When This Happens
You've Finally Made It
You've Been Writing for Years
I've been writing for as long as I can remember. All because a teacher told me with my imagination he would see me in books. I believed him. I have worked every day of my life to achieve the goal.
My first book was poetry. I did the typing, got the pages printed, took them to a book binder, and released my first book in 1978. I had exactly fifty copies. Most of them I gave away. But, it was not my ultimate goal. I wanted to be seen as a writer. A serious writer. One who had fans, did book signings or talks, and sold books. It was a start on the path to my goal.
This is the Start
My First Award
With Crossing the Line, I stepped into a controversial subject. I took on bullying and when kids cross the line from harmless to illegal. I entered it in a contest for book of the year in the mystery category. I let my friends know to vote when it came time. There were three other authors in my category. I have a twenty-five percent chance of winning. I figured I'd do okay, but I wasn't going to win.
On one of the last days of December, 2013 the winners were announced. I went through each category sending well wishes to other authors I know. Imagine my utter surprise when I opened the mystery category and my book won. I literally had to pinch myself. I knew the book was good. I had confidence I had covered the theme well. But to win???!!! My one in four chances were much better than I expected.
And just like that I am an Award Winning Author. Now fast forward one year.
Shock Turns to Awe
Who Would Have Imagined?
December, 2014 saw the release of Of Moonbeams and Fairies Collected Tales by yours truly. It was my first true attempt at children's literature. I have written flash fiction pieces geared toward children, but not anything of any length. This book was a labor of love.
To my surprise it went flying off the shelves. I had ordered twenty and by the end of December I was ordering twenty more. Then I checked my Amazon and KDP account. The first thing I noticed was in January I was going to see my largest royalty ever. Not only was this book selling, but so were others.
Then came the shock. My books were selling in Great Britain. Although I have expanded distribution with my books, I have never seen sales overseas. I was ecstatic. Wait for it,...wait... still waiting? It took me almost a week to absorb the implications of this.
Not only am I an award winning author. I am now an Award Winning, International Author. I have broken into the big time. No, I'm not pulling in anything close to what James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, or Nora Roberts do. But I have a big enough following, to get book sales overseas.
Have I reached my goal? I'm close. When I can have a steady royalty every month, I will have achieved my goal. When I get asked to conferences to speak about writing, I will have achieved my goal. When people in other countries than the UK are buying my book regularly, I will have achieved my goal.
What do I do next? Work on book four in my Macy McVannel series and keep doing what I am doing. The thing I love the most, write.
