When Careers Crash

When a career is just starting and everything unravels, what do you do? How do you pick up and start again?

My second book in the Macy McVannel series was due out in November. That is not going to happen. Circumstances I have no control over have closed the door to my publishing house. It's business and it happens. New businesses either soar or they fail. It's those of us left rudderless with nowhere to turn who get hurt. It can happen to any writer any time. It can happen in any business.

I am now seeking a new publisher to pick up the rest of my series...at least three more books. It means a new query letter, synopsis and the first three chapters of the book being sent out. It means selling myself as someone credible.

What credits do I have? Three self-published novels with sales between one hundred twenty to one hundred forty. Not great until you look at the area I live in. Then it's pretty impressive. The population of the town I live in is about 2500. Most of them are unemployed. Speaks well that I have sold so many and they keep buying them as they come out. I also have a poetry book and a self-help book for tweens and teens each of which has sold about forty copies. I also had a publisher who was willing to take a chance on me. Total sales of the latest book are not available yet. I have no access to anything sold on-line. I'm working on that.

I was also signed up for Book Tour 2103. The idea was five authors in one hundred cities in one hundred days. I had signed up for Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, and Columbia, SC in March. I had hoped to kick start the new book during those appearances. Well that is not going to happen either. The tour promoter could not get the backing needed so it has been cancelled. I will continue to look for other venues in those areas.

I am going back to book three. I'm going to finish the Behind the Scenes of a Novel hub series I started. I'm going to do the one thing I do well. I'm going to write.

I'm going to convert my self-published books into ebooks and tap into that market. I'm going to finish Macy three and four. I'm going to see if there is a book five and I'm going to write some short stories to add depth to Macy three...which at this point has no name. They will be ebooks and eventually can be put into a short story collection.

So while this phase of my writing life has come to an abrupt and unexpected end, I will be looking forward to the next chapter to begin. I will keep writing, querying, and making appearances.

Anyone can give up -- I however, am NOT anyone. I will carry on.