Ever wondered what a writer goes through?

This is going to be a BSP sort of post, and yet, not. And it is a loooong post, just so you know.

I hope you understand. Every author has moments of terror and then there are moments of utter thrilldom. I am a little on the fence about either one. I mean I have been semi-successful with my work. I have followers, fans of the podcast, and social media likers. When I check my Alexa ranking I am rocking the writing world, out-ranking some of my friends.

And apparently, folks are interested in what I do, and if I have been successful–how did I do it. Whether that is so that they can try and do the same, or if they are just a curious lot, well, I don’t know. I certainly don’t think it is unique. And there are totally others out there doing WAY better than I. I have never made a secret of what I do.

Publishing is publishing, folks. Get that in there okay? Most books and their authors are not famous. Especially the indie ones. Although there is a certain cache attached to books that are on a shelf, virtual or otherwise, most of the people who produced them are not rich. And today, it is way harder to make money at it because there are so many more books than ever before. Yes, self publishing is a great (and easy) way to get a book to market, but it is even harder to make anyone want to read it.

Which brings me to what I do. For the last few months, well, maybe even this last year, I have spent so much time promoting my work that I haven’t written much new stuff. I think I may have mentioned this in a post during my writing retreat last year. But you know a lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to write a book. It’s a project of love. It takes dedication, and oh my goodness, a lot of time. Some people think that an author can just sit down over a weekend and in a few hours have a book written. Well, that wouldn’t be a big book, first off, and certainly not publish-worthy, secondly.

I spent literally years writing. And when the work is finished, I spend years promoting. The efforts I put into marketing a book or short story is absolutely mind-boggling. You wouldn’t do this unless you were a writer, I am just saying. And it’s never ending. Every day, get up, get a word count in, or promote something until time to assume my responsibilities in the real world. But let me just say, promoting a book takes the most time and energy, and sometimes, I don’t write because of it.

And I am not getting any younger over here, y’all. I feel pressured every day to work hard and turn out something–and now with the pages read thing at Kindle, well, something LONG. And I imagine this will never stop because for most authors today, if you don’t produce something regularly, readers forget about you. Suddenly, you are not on the forefront of a reader’s mind, they are not looking for your work, etc. And I know popular authors out there trad pubbed are REALLY feeling this, so I am not alone.

Now let me just say, doing it all, writing, editing, doing the art work, formatting, uploading, promoting, and all the other facets of self-pub is hella stressful. I mean, most of us, yes, me included, really cannot afford a pro editor, a pro cover artist, and a pro formatter. That’s why I started my service for authors. SEE A-1 Author’s Assistant.

What’s my point in all of this? Well, let me say, 2016 will be a different year. I intend to do a lot less promoting and a whole lot more writing. Yes, I will be at some cons with my work. Maybe ones a little closer to home though. Yes, I will still be on social media, but maybe cut back to JUST Facebook and Twitter.

Some authors do a mid-year goal setting sort of post, and this is likely mine. I intend to make 2016 a year filled with writing. I have been journaling for some time now and I am so hooked. I love writing in a notebook. It’s how I became a writer. It encourages me to write. I will be doing more of that for sure. And I will get some major editing done in 2016. Book two of the Shannon Wallace caper mysteries will be dolled up and ready to publish, and I intend to do something with Loran Rudder and the Secret Key. It’s fully written, a full-length YA novel, but it needs help.

So thanks for staying with me through this year of mostly promotions. I will be finishing the year at Imaginarium in Louisville, KY next month and then I am going to be right into the publish/promote of Disk of Death. Thanks for hanging out!
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