Interview: Amy L. Bernstein

Author of Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration

I would like to introduce you to fellow writer and friend Amy L. Bernstein author of Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration. I met Amy through an online authors’ group associated with Author Accelerator.

Like many writers, Amy knows what it’s like to live with doubt in the creative life. But she has discovered how to harness doubt, come to terms with it, and move forward regardless. Always hoping for the best. Doubt is a part of life.

Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration

In this pithy little book filled with inspiration, Amy offers a profound exploration into the pervasive presence of self-doubt within the creative process. She delves into the psychological underpinnings of doubt, illustrating how it can simultaneously hinder and fuel artistic endeavors.

Through a compassionate lens, she encourages artists to embrace doubt as a natural and potentially beneficial aspect of their creative journey. The book is structured to provide both theoretical insights and practical strategies. Amy weaves engaging anecdotes with psychological research, presenting a nuanced approach that treats doubt not as an adversary to be vanquished, but as a companion to be managed.

Victoria Marie Lees:  Congratulations, Amy. And thank you for visiting with me at Adventures in Writing.

Amy L. Bernstein:  My pleasure. 

VML:  What made you decide to become a writer and how long have you been writing? You write in many genres. Do you feel this helps or hurts your career?

ALB:  I’m a writer by default, meaning, it’s the way my mind has always chosen to express itself. It’s how I make sense of the world and communicate with others. I never decided to be a writer; it was basically the only thing I was good at. (Math? Fuhgettaboutit!) As for how long I’ve been writing? Well, I think I wrote my first short story in second grade!

My multi-genre track record reflects my commitment to writing the stories I want to write, in the form I want to write them. But career-wise, it’s much smarter (and easier) to pick a genre niche and stick to it. For me, that ship has sailed. I’m not sorry, but it doesn’t make building an “author brand” very easy.

VML:  I don’t seem to stick to one genre niche either, Amy, although I’m not as broadly written as you are. Doubt is such a big part of life. I swim in it daily. Wrangling the Doubt Monster deals with the psychology of the mind. You inform the reader that doubt “does not own you.” Why do you feel this message is so important for people to understand?

ALB:  I don’t think we can ever truly banish our doubts, but we don’t have to allow them to hold us back, either. We often allow the “doubt” voices—the negativity, fear, anxiety, self-criticism—to dominate our thoughts and essentially make decisions for us. But we have the capacity to amplify positive voices to help us power through in pursuit of ambitious goals. For instance, we can remind ourselves of how far we’ve come; all that we’ve accomplished; challenges we’ve already risen to meet; and how if we could meet up with childhood selves, they’d be amazed at what we had become!

It’s important that we not give doubt the upper hand—or not always—so that we can step into the roles we want to claim for ourselves as creative people.

VML:  True. We need to allow positivity to be in control of our thoughts, not doubt. And it’s not easy. But neither is the process of writing and rewriting. It can be a tedious one. You realize this both from the perspective of a writer and a book coach. Having published five books, how do you determine when a book is ready to be published? 

ALB:  I’ve gotten better at making this decision—when to cut loose and submit or publish—over time, as I’ve gained more experience. My two traditionally published novels were only lightly edited by the publisher, which clued me into the fact that I had indeed submitted a “done” manuscript. I also self-published two novels, and although they’re way under the radar, I did get excellent reader reviews, which let me know the books were connecting. My self-published books were not independently edited. (Huge gasp, everybody!) But I don’t think they suffered because of that.

This process is different for every writer. Setting aside my own path, I do believe authors should use well-informed beta readers and independent editors to review their manuscripts before either self-publishing or submitting to an agent or publisher.

I’ve reviewed countless manuscripts and excerpts where it’s clear the work is not nearly ready to be published. More often than not, an author can’t see that, which is why external input is crucial.

VML:  You are correct, Amy. Writers are too close to their own work. It is always good to have other informed readers read our manuscripts to see what’s missing. To see if the story makes sense to someone else.

How did you decide where to publish your books or just The Doubt Monster? Could you offer any advice to writers trying to publish their first book?

ALB:  Every writer’s path to publishing is different, depending upon the genre, the writer’s skill level, and what they want from a writing career. Although I couldn’t secure an agent for my two traditionally published novels (believe me, I tried), I did find a different publisher for each of them. And the proof is in the pudding. My mystery thriller from Regal House was a finalist for the publisher’s unpublished novel prize; and my paranormal romance from The Wild Rose Press won an indie book award.

It’s not always up to the writer to “decide” where to publish. The marketplace will often “tell” you where you can publish. Agents are mainly for mainstream books that will attract a very large readership. Many of us aren’t writing those books.

I strongly encourage new writers to check out Jane Friedman’s Key Book Publishing Paths infographic, which can help decide which path is right for them.

VML:  Congratulations, Amy, on your indie book award. Jane Friedman’s Book Publishing Paths infographic is an excellent decision-making tool for writers. Many decisions are outside the control of a writer. Yet, a writer needs to be a marketer as well in today’s publishing world. How do you wear these two hats [Writer and Marketer]? Can you offer any advice to other writers about marketing their books?

ALB:  Three major points to make about marketing your book:

First: You don’t have to do everything! You don’t need to be active on multiple social media platforms; host live chats; write blogs and newsletters; find speaking engagements, etc. Your mission is to find, at first, one or two things you like doing, which feel natural to you, and then do those as best you can on a regular basis.

For instance, if you like blogging, then post a blog every week and share it one social media platform where you’re comfortable, e.g., Facebook, because it’s the oldest. Over time, you can add to that to-do list—if you’re comfortable.

If you hate blogging but love chatting on podcasts, then pursue that. Make it your thing.

Second: Marketing a book does not mean endlessly trying to sell your book or talk about your book or run excerpts or cover images, etc. Marketing is much broader than that. It’s more about finding your audience—your readership—and engaging with them as a real person. Some of us do that through teaching; some through gatherings at, say, local libraries or book clubs; some through, say, live Facebook events where people get together. Start conversations related to the issues raised in your book. You shouldn’t be going around just summarizing your plot.

Third: Being active on social media doesn’t equate to selling books or finding readers. (In rare cases, it does, but don’t count on that.) Readers are people, not “likes” or “follows.” You can stay off social media and still make meaning connections with people who may be interested in your book.

VML:  Solid advice here, Amy. Thank you! Readers are definitely not just “likes” or “follows.” They are real people to engage in conversation about the themes of our books. I need to remember this. Thank you for stopping by my Adventures in Writing blog.

Readers, if you’d like to investigate where your doubts may lie, why not check out Amy’s free online quiz, “The Doubt Decoder.”

You can connect with Amy L. Bernstein online at her website, and also at:

https://linkedin.com/in/amylbernstein

https://instagram.com/amylbernstein

https://facebook.com/AmyLBernsteinAuthor

https://bsky.app/profile/amylbernstein.bsky.social

Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration is available wherever books can be ordered. It’s available in print, audiobook, and ebook. Otherwise, you can find her book online at:

Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration by Amy L. Bernstein

Or Amazon at https://bit.ly/WranglingtheDoubtMonster

Thanks again for sharing your insight, Amy. All the luck with this informative little book. Bravo!