I’ve been away for a long time, but I’ve been working this whole time. I am in the final weeks before launching my first book on Amazon, Ghosts of Black Bear Mountain. I had no idea it would take three years to complete this book, but I released myself from thinking about the timeline and focused on building skill in the craft of storytelling and grammar. Every time, I learned something new from an editor, a podcast, or online, I rewrote the book. I couldn’t even begin to guess was draft I’m currently on, but I do know the story is so much stronger than it was three years ago. I kept reminding myself that it was okay that I didn’t know what I was doing, it was my first book. I’m happy with myself that I stuck it through.
Something cool that happened along the way is that one of my editors suggest that I take a story that is within the novel and make it into a separate work. So I did with my short story, With Axe and Hatchets They Came. It went all the way to #3 on Amazon in short fiction in Mystery, Suspense Thriller. Of course, in Kindle Unlimted, I only made .08 cents when someone read it, but still, I was number #3 and I was higher ranked than some well-known authors. I’m currently at #20 almost a week later, but I got two new reviews yesterday, which brings me up to 9 reviews, which is the finishing energy I needed for the final push to launch the novel.
Give yourself a break, but stick with your story. It is all worth it.
needmoredrama 