Hurry Up & Write

So, I have a new book out and it certainly took me long enough to finish it. Most of it was written ages ago, and the final chapters written last year. And then came the mammoth task of editing. I’m neurotic about typos and such, so you can imagine how long that took. 

I’m thrilled every time someone contacts me through my Facebook page or on Twitter to ask when a book will be out. I had one such query last night, which pulled me out of my funk. And what funk is that you might ask?

The why-am-I-subjecting-myself-to-writing-editing-reediting-and-pimping-these-books-with-way-too-little-results-to-show-for-my-efforts funk.

Fact is, it takes time to build a writing career and it can’t be done with a single book or two or three. Sometimes, we get sidetracked with promoting one book, forgetting that life goes on after the blog tour ends.

Because I know how spasmodic my writing is, I followed up Retribution with an introduction to the third book in the series—which stemmed from an idea I had about a month or so ago. The story should have been complete with Distraction and Retribution. But anyway, the muse spoke and she usually gets her way.

Putting the first pages of the new story in the back of the book is not only a promise to readers, but a commitment to myself to get that book done in about six months.  Crazy, I know, but this madness working with pressing deadlines suits me.

The sales for Distraction (first in the series) have been a slow, but steady trickle. I hope that  readers will care enough to want to see how the characters fared after the last page of Distraction. The freebie I’ve put up on Amazon has helped people find Distraction, which is introduced in the back of that one.

So on I go, reminding myself that there are people actually waiting to see what I come up with next. That’s our job as writers, feeding the addiction our readers have for our stories.

Avoid getting preoccupied with pushing one book forever, and do build that body of work which will eventually provide a steady source of income.  I’ve done a little research which tells me that a number of books have been on Amazon for a while before they become bestsellers. This is easy to check by looking at the publication date. People discover new and not-so-new books every day in different ways and as time goes by, they gravitate toward other books by the same writer and so on…

 

So, are you plotting, pantsing and writing anything to feed your following or advance your writing career?

And if I still have your attention and you haven’t tried your hand at romance yet, check out my blogfest for Retribution. You just might win a $10.00 Amazon gift card for yourself and come up with a story you can actually use in one of those books I’m sure you’re busy writing—when you’re not surfing the net reading blog posts, that is.