Thought I’d share this again…

As an author …

I wish I could tell you I know all there is. I don’t.

Truth is, when i first started writing I barely saw a return on the investment I put in. Hours upon hours of writing but no money was being made. Time spent away from family and friends and even some of them will not support. My name printed real cute on the front cover of books and you can find me on Amazon but that’s about it.

I should quit, right? I BET NOT and neither should you.

Here’s some unsolicited advice.

1. Invest in yourself and your gifts. The same way you go to school for a degree or certification; study your craft. Spend money on the best book cover, editors, proofreaders and promoters. Cheap is not always the way to go. Trust me, I know.

2. Build you a team. People who will push you, encourage you and pray for you. Have someone on your side who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts your feelings. Get to know people who are on the level you’re trying to make it too and one day surpass. Ask their opinion and take their advice.

3. Do NOT write book series if you don’t have the time to finish it. You will lose readers that way. If I have to re-read the first book just to read the second one, issa no for me.

4. Believe in yourself. There will be some folk who will not like what you put out and you may get some bad reviews. Trust your gift. Family may not support. Trust your gift. Nobody showing up at your celebration, trust your gift. It will pay off.

5. NEVER GIVE UP. I told you, for years the royalties I received couldn’t even pay my water bill (the cheapest bill in the house) but I did not quit. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not in a position to quit my jobs but I am finally seeing a return on the investment I’ve been putting in. IT TOOK YEARS though! You will see it too.

6. Stop comparing yourself to someone else. You are you and they are them. I don’t care how many of their books you read, you will not write like them. It’s their gift the same as it is your. Find your own footing. Sure, I said before, take advice but don’t copy them because that will only make you a copy of them and not you.

That’s it for now.

I don’t know it all. I haven’t made the New York Times’ Best Seller. My books are not in Barnes and Noble or Walmart stores. My name is not rolling in the credits of movies. I am not being called on to headline book events. Fact is, I’m Lakisha … Author Lakisha and people know me and they read my books.

“Writing didn’t find me, God etched it within my soul when He formed me in my mother’s belly.”

authorlakisha@gmail.com

https://www.amazon.com/Lakisha-Johnson/e/B0091JWVJY

I know who I am!

I’m Lakisha, a preacher of God’s word who still, sometime, cuss, I still make mistakes, I still sin, sometimes; I stay up later than I should, I procrastinate on some things, when I get mad I shut down, I don’t like to argue, I have tattoos, I love preaching, teaching, going to worship service and studying God’s word, I absolutely love my family and friends and I write fiction books about sex. I’m not perfect but guess what … God still loves me! God still uses me! God still finds favor in me! God still deems me worthy! God still counts me as His! And I’m still blessed in spite of what man thinks! I know who I am!! #Godschosen

Be blessed!
Lakisha

I know who I am!

Hey! I’m Lakisha, a preacher of God’s word who still, sometime, cuss, I still make mistakes, I still sin, sometimes; I stay up later than I should, I procrastinate on some things, when I get mad I shut down, I don’t like to argue, I have tattoos, I love preaching, teaching, going to worship service and studying God’s word, I absolutely love my family and friends and I write fiction books about sex. I’m not perfect but guess what … God still loves me! God still uses me! God still finds favor in me! God still deems me worthy! God still counts me as His! And I’m still blessed in spite of what man thinks!

Why did I share that? Because somebody got up today feeling like you can’t be used because of your past or maybe even your present state. Somebody told you that God couldn’t have called you, with your reputation. Somebody is probably in your text messages right now telling you not to step out on faith because of how folk might see you but baby, you’ve got to start trusting God and taking Him at His word. Stop allowing the enemy to speak death over your life when God had blew fresh anointing into you. So what if you have more than one baby daddy or baby momma, so what if you had a child out-of-wedlock, so what if you drink, so what if you are behind on your bills, so what if you don’t know how to pray, so what if you don’t know what the scriptures mean; start somewhere! Make the first step and God will make the next one. Stop being worried about how folk look at you because God will make you over from the inside out and what you look like on the outside won’t matter anyway. Yea, you’ll still look the same to you but you’ll look different to everybody else; that’ll be God’s anointing shining through. Remember this beloved… God says in John 15:16, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.” It’s God’s name that counts, not yours!