Pandora’s Wonderland: The Reality of Being an Author (Guest Post + Giveaway)

Hey everyone! Meredith from Pandora’s Books here. For those who don’t know, I’m doing a joint Blogoversary celebration with Kayla and Stacie from A Wonderland of Reading. The festivities started on May 26 (their one-year Blogoversary) and will end on June 24 (my one-year Blogoversary). We’ll be alternating days and providing fun guest posts from our fellow bloggers and author friends. You can visit A Wonderland of Reading to see the first post and learn more about the details and the grand prize giveaway!

So today, I have the AMAZING Robin Constantine, YA author of The Promise of Amazing, here with an epically awesome guest post. I absolutely adore Robin. Before blogging, I read very little YA contemporary fiction. It just wasn’t my thing. I preferred Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Paranormal, etc. But through the recommendation of Dahlia Adler and OneFour KidLit, I gave The Promise of Amazing a chance, plus scored an interview with Robin. Let me tell you, if you haven’t read this book… DO IT! (Psst, there’s a giveaway for one copy of The Promise of Amazing at the end of this post.. So get on that! You WANT to read this book!) So when Robin brought this guest post topic to me, I totally loved the idea! It’s a different side of publishing that reader’s don’t see as often. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did! So, without further adieu, please welcome Robin!

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When Meredith asked if I’d like to participate in her blogoversary bash, I was thrilled! Not only because it’s been wonderful to see her blog thrive, but also because it’s been about a year and a half since I signed my book contract and am only just starting to reflect on this wild and amazing journey I’ve been on during my debut year. One of the questions I’m frequently asked is “Does the reality of being an author match your expectations?” and I usually answer something along the lines of “It’s everything I hoped it would be and nothing like I expected it to be.” Doesn’t make much sense, right? Here are some of the situations where my expectations and my reality were sometimes at odds:

Signing my Book Deal

I think every writer has a dream about getting “the call.” And it was awesome.


 
…but after the champagne was popped and the confetti swept away, I woke up at 3:00AM feeling much like this:


 
As much as you want your work ‘out there’ when it suddenly becomes a reality, it’s kind of terrifying.

Visiting my publisher for the first time

This is one where the reality totally exceeded my expectations. It was overwhelming to see how many people work on a book!

The Month Leading up to Launch

Fantasy – I’ll be calm, cool, collected and ready to party.


 
Reality – There’s no turning back now.


 
I was writing another book, doing guest posts, getting reviews and dealing with the holidays – and in my spare time just trying to embrace the chaos. By the time my book was out there, I needed a nap!

Seeing My Book in the Bookstore

How I thought I’d be:


 
The reality:


 
You know, because they usually look down on back-flipping down the aisle. (And also, I just wanted to use a Joseph Morgan .gif)

Now that I’m published writing will be easy

All authors must go to their desk divinely inspired everyday, right?


 
Ha! Eeek…in reality it’s still like this:


 
And this:


 
And sometimes even this:


 
But in the end, even with all the craziness, this debut year has mostly been like this:


 
 
Happy Blogoversary Pandora’s Books! Thank you for letting me be a part of your celebration, Meredith! And thank you to all you lovely readers for making my job a dream come true!!

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Along with Robin’s amazing, gif-tastic post, we have an epic prize to give away! A finished copy of The Promise of Amazing! This giveaway is US only, but fear not! We have INT giveaways going on in our Grand Prize Giveaway which you can enter here! We also have an international giveaway going on here and here!

So, the rules:

-Giveaway is US Only

-Winner has 48 hours to respond. If winner does not respond, a new winner will be selected.

-You must be 13 or older to enter OR have your parents’ permission.

-I am not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged items.

-I reserve the right to change any rules as I see fit for each individual giveaway

*The above giveaway rules were borrowed and modified from Jessica @ Just a Book Lover.

With that being said, I wish you luck! May the odds be ever in your favor!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

8 thoughts on “Pandora’s Wonderland: The Reality of Being an Author (Guest Post + Giveaway)

  1. I’m not an author, but I know a bit about the process, having talked with brand new authors.

    I’m not at all surprised by the last bit – that it is easy now that you are a published author. In fact, I think that makes it harder. Nobody wants to be a one hit wonder, and if you sign a contract…you gotta deliver.

    I was surprised that her reaction to seeing her book in stores was minimal. It kind of makes me sad. :(

    • Definitely agree with you on it being harder for an author after their first book comes out!

      I don’t think she meant that her reaction was minimal – I think the meant that, she wanted to jump around and scream but couldn’t, and then actually seeing it on the shelf was like O__O so she just stared at it and smiled. But that’s just my interpretation of the GIF! I could be wrong.

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