I am the #1 Amazon Best Selling Author, Denera McCullough, born and raised in Harlem, New York. I wrote “1, 2, 3 Count Animals with Me” because of my family. My son inspired me, but this book was needed for young ones to experience diversity in education. I value family, education, community service, and self-love. I teach those same values to my toddler through story time every night. Even though my son has numerous books, I noticed the disparity of Black characters in literature and that is why this book needed to be written for the young ones to read. As a result of my observations, I decided to use my family’s adventures to create a line of children’s books. My intention is to inspire other authors to write children’s books featuring Black characters.

As a self-publisher, I wanted to show that I could compete with traditionally published books. I also wanted the Bestseller accolade to show self-published authors that becoming a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author in 3 categories is possible. I wanted my book to be easily accessible to guardians, teachers, and kids. When you browse through the internet very few people search past the 3^rd page to find a book. I understood that if my book was not at least on the 1^st page, my book would not be easily accessible.

Even though I just released my book on March 2nd, I already started working on my next two projects. The first book will be released in mid-January and the second book will be released in late February. I am excited about this project. Of course, my children inspired me to work on this project as well. Once again, I was looking for specific books that best represented my children with Black characters or multi-cultural characters and I could not find exactly what they needed. I believe people will read and love these stories as well. This time around my daughter will be the star of her own book.

Audra and the Bestseller team were amazing. They provided me with more than I expected. The team met and went beyond my expectations. Audra dropped several gems during our one-on-one sessions that I did not even think about. I love that I am continuously learning, and she is continuously teaching. I was relaxed the day of my release because Audra dedicated that day to me. She also opened her platforms to expose me to clients that I probably would have not reached without her. An everlasting memory was fun to see people change their Facebook profile pictures with Count Animals with Me frames. I cannot wait to work with this team again.

Denera McCullough, info@deneramccullough.com

The post My Bestseller Experience appeared first on Audra R. Upchurch.

You know social media gets such a bad rap, don’t you think? But I believe there is so much power in leveraging social media as an author so I really don’t want you guys to sleep on it.

Let’s have some real talk about it.

So, for the authors, writers, and poets, what I find is that most of the time, we tend to be a little isolated, right? As much as you guys may think that, “Hey, Audra is so social,” I have my introvert ways, trust me. Even when I was a runner, my friends would call me the “antisocial runner” because I didn’t like to run with the group. I meet up with them in the morning but then I would put my headphones on and take off running…alone, lol. So, I understand why someone would want to tell her story while also keeping a part of herself hidden from the world.

But I gotta tell you, the power of social media, it really requires you to come out of your comfort zone. And what I am learning and discovering (that’s been so amazing) is that as I do this more and more, my readers thank me for it.

I want to share with you three powerful reasons why you should be more social on social media when you’re an author.

And yeah, I know you’re thinking, “I just want to write my book, Audra! Can’t I just do that?” Well, you can, but isn’t part of sharing your story so that somebody eventually reads it? Yeah. Right. So, I want to share with you why it’s so important for you to be social…because social media requires it. It requires you to get out of your comfort zone and allow others who don’t know you to not only get to hear about your book but hear about YOU.

Because let’s face it, this is not how things used to be. There was a time (my first exposure to books was in the late eighties so I’m dating myself, lol) when you could just write a book and hide in the background; the bookstores and everybody else would do all the work for you. Well, honey, that day is over. It’s really over! But, what’s so fascinating about this process is as you share more about who you are to your readers, it endears them to you.

So, that’s one of the first things I want you to put down as a power of social media is that it allows you to connect with your readers in such an intimate way. I get emails, text messages, and Facebook inboxes from people all over the world. I was even tagged in a post from someone in Korea who read Unchain Me Mama, my first anthology and was moved by it. And it was funny because, in the post, the person said, “Read this book by my friend Audra.” And I’m thinking to myself, hmm, I don’t know you, but okay, lol.

I honestly believe what happened was, she read so much about me because I’ve opened up so much about my life, that when she purchased the book she felt as if she really knew me. Isn’t that what you want your readers to feel? You want them to get your message so clearly that they feel it and respond to it! And most importantly that they share it with the world. So, a power of being social is connecting with your reader intimately, right? And it can happen in a way that allows your book sales to organically grow.

Recently I posted that I woke me to an email notification that Unchain Me Mama was featured in a magazine under the Must-Read section. Yes, we are a must read y’all, and that made me excited! This book came out two years ago, yes, two years ago, and here we are in 2019, and it’s showing up in the print version of a magazine in the Must Read section, but it’s because the book has a life of its own. And it has a life of its own because I was willing to give just a little bit of me.

Another power of social media is the ability to create virtual connections that translate into real life. You can take interactions from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. and connect with people in person that can lead to future ventures and lucrative partnerships.

I attended a conference in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and it was amazing. There was an author there that I’ve known for two whole years. We met on social media, talk frequently and finally got a chance to connect in person, and it was crazy. and exciting all at the same time!  I have this great connection with this awesome author who’s doing some fantastic stuff…and yeah, I met her online.  As a matter of fact, for those of you attending the Visionary Author Summit, you’ll meet her, Tamara Zantell, in person (yay you!).

We met because both of us were willing to be social on social media. It ain’t just about getting online surfing and scrolling.

But you really have to be willing to give just a little bit of yourself, and the results will be amazing. First, you want to connect with your reader intimately by sharing, being honest, being transparent, right? And then, you want to take your connections that you have online from Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and you want to connect with people in person. It really will elevate your experience.

