Friday, December 20, 2013

The Adventure Begins!

Okay, so I didn't quite make my goal of getting this book online by October 31 of this year. One thing I've learned about goals is that it's unproductive to spend time on regrets, Wouldas, shouldas and couldas can eat a person alive. 

So yesterday I uploaded my first work of fiction onto Amazon and thus begins the real adventure into self-publishing. Earlier this year, I put up one of my workshops for writers and that's been selling pretty well so far. My next project will be to get another workshop on Amazon. But my first love is writing fiction, so in my head this is where it really starts to count.

Oh, I know I'm a bit late coming to the indie dance, but I'm here now and that's what matters, right? Not only is this the first work of fiction I'm publishing on my own, it is literally my first work of fiction. It's the book that started it all when I got an offer from a publisher back in 1993. No Place for Secrets is the book that launched my publishing career 20 years ago, so it will always have a special place in my heart.

In an effort to figure out the world of independent publishing, I've spent time researching and reading what others who've gone this route have already learned. I've weighed the pros and cons of every choice and then I've tried not to agonize over the choices I've made. I thought about changing up the titles, but after brainstorming new titles for several weeks, I finally decided to stick with the original ones. I found a slew of titles I liked, but none that worked for good old Fred, Doc, Enos, and Margaret.

Over the past few weeks, I read through the manuscript again and made some minor revisions. I thought about updating the story and making it more current, but at the request of readers I opted to leave Fred and his friends in the mid-1990s where they belong. In fact, other than shaving off a few of the rough edges I found in my writing style, I left the story alone.

So it's up there on Amazon and now it's time to step back and let the story do the work. If this series is new to you, I hope you'll give Fred and the good folks of Cutler a try. If you're one of the many readers who considers these characters friends, I hope you'll enjoy going back to visit them as much as I did.


1 comment:

stanalei said...

Congratulations, Sherry! I wish the bests for you and your book's success!