So Much for Easy!

It seems like yesterday I had what I thought was an amazing idea. I think I’ll revise my first novel and release a ten year anniversary edition. Sounds easy, right? The novel was already written and published. How hard could it be?

In the last couple of months, I have found out how wrong I was. Revising Letters from Linc has not been easy. The fact that the novel is already written didn’t let me just breeze through it and get the sucker released. I am ashamed to admit I thought I was only going to go in and do some copy editing. Correct a misspelled word here. Add missing punctuation there. Remove a few of those unnecessary dialog tags. A few minor changes that I could knock out in a week or so, and I’d be ready to send this novel for formatting.

I was wrong. While I’m not ashamed of being wrong, I am ashamed that I underestimated the work this would take. Having been a professional writer for ten years, I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy, and I’ve been smacked in the face by that the last few months. Yes, I’ve been working on this revision for two months. In my defense, I probably could have finished sooner if I didn’t have a day job, but that doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t realize what I was getting in to.

Letters from Linc was released ten years ago but was written before that. The story is good, and I believe passionately in it, but it’s more than a bit rough around the edges. I won’t go into its shortcomings now since I’ve lamented those in a prior blog, but the fact of the matter is this story needed a complete overhaul. And a complete overhaul is not something that can be accomplished in a few short weeks.

The good news is that I am now in the editing stage of this project. The editing stage is like that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel that I can finally see. After the editing comes the formatting. Then comes the release. Then I start promoting the book and begging for reviews so be prepared for that now.

As daunting as this project has been, as many times as I’ve cursed myself for this idea, I’m not sorry I did it. In the end, I’ll have a more polished work that I can be proud of and the chance to connect with a new generation of readers, but I can say one thing for sure. I’ll think twice about doing something like this again.

It's My Birthday; I'll beg if I Want To

Okay, it's not my birthday yet. My birthday is next week, and I sure hope I get some Kindle and/or Nook gift cards. Several of my favorite authors have books coming out this month, including Erin Nicholas, Sloane Johnson and AE Via.

Last week, the inevitable question started from my husband and kids; what do you want for your birthday? This is a difficult question to answer. I'm at a point in my life where I'm fortunate enough to have everything I need and many things I want.

Usually, this is the point where I say there is one thing I want that I have to rely on others for. I want to be a bestselling author. USA Today, NY Times or Amazon, it doesn't matter. Hitting at least one bestseller list is on my writer's bucket list. I still want this so if you want to do something nice for my birthday, you can help me out and buy one or more of my books.

I've realized there's something else I'd like from my readers too and it's free. If you've been paying attention to my social media accounts in the last month then you should have a good idea what I am going to ask for. That's right, I want reviews of my books posted on Amazon.

I am desperate for more reviews. I would like for others looking at my books to see the kind words that have been posted on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I would also be able to get more promotion from Amazon if I had more reviews and more promotion leads to more sales.

Yes, I have been shamelessly begging for book reviews since my latest book came out last month, and I am going to keep begging. Those reviews mean a lot to authors and serve a number of important purposes besides ego stroking.

Please, if you have read and liked any of my books, take a moment to go to your Amazon account and leave a review. It doesn't have to be a dissertation. A sentence or two can convey the same meaning. Leave a review and consider it a birthday present to an aging author desperate for more recognition.