No Way Around It: It Is Time For A Change by Margo Hoornstra



The following was previously published a few days ago on my personal blog as part of membership in the Insecure Writers Support Group, a cadre of author/bloggers who post about all things writing on the first Wednesday of every month.

It’s not that I’m lazy, re-posting here. Well, maybe a little. But, this is all part of a necessary all or nothing strategy. Because, you see, the time has come to unveil a new profile picture. For me, a scary prospect. Of course Roses of Prose should be a part of this. What better place to unleash  my insecurities, uh, unveil new experiences, than in the company of friends? Non-judgmental friends, right? Here goes.

Write, re-write, edit, repeat. Write, re-write, edit, repeat. So it goes in the life of a writer. For most of us, a long and tedious process. But oh the rewards. Our manuscripts evolve and improve all along the way. There’s a reason we call our initial efforts rough drafts.

Sometimes, though, we get so hung up on the actual production process, we forget about the rest of it. For published and pre-published authors, that means connecting with the audience we write for. (After all, the reason most of us write is to be read, right?)

To accomplish this connection requires certain promotional efforts. A platform needs to be created, and a brand established. Included in this promotion process is the all-important profile picture. Let’s face it – pun intended – book writing really is a visual business. Words written on the page translate to pictures in the minds of readers. Plus the fact, it’s human nature to want to see what someone or something we’re interested in looks like.

When my fiction work was first published, good little do-bee writer that I am, I established a platform presence, website, blog, FaceBook, Amazon and Goodreads Author Pages. All complete with a profile picture. There’s only one problem. That was over eight years ago, very nearly a decade has passed. How time flies.

My looks have changed over those years. Not necessarily for the better. The pigment in my hair vanished. In other words, I went grey. Like it or not, it was definitely time for an update. To end the false advertising; as my critique partner and fellow Rose Jannine so aptly put it when she updated hers.

Once I made the decision to reveal a new image, as I said, an all or nothing attitude was in order. Kind of like taking one of those polar bear plunges for charity. To start by dipping a toe into ice crusted water then immersing the rest of your scantily clad body, ever so slowly, inch by tortuous inch really isn’t a comfortable way to go. You have to full out close your eyes and plug your nose, then sort of cannonball into it. So, I got my hair done, put on some extra make up, then handed my iPhone to my husband.

So, here they are, my new and improved—Nope, I can’t say that. Newly revised—more like gut wrenching reality check—profile pictures. With glasses and with contacts.

 

 

 

 

 

There that wasn’t so bad.

Pretty soon, in fact, my heart will start again, my breathing will return to normal, and my toes and all the rest of me will unfreeze. (Note the polar plunge analogy above.)

When that happens, I’ll go back to those parts of being an author I’m really more comfortable with.

Write, re-write, edit, repeat. Write, re-write, edit, repeat.

 

My days to blog here are the 11th and 23rd. For more about me and my stories, please visit my WEBSITE