The next thing I’m about to share with you is how being social can increase your reach and exposure.

And the reason why as an author, you want to increase your exposure and your reach, is because you wrote this amazing book and someone needs to read it. Look, you’ve sacrificed trips with your kids, missed hanging out with friends, gave up doing all the things that you would normally do just to put your heart and soul onto paper.

Don’t you want as many people as possible to read your book? Now, for those of you that say, “Hey, Audra, if just one person reads my book, it’s enough.”

(Insert sigh)

I think that when most authors say, “Well, if one person reads my book, that’s enough,” that it’s a defense mechanism. They’re protecting themselves because there’s nothing more heartbreaking than writing a book and then release it on Amazon or wherever and the book sales are…crickets. And I think sometimes people will make that comment, that if just one person buys it, it’s enough because they are afraid…

But, here’s the thing, maybe if you work on being social just a little bit, you can get that reach and exposure that will help generate and increase your book sales. But it’s going to require you to take some action.  Action takers win all day long. It doesn’t have to be huge actions. It can be little actions, such as jumping on a Facebook Live once a month. Start there, allowing your viewers to convert from being viewers to readers. Wouldn’t that be exciting?

Recently, I had a conversation with someone who met me from a social media ad that I ran and now we have a partnership. We have yet to meet face to face, but we’re working on making that happen soon. There is true power in being social that can be a huge benefit to authors, and with the stories you guys are sharing, the messages you want to get out there, look, your readers will absolutely thank you too.

So, just take a little step, a little step out of your comfort zone. You’ve written a book, you’ve published the book, and now take one more step towards being more social and get the word out to your readers.

Share in the comments one thing you will do to be more social on social media to purposefully connect with your readers.

I’ll be sure to reply and cheer you on!

Have a great day, guys. Bye.

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Well, a few months later I had the pleasure of being invited to be a part of someone’s else anthology. It gave me an opportunity to learn from the inside…from an expert! This visionary already had two Amazon #1 bestsellers and solid media expertise…so I was all in!

And the rest is history…

But what you don’t know is this…

The first project I envisioned back in 2015 never happened…hmmm

I have absolutely no regrets.

Acting on the initial vision has unfolded into a full-fledged, full-time, profitable business.

Acting on the initial vision has allowed me to assist almost 100 individuals to share their stories.

Acting on the initial vision has manifested love, abundance, and expansion into my life that drives me each day!

Simply because I was willing to start!

Are you ready to take action on your dreams?

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When I think about all the beautifully courageous women that I’ve had the pleasure of working with, all of us bonding as we’ve shared our stories…

It has truly been the biggest blessing of my writing journey.

How has sharing your story changed your life?

The post Writing Is Its Own Reward appeared first on Audra R. Upchurch.

If daddy wasn’t there for you. You can talk about it. If He was inconsistent. You can share it. But regardless of how devastating your experiences, you better not talk about your Mama.

Period.

If you do, you run the risk of being branded as someone who’s ungrateful or unappreciative and that can be a hard, lonely road to navigate.

Your experiences are valid.
You’re not alone.

That’s why we’re bringing back Unchain Me Mama: The Forgiveness Factor and we have 8 slots left.

You can speak your truth…ask me how.

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They’re human. We’re human.

Writing from your heart, sharing your secrets with the world is scary business no matter who you are.

Thankfully as co-authors, their only job is to write their story. A great editor will help bring that story to life.

So, for all you writers out there…go ahead and exhale…because you deserve it! #Woosah

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In my co-author community, we have a unique sisterhood built on respect because I value each author for her own strengths…they know it because I show it!

As we begin working on our 3rd anthology, this I know for sure, collaborations are most successful when people are treated like human beings and not dollar signs.

That’s right…I said it!

The post Collaborations Begin With Respect! appeared first on Audra R. Upchurch.

It’s okay if you haven’t washed the dishes today or if that load of laundry from last week is still not done. It’s okay if you’ve only completed 99 or even 2 of the 100’s of things on your list. Exhale. It’s really okay!

As women, somehow we believe we must do everything…all the time and quite honestly, many of you are miserable because of it. You try to be the best mother, the best wife, the best co-worker, the best dish washer, the best laundry folder, the best cook, and even the best friend! Whew! That’s a lot of pressure for just one YOU.

You are only one person, and that one person deserves to live her BEST LIFE! So do you really want to be happy? Then begin to live the best version of yourself by stop trying to perfect!

The post Stop trying to be perfect #GrownLadyTalk appeared first on Audra R. Upchurch.

When you understand just how valuable you are…you become unwilling to disrespect your time, your heart, or your resources. It becomes easier to say Yes to YOU even when that means saying No to someone you love… because you matter too.

If you are the person that does everything for everyone or if you’ve ever had difficulty setting boundaries in the past, let’s practice this together, comment below “I love you but NO!”

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Losing custody of my son when he was only 2 years old had a profound effect on how I made decisions for a very long time. I blamed myself for being so trusting and felt foolish because I believed that I should have seen it coming. I was angry with myself for such a long time…

Thankfully I’ve grown.

When I finally let go of the negative beliefs, I began to thrive and have positive outcomes that gave me a new lease on life! I’ve learned how to make sound decisions, not based on past experiences or guilt but guided by love and with a free heart. You don’t realize how heavy a weight is until you let it go!

It’s time for you to thrive! What are you still holding on to?

If you are ready to be kinder to yourself and show the world a happier you, comment below, “My Happiness Matters!”

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