Levers and Hooks

I’ve found my hook.

That sentence, without context, makes no sense.  I know.  But I cannot overstate how excited I am that I’ve found it.  What does that mean, in the context of authorship, you ask?  A hook is a way to distinguish yourself from the middle of the pack.  Especially in the age of Indie publishing, which has almost single-handedly enabled my career, it’s important that you have something which distinguishes you.

At the Con in KC where I sold books, I got a first hand look at what a hook can do for sales.  Several of the authors I worked with had great hooks.  I won’t lie, I was super jealous of just how good some of them were.  It moved A LOT of books, and generated a lot of reader interest.  That matters.  There are so many creative men and women who have been unleashed in this age of self-publications, and it is beyond vital to find something that makes you stand out from the crowd.

So, back to my hook.  Mine is weight loss.  It’s something I’ve done successfully once (300 to 185), lost it hardcore (185 – 276), brought it back under control (276 – 226), then lost it once again (226 – 260).  I’m slowly turning it back around, and as of today I’m back down to 253.  Still, that sort of yo-yo weight loss story is perfect for distinguishing myself.  You don’t think I’ve got more than one book, a string of personal anecdotes, or potentially engaged readers in that mishmash of weight loss and gain?  You’re crazy.  There’s a lifetime of work available in that one sentence, a lifetime of personal connection and engagement with readers in that one small fact.

It’s so wonderful that I finally realized just how beneficial that scenario can be for me.  It’s equally important that I’ve begun taking steps to not only recognize my life story for the boon it is, but to also force myself into lifestyle choices where I take full advantage of it.

That sounds slightly odd, because shouldn’t I get the benefits for having lived through it?  Well… no.  Those sorts of situations and life experiences have merit if, and only if, I manage to pull my weight back down to a healthy level.  If I get back down to a very healthy weight, and do it correctly this time, then I can lever that phase of my life for all I am worth.  It becomes something not only that I came through, but something I came through and have successfully defeated.

So, that’s become my recent focus.  That’s become my recent drive.  A sense of self-betterment, and dealing with my problems instead of running from them.  Fighting back against my weight, my ADHD, and my Bipolar.  I am no longer their victim, nor at their mercy.  Finally, it’s starting to feel like they are at mine.  That might not seem like much, but it actually means the world to me.