We recently connected with M.K. Collings and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, M.K. thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

Some may say writing and publishing a book comes with no risk. When you get down to the nitty gritty details of what it takes to not only write a book, edit, format, design graphics, market and publish, you realize it is far from a walk in the park. There’s so much more to do in addition to placing your heart and soul out to the world to be judged and criticized.

When I wrote my first novel, Light Angel, I had no plans of going out of my comfort zone to share my work with the world. Why would I? It is a constant battle with fears of financial loss, increased self-doubt and humiliation, and the struggle for exposure.

As intimidating as it felt, I took a small leap in sharing my novel with an established author. This author has many amazing stories under her belt and she became my friend over time. I prepared myself for the feedback of what an amateur story would be to a professional. What I didn’t expect was being told my world I created, my story, was epic.

I spent months weighing the pros and cons of not only publishing a novel but beginning an author’s career with writing more stories that are buried deep inside. I’ll tell you, the cons were leaning pretty heavy on the scale. What really made me take that final leap was my constant question of ‘What if?’.
What if I did make it?
What if my stories help someone through a difficult time?
What if I find what I’m meant to do in life?
My passion is to help others and if that meant risking myself by pushing out of my cocoon of safety, then I’d do it.

Stories are an escape from the chaos of life. I’ve found peace, laughter, and healing through reading. I came to realize, these are virtues my stories can provide others.

It’s ironic how I use reading as an escape, when in turn, I’ve placed myself into a situation where I am anything but safe while I constantly risk both my passions and my business. I published my book, and I’ve created my own publishing business.
No longer am I the introvert hiding behind the pages of a book; I’m standing out in the world with a flashing neon sign asking for readers to now take a risk on me.

I can tell you one thing for sure, I have zero regrets. Despite taking a risk where there’s constant uncertainty of the future, I’ve chosen a path I know deep down I’m meant to be on. I’ve grown, improved, and I now have the ability to help other authors to make their dreams come true. I’ve gone from taking a huge risk myself to helping others take that risk.

M.K., before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the owner of The Caid Brand Publishing and write under the pen name M.K. Collings. I’m an author of Paranormal Romance designed by Destiny, Fate, & Karma. I also offer author services such as formatting and graphic designing.

From telling stories in my cardboard box fort when I was three, to writing horror stories with my best friend in high school, the pattern is evident that I was meant to write stories for a living.

I spent many years enjoying books, which in turn led me to writing reviews for authors and helping them receive more exposure for their work. One night, I was entertaining some bored friends with a silly little story. Oh boy, did that unlock a door I didn’t realize was closed off from me for so long. The story spiraled out of control, and I couldn’t stop until it was finished. It all felt right and almost freeing. After positive feedback, I made the decision that this should be the next step in my life. And since I was planning on publishing my novel, I wanted to do everything right by my work. I made a commitment that if I was serious about this, I needed to go all in. So I created a DBA, made a plan, and the research and work officially began.

I had no disillusion that this process would be easy. I knew it was going to be a huge challenge for me, yet I found my purpose. All while working my day job and taking care of my family.

My writing is unique with original stories. I’ve heard many readers getting tired of the predictable or cookie cutter stories, and to be honest, I was right there with them. What better way to fix that than to write stories that not only I enjoy writing, but others find as a refreshing change-up from their norm?

Readers have been excited to share their emotions with me during their reading adventure, quoting my characters, and gushing about how they swooned and fell deeply in love with my hero, Hunter. One reader even contacted me crying because the messages in the story helped them heal. It wasn’t just an escape for them. The story was a tool to help overcome the mental scars they hid deep inside.

When it comes to my stories, I mix paranormal romance with urban fantasy to create exactly what I crave in a story.

A tale where normal people are led down a path they are meant to be on; who not only find love, but battle evil that hides behind the unknown.

There’s thousands of folktales and lore passed down about mythical creatures, monsters, and people with gifts. Fairy tales created by people to teach lessons to children or to entertain out of boredom.

But what if they are real?

My literary creations are my own twists on the supernatural side of our very own world.

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

When I decided I was going to start my publishing business, I strived for the least amount of regrets. This meant taking as long as it needed to be successful from day one. I knew it was going to be a learning process regardless, but why wait and miss out on a huge opportunity?
If I was going to do this, I was going to do this right the first time.

I decided to build my online social media presence very early on. It was important to begin relationships and a reader ‘following’ prior to my start especially since pre-orders can make a huge impact when it comes to rankings. This leads to more exposure and ultimately more sales.

After three years of building a social media presence, getting to know other authors, readers, and influencers, I am satisfied with my progress. I have made the most beautiful relationships and gained numerous lasting friendships, as well as business partnerships in the process.

Why did it take three years? Well, in the background, I was building my business up and placing the finishing touches on my debut novel. All while working full-time and raising two children.

If you are a writer, artist, or any other soon-to-be business owner, it is never too early to begin networking. Don’t look at building relationships with the mindset of ‘what can they do for me?’. I’ve seen so many who want to market their product and see people only as a means to an end. You may sell a few, but what do you have appealing for clients to keep wanting to come back?

I want to get to know readers, even if they aren’t my target audience, I want to project my brand where love and kindness conquers over greed. My ultimate goal is to help others, whether that be with creating worlds to escape into, or sharing a light during a dark time.

When you view networking by social media as a support group, a partnership, and a way to help others, you succeed.

Follow the laws of attraction and be willing to give more than you receive. This doesn’t mean letting people take advantage of you or holding yourself back to allow others to rise.
In order to shine, you must be willing to help others shine with you.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Anyone who has used their gifts to manifest their creations most likely has struggled with creative blocks and imposter syndrome.

For me, I have so many stories and ideas I plan to execute. Sometimes the characters end up fighting each other for the spotlight. The main problems arise when either another idea hits me with a passion and my mind is obsessively flooded with that story—making my current project go by the wayside—or when I am working within a deadline. Getting out new material in a finite timeframe while still keeping my already published work from being forgotten can add a lot of pressure.

Ultimately, pressure and stress are major creativity killers. They turn the imaginative part of the brain into an impenetrable wall. Sometimes this block can last a day or two, and other times it can last months. They can become so overwhelming, it turns debilitating in the ability to create which leads to less productivity and feeds the creativity block into becoming a vicious cycle.

These all can lead to imposter syndrome. It’s a time when we question our gifts, our abilities and second guess our decision in pursuing the chosen career path. Despite having prior successes, when we think of the masterpiece(s) we’ve created, we begin to doubt our ability to recreate it in another project. There is an increased amount of pressure and expectation. We constantly ask ourselves endless questions like, ‘Can I do this again? Is this the end of my career? Will I fail and let my readers down?’.

When criticism comes into play, it increases the self-doubts, causing us to over analyze and obsess about the negatives. Something many non-creatives may not realize is imposter syndrome doesn’t stop there. The challenge is keeping it from sneaking in when it comes to compliments and great successes. One would think the positive feedback would only motivate and spur a creator on, but they can add just as much pressure.

Each one of us—creatives and non-creatives—are all human and we have our own challenges and struggles. The most important thing to remember is, you are not alone. You are never alone. There are others dealing with similar battles. This supports the other question on building a social media presence and finding others who are like-minded to create a support group. Sometimes getting through it alone isn’t always the best or quickest option. Having the support though, and understanding from others, can get you back to creating magic again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mkcollings.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormkcollings/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMKCollings/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/AuthorMKCollings