Julie Regency Romance

I am a small fish in a rather large pond. Name recognition is one of the goals of any new author as we struggle to compete with the big names. This is where reviews are so helpful. Do you buy anything anymore without looking at the reviews? I don't. If you read a book by any author and love or like it, give the author a virtual hug by writing a review on Amazon and Goodreads. If star reviews are silver, written reviews are gold! It doesn't have to be long or wordy, just a short blurb to encourage others to read it.

It has been a week since my book was released! People have been so nice! I have been walking on cloud nine all week. I'd like to thank all the people who encouraged me and helped me. About 18 months ago I happened to be at a place to hear Brandon Mull talk about breaking into publishing 'Fablehaven'. I got up the courage to go and speak to him about it after. He was so encouraging and supportive and told me not to give up. He was soooo nice! He gave me the boost I needed to go for it, along with my friends and family. So dreams can come true.

My book is out on Kindle already and the hard copy book will be out June 12. I thought it would be fun to run a contest for free signed books. Post pictures (your face does not have to be in the picture) on my FB author page of you reading the book in exotic places you might travel to (yes, your local public pool is considered eligible). The most intriguing will win a signed copy of my book. Deadline will be August 10th, 2018. Happy reading!

Present day authors are marketers too. It is just the nature of the industry today. I took a class about 'Writing to Market' at the writers conference. The presenter had fascinating procedures for writing to maximize revenues. She backed up her presentation with data. Write what people want to read as shown by analytics. She earns a decent salary from her writing and it is growing each year. I felt her energy and was excited but after the class I realized that that is not the way I want to write. I will probably use some of her techniques in the future but I'm never going to write five books a year and I don't want to write to someone else's formula. It works well for her but would not work well for me. And that's okay.

I just read about an author who is the mother of 10 and wrote 13 books in one year! Whaat! So now I feel like a slacker! One book a year seems like a dereliction of duty. I can't begin to imagine how she does that and start to panic but then the rational side of me says, "Wait a minute, you are not her and it is not a competition." Phew, thanks for walking me back from that cliff! I think there is a saying that says 'Comparison is the thief of joy.' If there isn't there should be. The pace I write at works for me and writing is still a joy. If I wrote at that pace it would become a drudgery for me as it would keep me from doing other things I love to do. Like watching my son beat his personal best in the high jump. Perhaps for you one book a year is more than you can handle. Set your own pace and don't compare yourself to others.

My book The Secret of Haversham House goes to print tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited! ( ok not as excited as my grandson when we tell him it's time to eat but close!) There are so many facets to being an author in this day and age; writing is only a part of it. I have just applied for my author page at BookBub and Goodreads. 5 minutes ago I didn't even know that was a thing! It is a baptism by fire and threatens to overwhelm me at times as I try to stay up to date on current marketing strategies. The eating the elephant analogy is one I try to keep front and center. One bite at a time.

I have been participating in book clubs for over 25 years so the question from my editor should not have been a surprise. But it was! The voice in my head said, "Only really good books would put book club questions in the back. Don't flatter yourself that even one person will want to read your book let alone a whole group wanting to discuss it in a book club!" So I told that old voice to beat it and wrote some questions. It was fun. I wrote nonsense until something stuck and then I went to get ready for bed and while I brushed my teeth I jotted down the new ideas for questions that flooded my brain and then I slept on it. The next day I edited what I had written the night before and added some of the new ideas I had and in the end I had 12 questions! For some reason, this made it all the more real. My book is really going to get published!