Cheers to support and surprises

I’ve been an indie author now for 6 years and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that support doesn’t come from where you expect it.

Some people might be tempted into thinking that if they have 600 friends on facebook, at least 10 will read their book. Although some people have an overwhelmingly large support base from people they know, this isn’t necessarily the case for most people. In actuality, having anyone you know read you is more challenging than you can imagine. This could be for a couple of reasons, but one of the main ones is that people are unaware of the power that they have or the difference they can make. On the one hand, getting anyone to read your book is a challenge when you’re starting up and that anyone reads an indie author can fuel their fire more than you can imagine. Additionally, if a book has no reviews and no one talks about the book, what chance does it have for success? So in their hands, there’s plenty of power to make or break an author’s dream. 

Another thing that I’ve come to learn is that your tribe finds you, not the other way around. 

On one hand, people who know you have expectations of what you can do or on the flip side, maybe they see a disconnect between the person and the creator. People who don’t know you as a person react to you as a creator first and don’t have to bridge the two personas. The best way I can describe it is that people who know you will say something like: “remember the little people when you make it big,” and leave it at that, while someone who get to know you through your work will go out of their way to support you in ways you would have never imagined, just because they want to see you make it big. 

Friends from high school and college, co-workers, even friends are sometimes a harder sell than people who’ve never met you. I’ve been fortunate that I have friends from most of my circles that have come out to see me at events and have bought and reviewed my work, but I can’t say it’s an overwhelming majority. People know you from contexts, they know you have a career so they think that what makes your soul smile is just a hobby when it’s actually what you’d like to spend most of your time doing. In addition, there’s that bit about feeling awkward about talking about your work with some people you know. It’s not like you’re a stripper and people found out because they were having a bachelor party and saw you twerking for the weekend, but there is a learning curve in regards to feeling comfortable when talking about what you create with people that don’t know that side of you. I’ve learned that it’s not something you can force and is best when it happens organically. 

For me, it’s important to be thankful for the people who support you genuinely, who invest time in you, who honestly believe in you and how you do things, and I’ve been blessed with a lot of people who support me in countless ways. I always work hard to be extra thankful to the people who support me, who write me out of the blue to say something positive, to the people who read and review me, the people who bust my balls to write more and get cracking, the people who write me with questions about my books, and the people who inspire the best in me for the right reasons. So to all of you who are in this wonderful group, my cheers and my best to you always. 

Peace, love, and maki rolls   

10 reasons of why I want to be on Hot Ones

Greetings fellow humans. Firstly, if you’ve never watched an episode of Hot Ones from the First We Feast channel on YouTube, mosey on over to the YouTubes and watch an episode. (I highly recommend episodes with Jeff Goldblum, Tyra Banks, Gordon Ramsay, Natalie Portman, Ken Jeong, Tenacious D, Alton Brown, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson).

Ok, so just by my lineup of names, I think it shows I’m a fan of the show. The premise is pretty simple. Sean Evans sits across from you as you eat 10 chicken wings with ever increasing levels of heat and he asks some amazingly in depth questions while your face melts and you answer them. Finishing the 10 wings grants you 30 seconds to plug whatever’s going on in your life and then you can pass out from all the Scollvilles running around your system. [NOTE: The Scoville scale is a measurement of the pungency (spiciness or "heat") of chili peppers and other spicy foods, as recorded in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicin is the predominant component.[3][4][5][6][7] The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, whose 1912 method is known as the Scoville organoleptic test.[3][8] – From Wikipedia, verify at your own leisure]

Ok, so why in god’s name would I want to be on this show and why might it be fun to have me on HOT ONES. Here’s my top 10 reasons:

1. Well for starters, it’d mean I’d accomplished something noteworthy and earned a spot on the show. The people who get invited have had some sort of success or have earned a spot because of their contributions to something.

2. I’m ALWAYS amazed at the research Sean and company invest into the questions. They don’t ask BS or boiler plate queries and I’m fascinated by their ability to come up with endlessly memorable questions to create endlessly memorable moments in an interview. Also, since your face is on fire, there’s little to no filter and you’ll answer honestly. Sean’s IQ as an interviewer is also impressive as it gets and he pivots and adjusts accordingly with what each interviewer gives or does not give. Seriously, I've seen the guy carry an interview when the guest isn't cooperating and he could EASILY make a hell of a life coach with how many people he is able to fully navigate to the end of the wings.

3. No filters. You can say whatever you want and it’s game. No bleeps. Adult language encouraged. Lord knows what'll come out of my mouth beyond fire and that might be very interesting.

4. I’m super curious as to the flavor of all the hot sauces. I actually do enjoy a good hot sauce and have known to hate some for just being obnoxiously spicy with no flavor. I do taste-test videos on Instagram and people seem to enjoy the thoughts that go through my face. I think offering a review in real time of each hot sauce could be interesting. Plus, there's always Da Bomb, also known as the hot sauce almost universally panned and hated by guests and Sean. (Michael Cera is the only one who has seemed to kind of enjoy it).

5. I’m Puerto Rican and my native language is Spanish. I’m also half Cuban so there’s volume to my voice (Don't be fooled by my YouTube channel). The combination of these two things I believe would make for some interesting bilingual commentary, or in layman’s terms, it might be hella funny to see me breathing fire while cursing in at least two languages (No guarantees I won't speak in tongues).

6. Sean often does a deep dive into people’s Instagram and I think I’ve shared enough things on my IG to inspire some fun finds. If you don’t follow me on Instagram, then look me up and see if I’m full of it or not.

7. I don’t think there’s been an indie author on the show and pretty sure there haven’t been many Puerto Ricans. Come on, Sean, those are some nice boxes to tick off :D

8. It looks like brutally painful fun… and I’m a curious cat.

9. I honestly think I could surprise Sean with one or two things I could do on the show… and that doesn’t include pooping my pants since that’s already been done.

10. I respect the craft that goes into Hot Ones and if I can get a couple more people to watch, then why the hell not? I honestly look forward to every Thursday to see new episodes and watching SO many of the episodes just makes you appreciate the Hot Ones crew for what they do week after week and for what Sean endures in the name of entertainment and asking some of the hottest questions in the world.

So if you’d like to help a scruffy indie author out, read, review me, mention me in tweets along with Sean (@seanseaevans) and the First We Feast Channel (@firstwefeast), and think positive thoughts in the hopes that one day I too can destroy my taste buds in front of the warrior that is Sean for your entertainment.

Peace, love, maki rolls, and hot wings!!!

JD