Writing, promotion, tips, and opinion. Pour a cuppa your favorite poison and join in.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

You finally get what you want, and then...

If you've been following my publishing story this last week you know that I've been working on and off for fifteen years to publish my first novel. Well, that particular journey ended today. My debut novel, The Charge, went live on Amazon a few hours ago!


Right now, I'm pretty much just happy. I'm sitting back and enjoying it. But as this day has approached, I have been thinking a lot about the future. Finally getting what you want can actually be a little frightening. Now, I'm not complaining. But, there is a sense of, "Well...now what?"

Like most authors, I hope that this will become my career. And like all jobs, you have to keep doing it! At least if you want to get paid. I've never been a fast or focused writer, so I'm still nervous about the concept of writing new books frequently. And that sounds like a full time job, and I seriously doubt I'll be able to quit my "real" job anytime soon. So, will I be able to keep up? Can I continue to churn out novels without going crazy? And of course, the big fear...will people like them? When will I get that first really nasty review?

My fears about the future are very real, but at least right now, I'm looking forward to tackling them. One of the reasons I have been working toward this goal in the first place is that I love and need challenge in my life. And although I've crossed "publish novel" off my bucket list, it's far from over. My journey to publication ended today. But my journey as an author started today. 

Wish me luck!

11 comments:

Francene Stanley said...

Good luck with your book. One of the important questions you need to address is how to showcase your book so that people actually see it. There are so many out there. My publisher said everyone's sales are down this year as a consequence. Just write when you're inspired--when you have a story to tell. Don't worry about the future.

Katie Hamstead said...

Good luck and congrats! I think we all fear the nasty reviews, but keep in mind the good ones far outweigh the bad. Enjoy your amazing and exciting day!

Patchi said...

Congratulations and good luck! Your story is very inspiring. Keep at it and the next book should come out faster than this one.

mshatch said...

Good luck, Sharon, and I know from experience that the first book(s) often take much longer to write than subsequent ones.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

What a very true and insightful post! Good luck on your new release and on your ongoing journey as a published author.

dolorah said...

Good luck Sharon :)

....dhole

Wm. L. Hahn said...

All the best Sharon! Congrats on getting the first one out the door. A day or two to reflect is definitely called for.
Whatever small wisdom I can offer would be in two categories:
1) Writing your tales and marketing them are two distinct jobs. No reason to believe you'll be good at both, certainly not right away. But never let disappointment with your platform pull you away from writing.
2) If you have the freedom to consider different formats, I would say you advantage yourself to consider things that are shorter and serialized. Maybe you have a book idea but can break it up easily into chapters. Those can be rolled out one at a time, which of course gives you more to talk about, keeps interest up, and can even be made free on their own. The package deal of all chapters, once you're done, can be another publication- it might also make a good audiobook or podcast, which approaches another audience. Not every tale lends itself to this format- precious few of mine! Just food for thought perhaps. Thinking about what to write counts as writing time!

Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous said...

Congratulations!!! Don't you just love that sense of accomplishment you get when you look at it :D

Sharon Bayliss said...

Thank you everyone!!! It was a great release day!

Sean McLachlan said...

Congratulations! I'll announce it in my Reader News column today.

Steven W said...

Wow! What an accomplishment. It must feel incredible after working on it for so long. What a labor of love. Brilliant cover, by the way! I'm glad I found your site here.