The URCH Authors’ Club: Building Confidence through Community

by Heather Martin, VPG Editor

In the three years I’ve worked with Ashley and VPG, I’ve had to push myself out of my comfort zone many times. Each opportunity left me feeling grateful I had agreed and like I had grown professionally. Because of these past experiences, when Ashley asked last year if I would like to host an Authors’ Club for Urban Raccoons Creative Hub, I said “yes” quickly. We had recently completed our webinar on our self-publishing journeys, Bootstrapped and Booked: An Entrepreneur’s Self-Publishing Journey. I felt like I had handled it well, so I thought I could easily take on this challenge.

I didn’t realize just how much it would push me personally and professionally. As the first one approached, The Becoming of an Author with Tash Durkins, best-selling author of Fiercely Joyful, I was so nervous that I at one point actually hoped to get sick so I wouldn’t have to do it. But Tash put me at ease, and we had a great discussion about the process of writing a book. Tash had some great advice on how to keep the writing process going when life gets busy and how to take critique while keeping your voice as an author. It was as fun as it was informative.

Once again, I felt it went well, so I was looking forward to talking with Sheena Yap Chan about how to Elevate Your Voice as an Author.

There was one big difference: I had met and worked with Tash before, and I only knew Sheena from her best-selling books, The Tao of Self-Confidence and Bridging the Confidence Gap. I was intimidated by the thought, but, just as before, Sheena was kind and helped me feel like I could host this webinar. She spoke about how to turn your books into speaking opportunities and how to overcome feelings of self-doubt. She put together a fantastic PowerPoint that helped explain the steps in an easy-to-digest manner.

Hosting a webinar and interviewing authors were two things I’d never thought I’d do, and I certainly felt unequal to the task. But, as has happened so many times in the past working with Ashley, the reward far outpaced the discomfort. This Authors’ Club series from Urban Raccoons Creative Hub has been a great source of information and encouragement to writers, and there is another great one coming up. This one is going to be an in-person event, Passport to Leadership, with ‘Iolani Bullock, author of Lennox Takes Flight and Little Lennox Takes Flight, and Ashley Cheung, author of four books, including her most recent one, Transform Thinking, Transform Life, on September 23rd in Washington, D.C. It’s going to be a great way to finish out the year!