Hi Reader,

I have a confession to make: I went trick or treating until I was a senior in high school.

I know that for some people, that’s way too old. Shouldn’t I have been going to a party by that age, or better yet, staying home and working on college apps?

I know that some people see teenagers with candy bags and half-assed costumes and see grifters trying to take candy that should be going to cute kids in princess dresses and cowboy costumes.

As a teacher, I even had students tell me that they'd been yelled at when they tried to trick or treat.

And yet my friends and I never had that problem. Even when some members of our group were closing in on 19.

Why?

Because we committed.

Every year, we chose a theme and went all-in on elaborate group costumes. You can see me as Shy Guy in our Mario Kart-themed year below.

What does that have to do with your writing? It’s all about how you’re showing up for readers.

Too often, I see writers finish a first draft and immediately start talking about how they’re going to market their book. They may have even started marketing the book while they were still writing the first draft.

That’s not an inherently bad thing. In fact, I encourage you to start building a platform as early as possible.

The problem shows up when you put the marketing cart before your revision & editing horse.

If you’re investing in marketing courses and thinking about your future BookTok campaigns seconds after you type “the end,” you’re jumping ten steps ahead of your current stage.

Before you ever worry about marketing your book, you need to worry about making sure your book is good enough to market.

Don’t be the kid who knocks on the door in blue jeans and a t-shirt demanding king size candy bars on Halloween.

Be the person who invests time and effort into creating a book readers will love before they start asking people to spend their time & money on it.

And I’m not just talking about investing in professional editing or writing courses (though both are great options that you should explore).

My friends and I didn’t go out and buy expensive Halloween costumes. We made them. That Shy Guy costume above was made from a couple yards of fabric from Joann’s (#RIP) and a box that would have gone into the recycling.

Your book will require your time, your best effort, your passion. That’s the job of being a writer who intends to sell books.

If you need to make sure that you’re checking off all the revision & editing boxes before you try to query or indie publish your book, my upcoming class Fix Your First Draft is for you.

The price is $17 until 11/4. Then, it goes up to $27.

You’ll get access to the live class, a workbook, and lifetime access to the replay & resources.

​Register here and I’ll see you on November 17th!

All the best,

Olivia

P.S. I’m on team candy for all and realistically, asking for candy without a proper costume is the least problematic thing a teenager could do on Halloween, so I’m not going to judge.

But I’m curious, where do you stand on this hot-button issue?

Reply and let me know!

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Your story matters. Let's make it great.

Curious to know how I can help? Check out my services here. I can't wait to work with you, so you can write the book your future readers are waiting for!

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