Somehow it’s almost the end of 2014! We OneFours have had such an incredible year, and we’ve been so glad to share our experiences with all of you. As we make our final farewells as debut authors, we want to share…

A fun/unexpected/meaningful moment/experience of your debut year:

My mother’s enthusiasm. She is a one woman sales-excitement machine, sharing with all of her friends from everywhere and forever about “my daughter’s book.” It’s pretty much the sweetest thing ever.–Jaye Robin Brown, NO PLACE TO FALL

All the amazing people who’ve come into my life and who I can now call friends. Definitely an unexpected and meaningful perk during this debut year.–Robin Constantine, THE PROMISE OF AMAZING

I had two show steers at my launch party, and just as the first was brought up to “show,” he pooped. Which is how STEERING TOWARD NORMAL opens. Nature gave me a perfect book birthday gift!–Rebecca Petruck, STEERING TOWARD NORMAL

A twelve-year-old girl came up to me at Vegas Valley Book Festival with her copy of CAMELOT BURNING, which she’d just bought, and asked me to sign it for her as she went on about how much she loves BBC’s MERLIN. We fangirled together for about five minutes. It was AWESOME.–Kathryn Rose, CAMELOT BURNING

Definitely the letters I’ve received from readers has been the best thing ever. Even now, thinking that I wrote something that might help someone through a hard time, makes me tear up.–Helene Dunbar, THESE GENTLE WOUNDS

The support has been so amazing: from friends, family, acquaintances, old high school friends, random strangers, and of course, all of the wonderful writers I’ve met this year. I expected this to be a more solitary journey than it has been, and that’s been an incredible surprise.–AdriAnne Strickland, WORDLESS

The best moments of being an author aren’t when you’re at a conference or on a panel. They’re when you check your PO box or author email account to find a message from a young reader who connected with your book. Being able to share our words and stories with readers is a gift and an honor–and it makes everything else in this crazy career worthwhile.–Rebecca Behrens, WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE

Standing behind the podium at Powell’s and talking about my very own book was the first time I felt even a little bit like a real author. It was a wonderful feeling.–Heidi Schulz, HOOK’S REVENGE

I loved getting to be a part of the Boston Teen Author Festival this year. I’ve gone to a bunch of events like these, but being on panels with authors I admired was mind-boggling.–Annie Cardi, THE CHANCE YOU WON’T RETURN

After co-writing DREAM BOY with my friend Madelyn Rosenberg, I thought we were about as close as we possibly could be. As she helped shepherd me through my first year as a published novelist, however, new aspects of our relationship came to light and we grew even closer. Without a doubt, getting to know her different sides has been the best part of a wonderful debut year.–Mary Crockett, DREAM BOY

One of my best memories of this year: I walked into a classroom on one my first school visits and a boy ran up to me yelling, “This book is AWESOME!” Meeting readers and inspiring young writers has been so rewarding.–Louise Galveston, BY THE GRACE OF GOD

My favorite debut moment was seeing my book in a store for the first time. It was early, so I wasn’t in “published author” mode yet, and it was just so impossible to internalize. So I made myself stare at it until it penetrated that I had done this, and then I cried like a baby on the floor of B&N.–Dahlia Adler, BEHIND THE SCENES

One of my favorite memories this year was at a library event. A student walked into the room and after seeing my Gilded and Silvern banners, he raced across the room saying, “That is my favorite book! And look, there’s a sequel!”–Christy Farley, GILDED

One of my favorite moments of this year was after a school event. Several of the students wrote me letters to tell me that, after hearing me talk about how my multiple failures led to my success in publishing, they had made the jump and tried the things that scared them. One tried out for the basketball team (and made it). One decided to write the story she’d always wanted to write (even though people told her she wasn’t good enough). I will cherish these letters forever!–Veronica Bartles, TWELVE STEPS

I didn’t think debut day would be surprising. I mean, I had approximately 2 years to prepare for it, but the morning my book official came out, my social media streams, cell phone, and email all drowned in love and support from my community. It was shocking. And amazing. And I’ll remember that feeling of being buoyed up for years to come.–Natalie C. Parker, BEWARE THE WILD

There are so many great moments in this debut year, but the best is probably the solid wall of support and love — from new friends in the writing community, from family who has watched me pursue this for years, from readers who discover and love the book — that I’ve found to lean against through the ups and downs.–Dana Alison Levy, THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER

There have been a lot of these moments, but standing in front of a group of students while they asked me questions about my book – that was one of the best. Reading meant so much to me when I was in high school. It was extremely humbling to know that students were reading and enjoying something I had written.–Emily Lloyd-Jones, ILLUSIVE

Unexpected: all of the support and love from the small town I grew up in!–Kate Boorman, WINTERKILL

Unexpected: how emotional it would be to see my book on a bookstore shelf. I knew it would be awesome but the feeling was overwhelming. I cried. Amazing.–Maria Andreu, THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY

I will never forget the first time a teen reader emailed me about how she’d read and enjoyed my book. I felt like dancing all day long (but I didn’t because I can’t dance so trust me, this was a good thing for the sake of my family).–Lori M. Lee, GATES OF THREAD AND STONE

And a piece of advice for future debut writers:

My advice to future debuts is not to sweat the small stuff – so many things aren’t nearly as important as they seem. No one is gonna boycott your book because the cover was revealed early on Goodreads. No one needs you to be a blogger on top of being an author. Just do what you love, be kind, and write good books.–Dahlia Adler, BEHIND THE SCENES

Connect with other writers as much as possible. Writing can be solitary and publishing even more so, having others around you who “get it” can make the insanity of the publishing process so much easier.–Helene Dunbar, THESE GENTLE WOUNDS

Celebrate EVERY milestone! Even if it’s something as simple as, “I totally finished editing that crazy impossible chapter, and now it shines,” acknowledge it and celebrate!–Kathryn Rose, CAMELOT BURNING

Reach out. Don’t feel like you have to go it alone. Have a stupid question? Ask it! Probably everyone else is wondering the same thing — and somebody out there might even have some answers to share!–Mary Crockett, DREAM BOY

To all soon-to-be published writers, my only advice is to ground yourself. Ground yourself with friends, family, ideals that you hold close, and memories of why you wanted this in the first place. Because this is a wild ride and it’s easy to lose yourself to it. But as long as you have a great support system, you’ll be fine.—-Emily Lloyd-Jones, ILLUSIVE

Breathe. A lot. And when things get really crazy, it helps to remember why you started in the first place. It all comes back to the writing!–Robin Constantine, THE PROMISE OF AMAZING

Writing is one thing. Publishing is another thing. Keep writing! A lot of the publishing stuff is out of your control and trying to control it will make you crazy. But the writing is always there and completely yours.–Rebecca Petruck, STEERING TOWARD NORMAL

Remember how life is a thing that happens? Remember how you love doing things other than writing and figuring out how to promote yourself online and in person without feeling like you’ve transformed into a repeating sound-byte? Good. Now remember when you didn’t feel guilty about going to the movies or hanging with your friends? Good. Hold on to that because you deserve to enjoy life in addition to writing.–Natalie C. Parker, BEWARE THE WILD

Plan a launch party. Introvert me was horrified at the thought, but my special person pushed me into it and I’m so glad I did. It was simple (cupcakes, readings, music, at a book store) but people from every moment of my life showed up. It was this big ball of awe and gratitude and I won’t ever forget the support and love I felt that night.–Jaye Robin Brown, NO PLACE TO FALL

Remember to enjoy yourself! You’re following your dream, and yet it’s easy to get so caught up in the stress of it all that you forget the initial giddiness over the fact that you’re (going to be) published. Have fun with it!–AdriAnne Strickland, WORDLESS

Always bring a couple of author copies to a signing, in case you mess up when personalizing a book. It happens. (Also: bring postcards or another piece of signable swag for readers who can’t purchase a book!)–Rebecca Behrens, WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE

Pick and choose what you do for promotion. It’s tempting to do it all but in my debut year I discovered that my energy is finite. (Who knew?). Best thing I ever learned was to do events with other writers instead of doing them solo. A fraction of the work, a multiple of the fun.–Maria Andreu, THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY

The last few weeks leading up to your launch may leave you feeling like a quivery ball of tearful stress and anxiety. You may also feel guilty because publishing a book is a dream come true and why, oh why, aren’t you feeling happier about it??? EVERYTHING IS RUINED. All of this is perfectly normal. Feel whatever you feel and know that it will get better.–Heidi Schulz, HOOK’S REVENGE

Remember when reviews start rolling in that you have a small army of people, including industry pros, who think your writing rocks. Don’t let stars and rankings sideswipe your confidence or choke your creativity.–Louise Galveston, BY THE GRACE OF GOD

Never, never give up. If you keep going, even in the face of failure, good things will happen for you. It’s totally cliche, but it’s absolutely true. I can trace every single one of my most successful moments directly back to a moment where I’d failed so miserably it looked like giving up was the only option. But I kept going, and good things were always just around the corner.–Veronica Bartles, TWELVE STEPS

You don’t have to do this alone. Even if there isn’t an organized group of debuts like the OneFours, basically all debut authors (and authors in general) share the same fears and uncertainties. Find your people. We are here <3–Lori M. Lee, GATES OF THREAD AND STONE

The thing all newly published authors need to remember is that the story that was once theirs no longer exists. It is now a book, something that exists in the public domain, for anyone and everyone to read and discuss. Find a tribe of other writers to vent, cry, complain and talk to, because having your story out in the world can be a wild ride.–Dana Alison Levy, THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER

There’s no one way to be a writer. It’s easy to compare yourself to others whose books are getting starred reviews or flying off the shelves or getting awards, but we’re all on different journeys and connecting with different readers in different ways. Cheer for your fellow writers, but don’t forget to cheer for yourself, too.–Annie Cardi, THE CHANCE YOU WON’T RETURN

My advice for future debut writers is to focus on why you are writing. It’s because you love it. Don’t ever lose that love you have for writing.–Christy Farley, GILDED

Work hard, write from the heart, celebrate yourself and others, and smash those narratives of self-doubt and impostor syndrome with a GIANT SMASHY HAMMER.–Kate Boorman, WINTERKILL

Thanks so much to everyone who’s been a part of our 2014 debut experience! Here’s to even more adventures in 2015 and beyond!