Competition is a good thing

Got a fascinating question lately: Aren't you worried that you're creating more competition for yourself by doing the Author at Once workshops?

It was one of the prep questions for an interview I just did, and though it wasn't asked, I did start thinking about how to answer it.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: I think helping writers get their work out there is good for everyone. More books, more choices for readers.

We've run Author at Once four times, and met about 70 writers -- and they're all into different things. Some want to write fantasy, scifi, humor, textbooks, some aren't even writers and more of illustrators and cover artists.

And even if there are a few who want to go into writing Contemporary New Adult Chick Lit Romance in English (like me), I don't think we're going to run out of characters, settings, plots and ideas.

Readers tend to read more than one author and buy more than one book in their lifetimes. And readers who fancy a genre will try other authors within the genre, which means fans of my "competition" (let's say contemporaries instead?) are more likely to read my books.

It's good for everyone. Go publish already. :)