6.29.25: Lessons Learned in Week 1

So we're one week into the journey here and I've realized a number of things already.

• Website design is much easier than I expected it to be (I have no coding experience whatsoever). That means it's only moderately aggravating and not completely aggravating. We'll get better.

• It seems like there's a level of arrogance in designing your own website before writing anything remotely successful, but I prefer to think of myself as an optimist instead.

• Creating a brand is like going to the microtransaction store in a video game. Nothing is free. You want an email address for your site? Pay up (this is after paying for the website itself, which I thought would be the end of it). A platform to actually design the site? Opposite of free! You actually want to show up in searches? We're gonna need your money for that too. You want a verified social media account? Credit card, please. If nothing else, financial investment alone may continue to motivate me to write.

• Writing query letters for the book I did write continues to mirror applying for a job in the real world. Most of the time, you never get a response at all. I'm actually excited for the handful of rejections I've gotten and am considering printing and hanging them as badges of honor.

• Successfully writing a single work of even modest length is a tremendous accomplishment and takes a remarkable amount of time and investment and I have immensely more respect for anyone that's done so. If you're one of those authors turning out 1,200 page behemoths twice a year, you might not be human.

• I have found, to this point, that writing a simple 250 word summary or elevator pitch for my book is exponentially harder for me than writing the 100,000 words in the book itself. That seems problematic.

• On a personal note, the simple kind words of encouragement from the few people who know I'm pursuing this have been incredibly motivating and appreciated.

KPS