We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful D. C. Gomez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with D. C. below.

D. C., appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of the biggest risks I have taken was decided to self-published. For most of my life, I have been a storyteller. Creating stories and new worlds is something that comes natural to me. But for years I had been pushing my creative side down. I was busy building a career and following the American Dream. After years of hard work, I had everything my parents wanted for me, the job, the house, the recognition, and yet I was miserable. It took several sessions with my spiritual director to realized, I was not following my God-given purposed. When she recommend I do a noble, I panic. All the reasons why this would fail came to my mind. What if nobody read this book? What if people laugh at me? I had plenty of what ifs, and she wasn’t buying it.

Eventually I agreed and started working on the book. I researched different methods of publishing and found CreativeSpace. At the time, it was a subdivision of Amazon. A year later that branch was abolished. Fortunately, they made the process easy. I worked with their cover designer and editors to bring to life my book, Death’s Intern. In November of 2017, the book was published, and the real test came. Was I going to promote this book? I lived in the Bible Belt of East Texas. The book was based on the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, and it had witches and demons. How was I going to tell my friends and peers I wrote an urban fantasy book?

One of my mentors was the one that gave me the tools that I needed. Paul Martinelli in one of his lessons said, Do it Afraid. That became my mantra. I didn’t need to be fearless, or perfect. I just needed to take a step. Each step I took became a little bit easier. Fortunately, my community did not ban my book or ran me out of town. Instead, they have become my greatest cheerleaders. They love the idea that a member of our community took the risk to follow their dreams and succeed.

D. C., love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m truly blessed to be able to be following my dreams and working in a field that I love. I’m an award-winning USA Today Bestselling Author, podcaster, and motivational coach. During my career as a published author, I have written seventeen books, ranging from urban fantasy, women’s contemporary, children’s books, young adults/ middle school fantasy books, and even devotionals. One of my greatest passions is to create stories that would connect with people of all ages and background. Given me the freedom to write in diverse genres and formats of books.

My brand also expands to podcasting. For over two years I have hosted and produced the podcast, Inside the Minds of Authors. It has been a true pleasure to interview popular and upcoming authors with published books. The podcast has become a vehicle to help promote the amazing works authors around the world are doing.

When I’m not writing or recording, I worked with aspiring artists and writers to develop the courage they need to pursue their dreams. Sometimes taken the leap to follow our passions is the hardest thing many of us have done. I worked closely with my clients to help them navigate their situations and pursue a creative lifestyle.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media was truly one of the greatest challenges to me. I had dabbled with Facebook years earlier, but it was overwhelming, and I cancelled the account. When I published my first book, I had no way to promoted since I wasn’t on any platform. Looking back on it, it was a great advantage for me. When I joined Facebook for the second time, I was very strategic in my approached. I saw my account as a business account. I treated both my “personal” and author page as part of my business. I made conscious decisions on everything that I posted.

My goal was that every information on the page was positive, motivating, and related back to my books. A few years later I was able to see the fruit of my efforts, my readers and peers saw me as a motivational person. I build a reputation of being respectful, trustworthy and compassionate towards others. This approached help to build the brand, and open doors for new opportunities.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Marketing is a huge piece of our business. Regardless the industry we are in, connecting with our ideal audience is at the conner stone of everything we do. Taken advantage of Facebook and Amazon Ads would have been very beneficial l in my creative journey earlier on. The algorithm of Facebook and Amazon are changing all the time. The platforms are both focus on paid advertising. Understanding how those ads worked have become a critical part of my business. I’m utilizing both platform to find new readers, and connect them with my books.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dcgomez-author.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dc.gomez
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dcgomez.author
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/shop/dcgomez-author

Image Credits
Covers were created by Christine Gerardi Designs