Every successful author you admire has a story they don't usually tell — the publisher who dropped them, the genre that stopped selling, the moment they had to decide whether to quit or start over. Donna Jones Alward decided to start over.

In this unfiltered conversation, bestselling author Donna Jones Alward gets real about imposter syndrome, the fear of failure, what it actually felt like to lose her publisher, and how she rebuilt her career from scratch.

If you've ever wondered whether you have what it takes to make it as an author — this one's for you.Because the writers who make it aren't the ones who never fall. They're the ones who figure out how to get back up.

In this video:

* What imposter syndrome really looks like for a working author

* The truth about losing a publisher (and what comes next)

* How Donna pivoted from romance to historical fiction — and why it was terrifying

* What starting over actually teaches you about your writing career.

Grab her books here: https://www.amazon.com/World-Silent-Donna-Jones-Alward/dp/0008647054#https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Dreams-enthralling-heartbreaking-friendship-ebook/dp/B0DSK361VZhttps://donnajonesalward.com/👇

Drop a comment below — have you ever had to start over? I'd love to hear your story.

👱‍♀️ About Me: I’m Shirley Jump, a New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of 87 books published in 24 countries. I’ve worked for most of the big 5 New York publishers and have self-published, so I’m a bit of a hybrid author. I’m currently writing for Harper Collins and Hachette, and working on a brand-new series with you guys on this channel. Literally writing the book with you all! Look for my how-to book, Writing Compelling Fiction, on Amazon.

🫤 How’d I Get Here? I wrote TEN books in 8 years before I sold my first one. I was rejected from pretty much everyone in the business, and even quit writing for a while because I was so disheartened. It hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns since that first sale, which is why I’m here to help you learn how to write a better book, so that you can avoid the tough-knocks road I took. So come write with me, and let’s write a better book!

In this episode, New York Times bestselling author talks to Mandy Jump, half of the synth-pop duo Funayurei, about the power of imagery and how to hook people in the first seconds of a song. These are the same techniques that top writers use in novels, short stories, and novellas to grab readers and keep them turning the pages.