The Other Half of a Good Writing Career (and Giveaway Winners!)

Mar 11, 2013

First things first, folks: the winners of the Mustaches for Maddie Giveway!

Winner of a free copy of The Inventor's Secret by Chad Morris: JESSIE OLIVEROS!
Winner of a 30 page and query critique from me: MARLA!
Winner of a query critique from Hannah Bowman: MELANIE FOWLER!

I'll be contacting the winners today. Thank you all so much for participating and not only spreading the word about Chad's book, but for making Maddie smile. She's smiling a lot, I hear, and recovering well.

source

It's so amazing to me how incredibly supportive the writing community is. Not only did I see mustache pics that made me giggle, and read literally hundreds of people's support for Chad, but the internet was full of loving people this past week. I've seen people spread the word to help promote Poison by Bridget Zinn, who passed away before she could see her book on the shelves (it releases tomorrow, can't wait!). I've heard about the Overcoming Adversity anthology, to support a young man with cerebral palsy getting to a good university. Everywhere, I've seen good people helping other good people.

When I very first talked to my agent on the phone about representation, one of the questions I asked is what she expected of me as a client. It basically boiled down to this: write good books, and be a good person. And really, that's the basics of a successful writing career. Of course you have to write good books-- that's just a given. Being a good person-- being kind, loving, supportive, honest, helpful, encouraging, trustworthy, dependable, etc.-- is the other half. It shows in your writing, and it shows when you interact with people.

And let's be honest. Being a good person is important not just for writing, but for life in general. And I've seen soooo much evidence lately that we're all pretty good people inside.

So, my friends, thank you. Thank you for being good. Thank you for being kind. Thank you for being you. I have a ridiculous amount of warm, fuzzy feelings I'm directing to all of you!

7 comments:

Suzanne Furness said...

Always happy to help when I can. Congrats to the winners of the giveaway. It's great so many people helped spread the word.

Jessie Oliveros said...

So excited to get my copy of Chad's book! Thanks, Shallee.

ilima said...

Congrats to all the winners. And you are such a perfect example of being a good person, Shallee!

Jessie Humphries said...

Last week was a huge support moment for our writing peeps. I am so glad to be a part!

Rachna Chhabria said...

Congrats to the winners. Shallee, you are both: a good writer as well as a good person.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the winners!

Angie said...

My kids' band teacher always tells them if you want to be a good band, you have to be good people!

 
Shallee McArthur © 2013 | Designed by Bubble Shooter, in collaboration with Reseller Hosting , Forum Jual Beli and Business Solutions