by Bethany Jett @BetJett
Join
me as we read more books this year than ever before. We start now, because
waiting to do something awesome is stupid.
TWEETABLES
Read more books this year than ever before: Join the Challenge. Itstarts the day you read this (Click to Tweet)
Connect with Bethany on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, SeriousWriter.com and at BethanyJett.com. Click here to register for her upcoming free webinar “7 Secrets to Landing a Book Deal.”
New York Times Bestselling author Jon Acuff threw the reading gauntlet
in 2013.
“Empty a shelf in your house somewhere. Every book you read
from now until December 31, 2014 goes on the shelf. Waiting until January 1st
to do something awesome is stupid and fake.”
The
number of books on my to-read list is longer than my children’s Santa wish
list, but sometimes the stress of life means books go untouched for far too
long.
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t
have the time (or the tools) to write.” – Stephen King
The
Empty Shelf Challenge gave me some weird sense of permission to read again.
I’ve found that not only does my writing improve when I’m constantly reading,
but it gives my mind a break from creating and lets me escape into beautiful
worlds created by other talented writers.
Instead
of emptying a shelf, I created a Pinterest board and started
using my Goodreads account. I
found that when the number of times I stared at the computer uninspired
diminished. The words flew and my vocabulary increased. An appreciation for
great writing intensified and I allowed myself to stop reading books that were
poorly written without feeling guilty for not completing something I’d started.
“A writer’s brain is like a magician’s hat. If
you’re going to get anything out of it, you have to put something in it first.”
―
Louis L'Amour
As
a nonfiction writer, I found that reading great novels allowed me to draw
creativity into my own works. In fact, one of my secret weapons while I was
writing The Cinderella Rule was to
pick up a copy of a bestseller and read until my heart and mind were so full
that I couldn’t keep my fingers off the keyboard.
There
are several places to find great books, but my newest favorite place is BookBub.com. When you
create an account, you choose the categories and genres that appeal to you.
They send you an email with that day’s free or heavily discounted books. Most
are by bestsellers and have large 5-star ratings on Amazon.
Over
the Thanksgiving holiday I stayed up until 2 AM reading one of Jeffery Archer’s books that was a
free deal from BookBub. I found a new favorite author and Archer gained a new
fan.
Today,
I throw the gauntlet.
TWEETABLES
Bethany Jett’s life changed
when she left her first writers conference with an agent and a book deal. Not
only was The
Cinderella Rule a Selah Awards finalist, it opened doors to national
speaking engagements, international radio interviews, multiple publishing
opportunities, and teaching at writers conferences.
Along with ghostwriting for her literary agency, Bethany founded Serious Writer Academy and created the My Moments quarterly planner and the Serious Writer’s Companion: the All-in-One Organizer for writers.
Along with ghostwriting for her literary agency, Bethany founded Serious Writer Academy and created the My Moments quarterly planner and the Serious Writer’s Companion: the All-in-One Organizer for writers.
Connect with Bethany on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, SeriousWriter.com and at BethanyJett.com. Click here to register for her upcoming free webinar “7 Secrets to Landing a Book Deal.”
