October is the anniversary of publishing my first book. (The first book I published, not the first book I wrote—that was not fit for publication.) Believe it or not, that was back in 2013. I was dipping my toes into the publishing world to see whether it would be possible for me to write full time as my office job wound down in on a predicted five-year timeline. While I have continued to work that job up until now, I am now working from home and expect to claim the title of full-time writer in the new year, though I will continue to provide administrative support a few hours a week.
In the Margins Committee
I have learned so much during this time. I have put in a lot of hours and unrelenting effort. I have published over sixty full-length books. For the last four years I have written a novel a month. I have written almost 1,000 blog posts. I have a mailing list of over 15,000 subscribers. I have won literary awards and this month held the #1 position in the entire Kindle free list for a day.
I have polished my writing craft and process. I have learned cover design, website design, html/css coding, and new marketing and advertising techniques. I have put in full-time hours writing and publishing while working a full-time office job and homeschooling.
I have commissioned foreign-language translations and audiobooks.
I have sold or given away almost a quarter of a million books. I hit the USA Today bestseller list. I have helped several other people publish their first books and have given and received so much advice in online forums. I’ve discovered my books in traveling collections and libraries.
I have done presentations at conferences and schools. I have made many friends, both authors and readers. I’ve received the best emails from readers who have fallen in love with a book, series, or character and reached out to tell me about it. I’ve had readers beg me to add to existing series that I had thought were finished, and I did. My readers are truly the best.
I am committed to continuing to write and publish, entertaining and educating you with the best stories I can write. I have not twelve, but fourteen books lined up for publication next year, most of them already written. I’ll be bringing you a little local Calgary flavour with my Parks Pat Mysteries series and will be updating and relaunching an older series. I will be updating covers in my Auntie Clem’s Bakery and Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator series.
I hope you will continue the journey with me! Knowing that there are readers waiting for my next book(s) and falling in love with my favourite characters is an awesome feeling.
