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I can't believe Run has been out for almost six months. What a crazy six months it has been! It is surreal to think that I am in this place. A published author! Another book on the way! It is an absolute dream come true. The journey has not been without its ups and downs. I have learned a lot. I thought I knew things six months ago, truth is I didn't know anything. So here are a few things I have learned along the way. Hopefully they will be helpful to someone else on this crazy journey.

1. Join a writing community. Make friends with other writers. They are such a resource. Learn from their mistakes, and their successes. Get feedback on your work. Debate over little things: like passive voice, the Oxford comma, first person present tense, and the semi-colon, stress over it, and then learn that everyone has their own style and get comfortable with yours.

2. Read. Read a lot. I firmly believe that the best way to be a better writer is to be a devoted reader. Books are a passion. Read, learn, write.

3. Get a good editor. You cannot edit your own books. Trust me I tried. You will miss something. Get a good editor.

4. Get a good cover. This is the first thing readers see. Readers buy books based on the cover. You need a good one.

5. Learn the difference between constructive criticism and plain criticism. Learn from the constructive criticism and ignore the criticism. You will get bad reviews. It is bound to happen. My strategy? I read them. If there is something in them I can learn from great. If not I forget about them. In order to help me forget I read the bad reviews for some of my favorite books. Chocolate and Vanilla. Everyone doesn't like the same things. That's okay. Don't expect everyone to love your book or like the same things about it. Learn from the good. Ignore the bad. Always keep growing.