stuff doesn't bother me a whole lot. It's just kind of an annoyance. Trolls are basically
the yeast infection of the internet, and your messages of love and support are the vagisil. Best
Part - I've chosen a career that gives me total control. I am my own boss, no one, and I mean no
one gets to tell me what to do. I get to set my own hours, I get to plan my own agenda, and I get
to write whatever the hell I wanna write. No one's ever gonna scold me for being late, or for working
in my PJs, or for working in bed. It's incredibly empowering to not have to answer to anyone. Plus,
it allows my creativity to flourish. If I wanna incorporate magic, guess what? I'm incorporating
magic. If I wanna write a sex scene, I guess my characters are getting laid. And if anyone has
an issue with how I run my business, it doesn't matter, cuz they're not the boss of me. No one's
the boss of me. Worst Part - I've chosen a career that makes me doubt myself. The one drawback of
being your own boss is, what if you make a huge mistake, and there's no one to tell you you fucked
up? I could be super confident in a scene, and a second later I'm thinking: But what if it's
shitty? Of course it's not shitty, it's amazing and powerful. Or is it shitty? All your betas
love the scene. Maybe they're idiots. They're not idiots. Well clearly they are if they enjoy
reading shit. You really need to calm down, cuz it sounds like you're freaking out. Ahhhhhh. Doubt is
a natural byproduct of this career because we are so invested in our work. Most people can
half-ass their jobs and think nothing of it, but these people are not professional writers.
Best Part - Immense pride. Not only do I love my job, but it makes me so proud to know that I've
achieved a lifelong dream. Becoming an author is something I've wanted since I was six years old.
Additionally, it's really hard to write an entire book, not to mention to edit it, to publish it, to
make money off of it, and to generate an audience. So to have gotten this far and to have achieved
something so difficult, I think is worth a pat on the back. I'm proud of the work I've done.
I feel good about myself. Worst Part - Immense invasion. Everyday I receive hundreds of really
sweet messages, but I also receive questions about my personal life, my relationships, my sexuality,
my uterus. I understand I have a public platform and I'm a very open person, I don't mind answering
questions. But be respectful about it. That's all I ask. So that's all I got for you today. Once
again, please keep in mind that these answers are based on my perspective as an author. I
think a lot of authors would cite a lack of job security or financial stability as one of the
worst parts of being an author, which are very valid concerns. I'm just speaking from my personal
experience. There are definitely good and bad points to being an author, but in my opinion,
the positive vastly outweighs the negative. I feel incredibly fortunate to be living my passion,
and I get to share this journey with some of the best readers on the planet. With that said,
don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays. Eve: The Awakening is
still available in ebook and paperback on Amazon right now. You can also order a signed copy, all
the links are listed below. And while Cliff goes through surgery, I will still be active on social media.
So feel free to hit me up on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, or tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!