How to Be a Badass Writer
As the publication date for The Only Way Through Is Out approached (one year ago today!), I spent tons of time on book promotion.
Which as a debut author, was a whole new world for me.
A scary and vulnerable world. 😬
How to maximize my visibility.
How to be strategic about which opportunities to pursue and which ones to avoid.
Whether to aim high or be more “realistic.”
It has been a learning process, for sure.
When my publicist asked whether I wanted to be a guest on a podcast for badass women fifty and beyond, I hesitated.
Was I a badass?
If I wanted to be a guest on that podcast, I couldn’t equivocate.
The first question on the application form was pretty direct: What’s your badass story?
Here’s how I answered:
In 2017, I left a safe and comfortable life, came out as LGBTQ+, got divorced, moved to a new city where I knew exactly one person, and began thinking of myself as an entrepreneur instead of someone with a casual side gig.
In the ensuing years, I remarried, built a successful business as a book coach serving memoir and nonfiction writers, and in February 2024, my memoir, The Only Way Through Is Out, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
There were more questions on the application, including:
Were you always a badass?
Uh, no.
AND 👉🏻
What advice would you give to others about playing big?
Listen to your inner voice and trust it.
It's okay to have desires and go after them.
It's never too late to play big, to change your story, to have a new beginning.
It’s never too late.
That’s advice I needed to give to myself as I marketed my book.
My inner voice was urging me to go all in …
I wanted The Only Way Through Is Out to impact thousands of readers; I wanted it to take my career to the next level.
Oh boy, did I want those things. And I was terrified they wouldn’t happen.
The fear of disappointing ourselves is a big reason we play small, right?
But on the cusp of becoming a published author, I was a different person than the person who spent her life being careful, not making mistakes, and following the rules.
I was a badass. I’m still a badass. I’m done playing small. I know what I want and I’m going for it.
For many of us, it’s scary stepping into a new identity as a writer. So visible. So public.
If you haven’t thought of yourself as a badass before, it isn’t too late.
