So What if I'm Not Award-Winning, I'm an Author

Title page of my novella--Yes sir, that's my name in print.

I just received from my editor a galley copy (PDF version) of my novella, which is part of a 9-novella collection put out by Barbour Publishing. My final task was to read through my story and make any last edits I wanted to make before it goes to press. So, with twitchy, excited fingers, I made my edits.

They additionally asked that I read through my author's bio at the end and change whatever I wanted to change. So I scrolled to the end and found my name and the other 8 authors involved. Since I only had 1 piddly sentence for my bio, I thought I should beef it up, yet wanted to stay in keeping with what the others had written, so I read through the other bios. And it turns out that most of them have dozens of books published and many were recipients of various literary awards.

And then there's me. No awards. No big literary achievements. Just a burgeoning writer with very few--okay, zero--credits to her name. So I sat and stared at my now-blank author's bio and wondered what in the world I could write so that I didn't look like a ridiculous interloper amidst this company.

I could lie and say that awards don't matter. But #1) I'm a highly competitive person and #2) I live my life with as firm as grasp on reality as I can. So, yes, awards matter. And I'm not sure I have any business throwing my name in the ring of this literary circus.

My excitement waned. My flag of victory dropped to half-mast. Then my eyes fell on the title page of my novella and a new realization came: My name is in this book.

Out of scores of story submissions, the publisher choose me, my story, to be among this group of writers. My job is not to bulk up my bio, my job is--or, at this point, was--to write the best story I can. And that's what I've done. It's a story of which I'm proud, and nothing--especially not an author's bio--is going to steal the excitement of this first publishing moment.

So, for the moment, the cloying voice of "You're Not Good Enough" is silenced--though I know from experience it's never silent for long. But now I am armed with a galley copy of my novella (with a cool-fonted title page) that I can at least look at and remind myself: I am an Author.


PS: I'll be sending out more updates on the release of the novella collection as the time gets closer. Barbour Publishing is putting the collection together and the release date is September 1, 2013. The collection is entitled A Pioneer Christmas Collection; my novella is entitled A Silent Night. I may even do a Giveaway once I get my hands on my copies--who knows?!