I like measuring my year in firsts, even if I haven’t been consistently doing that on this blog. *sweats bullets* This year, I’ve felt extremely blessed with wonderful firsts, both in my personal/author life and my work life, so what better way to usher in the new year than by remembering them!? Hopefully this post will be the start of a yearly tradition, so let’s get the ball rolling!
I don’t remember exactly when I first encountered the the hashtag #bookstagram, but I did find it fascinating in an instant. I am a visual person after all, and being able to see All The Books photographed so nicely is such a treat for me. Of course it’s not just photos; bookstagrammers also post their quick reviews about the books they feature, which is a great way to find your next favorite read.
In the past four years I have been self-publishing my works of fiction, I have been tagged in many bookstagram posts featuring my books. Seeing these instantly puts a smile on my face (and my heart—HUWOW CHEESY!?) and I’m always very grateful that readers and bloggers from around the world chose to feature my book on their social media space. As I was thinking of yearend posts to write, it dawned on me that I haven’t shown much appreciation for these bookstagrams on my blog…so here’s an entire post that features (in no particular order) my favorite bookstagrams of 2019!
Thank you so much for featuring my books on your Instagram accounts — always love seeing the different ways bookstagrams are created, and I’m learning so much! Yep, you read that right, I’m trying my best to bookstagram as many of the books I’ve read so that I can pay your kindness forward and promote reads I loved. <3 Looking forward to 2020’s bookstagrams!
I’ve been seeing this phrase a lot on social media (Twitter, mostly) and, much as I related to this quote, I didn’t really know who to attribute it to until today. A quick Google search led me to Jake Parker, a Utah-based artist who has worked for big studios like Marvel, Disney Animation, and Warner Brothers Animation and who has apparently created the #inktober challenge. Check out this inspiring Finished, not perfect video below:
Two years ago, I came across a similar mantra when I joined Arianne Serafico’s #DareToShare Instagram Course: Done is better than perfect. I find myself always going back to these words whenever I feel like my manuscript isn’t going anywhere, or I’ve strayed from my outline for the nth time, or worst of all, I feel like deleting my entire manuscript out of frustration.
Finished, not perfect. Done is better than perfect.
Before I could publish a book, I need to write it first. Nothing is going to happen if I stall and drown myself in an ocean of Oh no, this will never be as good as *insert author’s book here*. The best thing I can do as an author is to nurture my story, make the most of it as I possibly can, and keep going until I reach the end. It doesn’t matter that it’s not perfect. I belong to a community that will help me shape whatever I’ve created into its best form, and that process, to me, is more important than getting everything perfect/right the first time.
So why am I really writing this blog post? I’m actually trying to make myself feel good about finishing a manuscript, no matter its flaws. Yeap, you read that right! I finished a manuscript!
For those of you who have already read Like Nobody’s Watching, you might remember one of Pio Alvez’s brothers, Datu Alvez. He’s an indie film director with a temper, but I’d like to think he’s a marshmallow deep inside. #ProjectDatu AKA the manuscript I finished last month, is his book, his journey toward finding his own HEA. I have already written a short story that featured him (Rushes, from Second Wave Summer), fully intending for it to be the jumping off point of his book. It took me almost six months I think to fully flesh out his story in my head, and for the sake of accountability, I announced this on Twitter a little over a year ago:
Of course I still had delusions of grandeur back then. What 2019 release? *CACKLES* I didn’t even start writing until March of this year. Ilusyonada. *cue paluan*
It was a bit of a struggle writing this one, and I was…surprised, I guess at how much energy it took from me. (Check out this whole ass Twitter thread for my journey.) It could be argued that I also was having a super busy year in terms of work, so maybe that was also why I usually felt so exhausted after writing several hundred/thousand words. But one of the best things about my writing journey this year was the #romanceclass sprints, where I got to do four 15-minute sprints with fellow #romanceclass authors and share snippets of what we’ve written afterwards. It’s a bit draining and there’s some level of pressure, but it helped me so much in completing this book. So yeah, thanks, sprinters! <3
(We’ll resume the sprints soon, by the way—let me just get a handle on all my work stuff. *dizzy emoji*)
If everything goes according to plan, you will be meeting Datu and Kalila within the first quarter of 2020. I might be brewing something special for my newsletter subscribers, so if you’re not yet part of my mailing list, please click on this link to subscribe! For now, I leave you with this #ProjectDatu Pinterest board I have been adding stuff to since I began writing the book, and this Spotify playlist / #ProjectDatu Mood Music I put together.
