Don't Discredit the Small Starts
It would be amazing if all the work we put into our dreams and desires would pay off faster. However, I’ve never seen a block buster start in my life. Everything has come one piece at a time, like building blocks.
I’ve been writing all my life. There are several writing courses I have taken and I belong to several organizations for writing and publishing now. I’ve always wanted to write a novel and publish it. I can say I have several drafts of novels completed. Some are pretty bad, but you can’t improve if you don’t start.
Now that I have one published novel, I can’t cry because I didn’t make it to number one on my first day of sales. I’m a debut indie author with a pretty wide network, but I know quite a few people in that network that are not into what I write. I am working on reaching my target audience one step at a time.
The funny thing is I think I have more book sales to people not in the target group who found it intriguing and read it all the way through. This includes some writers, friends and family that helped with beta and advanced reader copies that supplied great feedback. They pointed out things that improved the writing. It’s not perfect, but far better than the version that won the writing contest in the latter part of 2021. It’s not perfect, but I know I produced one that keeps readers reading.
Overall, my little start as a published author has been positive. There will be two or three inspired things from the feedback that will be nuggets in book two that explain why it went that way in book one. I’ve hit the mark where some things can’t be changed in book one, but I can have some fun that points out
What keeps me writing is that despite what we could call the bad things, everyone kept on reading my book. I proved I could write a captivating story. I’ll run with the comments about sharing the human condition without glossing it over and showing alternative ways to overcome. Some readers wanted to see more stories like this that dug deep also into what faith really is. I will not hide my view of life because I want people to see another perspective. Fiction allows me to wrap it in entertaining tales that unfold the ideas.
Thanks to everyone who helped me reach the dream of becoming a published author. Greater thanks to the honest opinions that will improve my writing. Here’s to the fun of selling book one and having book two out in January.
You can find Champions of Light on Amazon.
I want to inspire you all to keep going, even if the results seem small. If the feedback inspires you to continue and you have peace that God set you on the path, do not quit! You can reach your dream. God made us all with a purpose and a place to be.
A quick update to life.
Health wise I am improving though my husband and I are both battling what feels like colds after the Quebec fire smoke descended over NY. Boy, was that a creepy couple of days or so. I went for a walk in clear air. An hour later the smoke made the world all dusty and hazy.
I just had an MRI to verify any changes in my multiple sclerosis in the past two years and I am waiting for the results. After painting a hallway two weekends ago, I proved my tendonitis is about gone, but a lot of stretching and strengthening of my entire body is in order.
Book two, Truth Bearer, is 70% through the first draft. I am aiming for about 100K words and expect after rewriting and editing to be in the lower 90K range like book one, Champions of Light. I am hoping my first round for beta readers comes around mid August. Stay tuned to see how this plays out.
My cats, Jenny and Boots, prove entertaining and thankfully have not deleted any files off my computer lately. They have tried to add extra letters and symbols to my writing. Their best trick is sitting on my desk in front of my monitor and ignoring the fact they are blocking my view.