Don't Stop Dreaming

Hi everyone! Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get a Kindle Daily Deal for all three of my books in my Lizzy Gardner Series. And then all of my friends and my author support group and people I never met tweeted and shared and my books hit #2, #3, and #6!

I don't know what to say except THANK YOU to every person out there who gave my books a chance. If you've read my blog or an interview that I've done over the past 2 1/2 years, then you know that after writing for 20 years, I finally got lucky. A brilliant man over at Amazon found a way to make it possible for EVERY writer to publish their book(s) and hopefully find readers. THANK YOU, Mr. Bezos.

If you're thinking of self-publishing, click on the green button on the upper left corner of my website "Steps to Self-Publishing" and that should be enough to get you going. After you release your book to the world, start writing your next book. I'm a big proponent of trying everything at least once, but I got carried away and for the past nine months or so I did more traveling and promoting than writing. Don't make the same mistake I did. If you're a writer, always make writing your priority. The signings and conferences I attended were great, but as far as I'm concerned, they're not the reason my books hit #2, #3, and #6. Some writers can do both, I'm just not one of them. 

So, that's my advice to you. WRITE. READ. WRITE SOME MORE.

DREAM BIG and NEVER GIVE UP!

I am blessed and grateful.

RELAX, WRITE, POLISH

I am seeing way too many writers scrambling around desperately trying to get their books released and then blogging and tweeting until their fingers are blue with little or no results.

Relax.

For many years now there was nothing I could do to make someone buy my book. I had no choice but to write and submit, write and submit. Nothing has changed. You do NOT want to put your work out there too soon. You'll regret it if you do.

And once you have sent your book to a few reviewers, bought an ad or two, and blogged a few times, sure you can spend a few minutes on FB, Twitter, and Kindle Boards, but don't make the mistake of being frantic about your promo/marketing...feeling as if your book needs to sell today! If you're lucky enough to have a story that appeals to readers, then you need to be patient and wait for word of mouth to do it's job.

Return of the Rose is just now working it's way up the charts after four months. I hope Finding Kate Huntley and Taming Mad Max have the same success in a few more months. I'm blogging tomorrow and next week and then I plan to RELAX while I write.

Who is going to feel better in two months? The writer who has finished another book or the writer who is still frantically searching for that one magical advertisement/blog/review that will make his/her book sell?

Edit and polish an old book. Start a new book. Just write.

If anyone is having trouble commenting on blogger, you have to hit preview 2 or 3 times and then UNCHECK the tiny box that says "stay signed in" and then yay, your comment should go through!

Sometimes We Just Need to Write!

Being an Indie Author or self-publishing a book or two means you have to do everything. Suddenly, you find you're spreading yourself a little thin. Formatting books, designing covers, blogging, marketing, reading lots of articles that are mostly speculation. How much should I sell my book for? How will I get people to read my book? How will I stand out in the crowd? How long will this Ebook craze last?  Who knows?

Stressing or worrying will do you no good.

I'm blogging today to tell all writers to WRITE. Plain and simple. I'm pretty sure that's how Nora Roberts writes so many books. She WRITES. A LOT! I bet you she doesn't spend a whole lot of time checking out blogs, twitter and facebook. Yeah, I know, she doesn't have to worry about those things because she's got people to do that for her. But still...three months from now you might be disappointed in yourself if you haven't written at least a half of a new book. Certainly spend time on marketing and formatting, but make sure you save time for your writing. If you really want to succeed in this business, write as often as you can.

I just returned home from a three-day parent orientation. My fourth child will be going off to college soon. Meanwhile, my 22-year old wants me to go to her Pro Am basketball games an hour away and my 24-year old son recently moved back into the house. Distractions are always going to be there. Years ago, I remember thinking that when my youngest was finally in pre-school for three hours a day I would have SO much time to write. It doesn't work that way. If you're in a busy chaotic household like mine, you need to find a way to make it work. Lock the door. Turn up the music. Tape a note to the door that says QUIET! Just don't give up. No matter what your circumstance. WRITE!