It’s 15 days till Christmas and I’m looking forward to a long break because I am planning to catch up on sleep and my Kdramas (I just started Chicago Typewriter and I’m planning to watch Bring It On, Ghost as well), and outlining my next book: #ProjectIsagani.
Good luck to me L O L.
Remember: Finished, not perfect. Done is better than perfect.
If you find these mantras work for you, then good. ^_^ Let’s keep creating and finishing many, many things moving forward, yeah? <3
Yesterday, I attended a personal branding workshop with fellow #romanceclass authors called You On Your Own Terms, facilitated by Maloy Luakian.
I initially thought it was going to be heavily focused on the technical aspects of how we should market ourselves as authors so that we could reach out to a bigger audience with our books, but I was…pleasantly surprised at the direction we took. More than it being a lecture where only the facilitator was speaking 95% of a time, the workshop allowed us moments of introspection and learning more about our peers through sharing what we thought were our strengths and failures. A bunch of us joked around that we felt like we were on a recollection or retreat, and they weren’t completely wrong. I have been spending a lot of time with some of these women—online and offline—and some of their stories I’d only heard for the first time yesterday! It was an amazing experience, and certainly something I do not regret attending, even if it made me feel more vulnerable than usual.
Coming into the workshop, I thought that my brand would be romance author working towards women empowerment. Not that that isn’t true because it is one of my goals as I continue writing and publishing romance, but I realized through a quick author bio writing exercise that my brand is hope.
Here’s what I wrote:
Tara has never really fallen in love, so while she’s waiting for that to happen, she works hard for the money and pours her heart out on pages, hoping that anyone who reads them would believe in everyday triumphs and happy endings, regardless of whether or not it happens for them.
When Maloy pointed out the word hope to me, I was surprised, but I also went back and thought of all the books I’ve written and published so far…and I found that she was right. Hope has been sort of a running theme in my works and my characters’ lives. Hope to continue living. Hope to be loved by the person they love. Hope to be successful in their chosen field. Hope to get over a failed relationship and move on with life.
It’s *clap* been there *clap* all this time *clap* and I didn’t *clap* even catch it!
So…yeah. Wow. Hope. Who knew? Sure, I’ll still be writing about theatre people, KPop idols, and badass women finding soft bois to love, but I guess it brings me comfort to know that the things I’ve written so far carry hope as an overarching theme, because god knows how much of it we need these days.
Actual footage of my one working brain cell last night after the workshop (and post-workshop Netflixing):
Why? Because there is a lot of work to be done!
First of all, content. Yeap. Obviously, I haven’t had the best track record in updating this blog regularly and letting people know what I’m working on. I mostly do that through Twitter and Instagram, but apparently, that’s not enough! ACK! So…now I’m trying to recalibrate my brain so I could come up with a (reasonable) content calendar of sorts, just so this little space here doesn’t appear dead when I’m in the middle of writing a book.
Secondly, Maloy gave us a couple of offline marketing ideas I’d really like to consider and work on. That’d require extra (and maybe literal) legwork, so we’ll see what happens in the next couple of months. It would be interesting where I could take that advice come December, or early 2020, when I plan to release my next book.
So yeah! Expect more posts (book-related or otherwise) in the coming months, both here and on my social media accounts. Wish me luck! <3
Hey, everyone! The Play It By Ear Comeback Tour starts tomorrow (Monday, May 6), so here’s a giveaway to make thing more fun! ^_^ I am giving away a swag bag which includes a print copy of Play It By Ear plus some surprise goodies (open to PH residents only), as well as a $10 Amazon GC (open to PH and INTL participants)!
Check out the giveaway below:
This giveaway is open to EVERYONE, blog tour participant or not. Here’s a quick guide:
I’m stoked to read @tarafrejas’ #PlayItByEar, only $0.99 on Amazon! One-click it NOW! bit.ly/PIBENovel #romanceclass
and
.@tarafrejas’ #PlayItByEar is my next #romanceclass read! Get your KPop romance fix here: bit.ly/PIBENovel
Please note that none of these entries are mandatory, but tweeting about the giveaway is limited to just once per day. (That’s two tweets = two points per day!) The giveaway opens Monday, May 6 and closes Friday, June 7. Announcement of winners is on Monday, June 10. Hope you all join, and good luck!