Answer: For me there definitely is one negative --
The
emphasis on frequency of publication.
The three requirements
for Independent Publishing success as a fiction writer – according to what I’ve
been told – are these:
- Write in a popular genre.
- Write a series.
- Publish every 3 to 4 months. Preferably every 3 months.
I’ve got the first two
covered. Romantic Suspense is a popular sub-group of a very popular genre. I’m
also writing the Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series.
I was doing all right
with number three for a while. A Wrong
Way Home launched in February. A
Year of Summer Shadows in
June. Four months apart not three but still in the frequency ballpark. That looked okay on the calendar but I knew
better. Making book number two’s publication date was a stretch for me. An
uncomfortable stretch. To accomplish it I did a truly stupid thing: I rushed the manuscript straight from my
editor’s hands into production. I didn’t do the final crucial read-through
myself.
I’ve been around way
longer than enough to know there are edits only the author’s eyes will see. I
rushed it anyway. Because I didn’t want to commit the allegedly deadly sin of
letting five months pass between published books. Since then I’ve committed other sins that
also toll the death knell to my frequency of publication. Specifically I’m
guilty of wanting and having a personal life. Complete with family and friends
and even some fun.
In the 1990’s I set all
of those aside to pursue a career as a literary agent. I was all business all
the time and the goddess of commerce awarded me well. What I seem to be experiencing now is a case
of Been There Done That when it comes to All Work and No Play Make Alice a
Successful Woman.
Whatever the cause may
be – I’m just not feeling the need for speed. I fully understand this flies in
the face of my having told hundreds of writers in my workshops that they must
be Warriors on Behalf of Their Careers.
All the same – I’ve
decided not to renew my fast lane pass. Which also flies in the face of the
three-prong program for independent publishing success. I’ve been fortunate to experience a number of
worldly successes in my life. Maybe I’ve fulfilled my required quota of those. Maybe it’s time to seek another kind of success.
The kind that perhaps doesn’t involve being a warrior at all.♥
A YEAR OF SUMMER SHADOWS – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book #2
– is available on Amazon. The
ebook version of Book #1, A WRONG WAY
HOME, is FREE. These are Alice’s 12th
and 13th novel. Number
14 will probably take longer to arrive. Visit Alice at www.aliceorrbooks.com.
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