Better late than never, right? All the plans I had for starting strong in 2018 fell by the wayside when I got sick the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Although the cold (or flu? or whatever!) lasted on and off for about a week, I had the usual cough that lasted for weeks beyond being sick. I got back to my routine, had a few things on my calendar, but was not meeting my original goals, which included returning to my roots as a writer.
About ten years ago, when I first started taking my writing more seriously, I submitted devotionals, spec articles, and short story fiction until I finally started seeing results. Even the smallest success encouraged me, and I persisted until I found a niche market that kept me busy on a part-time basis for nearly a year. I also started a travel blog, Harvey Travel Arts, which is still out there (but needs updating!) and can be found on the Contact Me page on this site. The final thing I did when first starting out was to reach out to beta readers and other writers to help me polish my first full-length novel, Hope for Joy. I queried agents that listed Christian fiction as one of their genres. The road was long and tedious, and I learned a lot during the process. Despite encouragement from a couple of agents, my book was not right for the market.
I never wanted to self-publish as the old way of doing so was above and beyond my personal risk threshold, but the advent of the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing opened up a lot of opportunities that indie authors had never been given before. In a world where indie artists, musicians, and film producers climb the slippery, rocky mountains to reach their audience, writers were finally being given the same opportunity. Even a slippery, rocky mountain can be ascended under the right conditions! My five novels have found a small but happy audience, and for that I am thankful.
Fast forward to today, and I have decided to go 12 (pieces) for 12 (months) this year with submitting shorter length projects for consideration. I'm actually on target to submit much more, and I have other plans to better market my current novels, but I wanted to set some goals that I knew I could meet, no matter what the market bears. I'm looking into a few other project ideas for the upcoming year, and plan to run some sales of my current novels, so stay tuned! I look forward to updating you all.
Just a reminder -- don't let a slow start to the year freeze you in place -- be persistent, pick up the pieces, and stay strong!
About ten years ago, when I first started taking my writing more seriously, I submitted devotionals, spec articles, and short story fiction until I finally started seeing results. Even the smallest success encouraged me, and I persisted until I found a niche market that kept me busy on a part-time basis for nearly a year. I also started a travel blog, Harvey Travel Arts, which is still out there (but needs updating!) and can be found on the Contact Me page on this site. The final thing I did when first starting out was to reach out to beta readers and other writers to help me polish my first full-length novel, Hope for Joy. I queried agents that listed Christian fiction as one of their genres. The road was long and tedious, and I learned a lot during the process. Despite encouragement from a couple of agents, my book was not right for the market.
I never wanted to self-publish as the old way of doing so was above and beyond my personal risk threshold, but the advent of the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing opened up a lot of opportunities that indie authors had never been given before. In a world where indie artists, musicians, and film producers climb the slippery, rocky mountains to reach their audience, writers were finally being given the same opportunity. Even a slippery, rocky mountain can be ascended under the right conditions! My five novels have found a small but happy audience, and for that I am thankful.
Fast forward to today, and I have decided to go 12 (pieces) for 12 (months) this year with submitting shorter length projects for consideration. I'm actually on target to submit much more, and I have other plans to better market my current novels, but I wanted to set some goals that I knew I could meet, no matter what the market bears. I'm looking into a few other project ideas for the upcoming year, and plan to run some sales of my current novels, so stay tuned! I look forward to updating you all.
Just a reminder -- don't let a slow start to the year freeze you in place -- be persistent, pick up the pieces, and stay strong!