4/27/2014

In a matter of days it will be two years since I published my first novel Mr Right and Other Mongrels. Two years! It feels like yesterday. It feels like a lifetime ago. It’s all very confusing.

Of course that wasn’t where my writer’s journey began, or even my publishing journey, but it is when I officially became an indie author.

Since then, as those of you following along at home will know, I have released four additional novels under my name and one under a pen name (Ok some of you may not have known that bit!) I think that’s a pretty decent effort overall, although I am way behind the goals I set myself.

Oddly, it isn’t the writing that slows me down, it’s either the covers, the editing or the formatting that pushes the schedule back every time.

I still find the hardest part of this journey the ability to maintain momentum. One week I’ll be on fire and the next completely deflated. There’s always a huge crash after a book releases. All that work getting it ready, setting up any promotional opportunities and then waiting. Will the reviews come in? (Probably not as many as you’d like) Will sales soar? (Probably not as many as you’d like.)? Will everyone who showed enthusiasm and said they buy it or read it do so? (Absolutely not. That lesson doesn’t get easier with time.)

Then you just have to get up and get moving and put that behind you or beside you is probably more correct…it’s more like a shadow that travels with you. You can’t really put it behind you because it’s an ongoing project promoting a book, selling books and being an author.

So you need to move on and get writing again.

As an indie author they say books sell books and I’m sure that’s true. I look at some really prolific indie authors and wonder how they’re getting their books out so quickly, especially a few who have cracked it big in the last year or so. I think they set themselves a budget per book and are ready to spend it on editing and promotion in advance. I would suggest any new author does this. You can publish a book for almost nothing, but you probably shouldn’t. You also should have more than one book ready to go at the start.

So I guess that’s my signal to get writing. I’m involved in an anthology that will be out in the next few days and I guess that’s the next step on the journey for me, followed by a novella I hope to release in June.

Look out for this anthology in the next few days…I’ll remind you.

And for Musical Monday here’s today’s song. I watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (that Matthew McConaughey always cheers me up) and this is my favourite song from the soundtrack.

Comment

Sandrine Piat
9/1/2015 05:14:06 pm

It’s so true what you say about the ups and downs and also how you can’t just put it behind you and forget about it. It’s just always there now. I’ve only published one book so far and being the sort of laid-back dreamer that I am, I never ever expected it to be so hard to get people to buy my book. After a while, I was so depressed looking at my no-sales on Amazon that I decided to give it all up. But my wonderful sister was right there to boost me and tell me that I have to keep going. And I did. Now I just don’t look at the sales dashboard thing – not that there are any sales to look at – but it doesn’t matter. As you say, I just have to keep writing and get my second book out there and then keep going. Sometimes it’s so wonderful when someone tells you ‘hey I read your book, and loved it!’ It makes it all worth it doesn’t it. I just love your books by the way. My most recent one was Hearts afire! It was wonderful and I loved it.