Dirty little secret

Screen shot of the spam folder for my author email

Every day I get twenty or thirty emails about one or all of my books. Most of them end up in my spam folder, because that is what they are.

The spammers often use real names and publishing companies, but are just misrepresenting themselves. If I ever got a genuine solicitation or complimentary email, unless it is from someone I know, I will regard it as spam.

All that being said, sometimes I read the emails. Even knowing and recognizing the AI slop that the emails contain, it feels good to read positive comments about my books and writing. Amazon reviews would be 1000 times better, but those are super rare.

That is one of the hardest things about this career as an author. There is very little feedback to keep me going. I really believe my stories have the power to help people. To help them see their value. To help them see God has an active role in their life. To believe that they are important, and their lives matter.

Being my own cheerleader gets old and tired. And that is why you haven't heard from me much in the last year. I'm trying to bolster myself up to keep writing and keep sharing my journey as an author. And even though it is slightly embarrassing, it means I read the spam sometimes just to hear some nice words about my work.

Not soliciting you all to shower me with compliments (but if you feel motivated, don't let me stop you either). But reminding myself to remember to appreciate people, and their contributions, and to tell them so. Because we all need cheerleaders. And we can all be cheerleaders.

And it really feels good to be nice to someone, and see the difference it makes in their demeanor. We all have the power to make the world a better place, one kindness at a time.