Sharing The Joy

I received an e-mail this morning from a writer friend who has an essay in a brand new anthology. She is going to New York City June 8th for the book launch and is going to read her essay aloud that evening. I would love to be there to hear the essay. I read it some time ago, and it's very well done. I'm delighted that she is going to have some recognition for her work.

Which brings me to today's topic. Writers like to share their successes with family and friends, but also with other writers. After all, who better to understand the complete process of a published piece? Family and friends are happy about a book or essay or article being published, but another writer is more than happy--they're the ones who know about the beginning, middle, and end of it all. They can 'feel' the joy the writer shares when she/he sends out a notice about the newly published book or story.

I had a hard time sharing my good news when I first started being successful and had work published. I was elated and really wanted to share the good news, but something held me back. Would my family and friends think I was bragging or trying to lord it over others? I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to take the chance that someone might feel that way.

As time went on, I realized that a bit of a 'brag' was a good thing. It's a way of building up your writer's platform, of marketing your work, and getting your name known. At 'writersandcritters' we all send a Brag message to the group when something has been accepted for publication. Rather than looking at it as a brag, I prefer to think of it as sharing the joy. The women in my critique group know how long I've worked on a particular story, many of them have helped critique it, as well. They're happy for whoever gets published, and seeing those successes encourages them to keep plugging away so they can be on the 'sharing the joy' end the next time.

Don't keep good things like publication to yourself.  Share the news!