We are thrilled to be connecting with Joylynn Ross again. Joylynn is a Literary Consultant, Publishing Coach and is also a content partner. Content partners help Voyage in so many ways from spreading the word about the work that we do, sponsoring our mission and collaborating with us on content like this. Check out our conversation with Joylynn below.
Joylynn, it’s been too long since we last connected. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with our community again. Some readers might have missed our prior conversations, so maybe you can kick things off for us with a quick intro?
Writers and authors hire me to provide them with the tools, information, resources, systems, strategies, and techniques needed to write and publish their books, turn their books into a profitable business, and create multiple streams of cohesive literary income to sustain and grow their book business.
What are some things about you that people won’t find in your bio or on your resume’?
Currently at a size 6 and 130 pounds, I used to weigh over 220 pounds. I would eat cereal in the same bowl I use to mix my cornbread and cake batter, and sometimes go back to get seconds.
I didn’t gain the weight because I was greedy; I gained the weight because I was depressed. I was depressed because I was in an abusive relationship that lasted from my 10th grade year of high school through my early twenties. That time housed some of the darkest days of my life. I hid the abuse from family and friends for years, and that weighed on me more than the extra pounds.
Although it took me four years to write the book in which I shared that dark time in my life (I Ain’t Me No More, an autobiographical novel by E. N. Joy), it was true healing and deliverance. To this day, I thank God for giving me the confidence to write my story, and the courage to share it with the world.
Outside of business (serving clients) and family needs, what do you do for YOU? How do you serve, take care of or treat yourself?
Every quarter, I carve out time – hours and sometimes days – to focus only on me. This allows me to kill three birds with one stone. I get to address my #selfcare needs, as well as my #selfconfident and #metime needs.
My most recent experience included setting aside a couple hours to take a nice, long, hot, bubble bath. There is nothing like simply pumping the brakes on life and taking note of life . . . being mindful of life. Just because you are breathing doesn’t mean you are living . . . life. With candles lit, my favorite beverage to sip on, perhaps a few hors d’oeuvres, rose petals floating, prayer or neo soul playing from my speaker box, aromatherapy bath salts and what have you, I not only feel relaxed, but I feel wealthy. Wealthy mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially.
I also see this as part of the preventative maintenance plan for both my mental and physical health in order to prevent a mental or physical breakdown. Sometimes my preventative maintenance plan includes taking time out of my schedule to simply breathe. To think . . . about nothing. Even if it’s just a couple minutes outside on the balcony with coffee mug in hand, I consider that taking care of self . . . if only for a moment. For those who automatically connect self-care with a trip to the spa, consider this a trip to the spa for your mind.
Those moments to myself really give me time to self-evaluate. And when I deliberately clear the slate in my mind and think about nothing at all, that’s when my spirit guides, guardian angels, my higher self, ascendants, and the Creator start dropping those multi-billion-dollar ideas into my mind. I not only get inspired, but I get incited to start putting action to those ideas. And then I get, well, wealthy!
What is one of the most important things you feel everyone should do before they leave this earth?
Bill Clinton, years back, right after he had his first memoir published, said, “Anybody over fifty owes it to his family to write down everything that’s happened during his life and pass it on.” I wholeheartedly agree. But because I know tomorrow is not promised, don’t wait until you are 50, tell your story.
Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, a journal, a book of poetry, jokes, and prayers, a memoir, an autobiography, an autobiographical novel – whatever the genre – tell that story that is inside of you. Share that message that is inside of you. Deliver that message that is inside of you. And do it today!
All those ideas, thoughts, and concepts that have been dropped into your spirit, and all the trials, tribulations, and triumphs you have experienced in your personal life, spiritual life, financial life, and business can help someone else. When you leave this earth, do not allow your intellectual property to be buried with you. That’s like burying treasure!
Popular opinion is that most authors are introverts. As an author yourself, where do you find the confidence to put yourself out there to the world?
Because so many people are telling writers and authors that they are introverts, they are starting to believe and claim – and own – the title for themselves. What a disservice. That’s like putting a muzzle on one’s creativity. It’s so stifling and paralyzing. When I hear people say that authors are introverts, to me it translates to: Authors should be read, not seen.
Speaking out and putting yourself out there as a representative of your writing is another form of sharing your creativity. What you can’t put and explain in a book, you can do it with your mouth on various platforms.
For me, I’ve always been a confident person. But let’s be clear; it takes more than confidence to put yourself out there. It takes courage. Because once you’ve gained the needed confidence, which comes by taking baby steps and dipping your toe in the water before diving in head first, you’ve now got to muster up the courage to use that confidence.
Move and navigate knowing you are the BEST at what you do because of how you do it. Nobody can do it like you, try if they might. Move in confidence, and then like I mentioned before, muster up the courage needed to show up in a big way to show the world that confidence. Or like my pitch coach once told me, “Go Kanye on ’em.” Show up big and at your best, regardless of how small and intimated you may feel inside. Before you know it, you’re insides will follow suit.
Thank you so much again for sharing all of this with us. Before we go, can you share with our readers how they can connect with you, learn more or show support?
For anyone who wants to make sure they write and publish that book before they leave this earth, please visit www.joylynnMross.com to sign up for my free introductory publishing course.
For anyone who has already started writing and publishing their book but needs help – a publishing team – to reach their measure of writing and publishing success, visit my company, Path To Publishing, at www.pathtopublishing.com.
To receive writing and publishing tips in your in-box, sign up for the Path To Publishing newsletter at https://pathtopublishingnews.ck.page/join.
If you’re an experienced author ready to increase your book sales and accelerate your literary career, then join us in Las Vegas, Nevada this September for the annual “Act Like an Author, Think Like a Business” Conference by registering at www.pathtopublishing.com/conference. Virtual attendance options available as well.
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