Winter 2025: Lessons Learned
Happy New Year!
Are we really a full month into 2025? Wow, that happened fast. I hope each of you survived the holiday season and spent it surrounded by love and light. I shared a peaceful holiday with people who have consistently demonstrated their support for me, and I am immensely grateful for their presence in my life.
We’ve nearly reached the three-month anniversary of Lester’s release and what a ride it has been! I’ve been working on Lester since early 2023. Nearing the end of 2024, I was impatient to bring my “second-born” into the world, so I decided on a release date to motivate me to finish. Writing a novel is a slow process in a fast world. The decision to work toward my arbitrary deadline before the manuscript was completed resulted in several mistakes along the way.
The first error, realized within a week of submission, was that my first printed copies were missing page numbers on the last few pages of the book. This would likely not be noticed by anyone except myself, but I made the correction and gifted the first batch of “mutants”. One of those copies went to a dear friend, Isolation author Jared Grace (check out his website https://www.authorjaredg.com/, you won’t be disappointed). The day before Thanksgiving, he contacted me to ask if I was aware that my book was missing chapter four. I was not.
So, the Great Lester Upheaval of 2024 began. I pulled copies from The Dusty Shelf and contacted my readers to withdraw and replace their incomplete copies. To my surprise, the majority of you were determined to retain the errored copy, citing it would be valuable someday. In the face of such a glaring error, this demonstrated a massive vote of confidence in my ability as a writer. Thank you all for believing in me.
In the end, it taught me an important lesson: there is no rushing book publication. I put a great deal of pressure on myself to meet my self-determined deadline, and I missed obvious errors in my body of work. In terms of cost, it was a minor issue to resolve, but it dampened the emotional impact of Lester’s release.
I would like to say that the support from my family, friends, and readers left me confident and assured of my ability as I embark on my continued journey as a writer, but the truth is, the completion of Lester has left me with an immense feeling of self-doubt. I wanted this book to be as successful as Wonderland, perhaps even more so and yet, it has languished in both sales and reviews. I suppose this is the so-called “sophomore slump” and nothing more than Lester has struggled to find its audience. I will continue to harbor hope that by next Halloween, Lester will be the horror sleeper hit of the year, and I am again confronted with the same message: be patient.
With all that in mind, rather than rush the first draft of my third manuscript, I instead chose to extend my writing break and consider my goals for 2025. I was ambitiously planning a late summer release for my third novel, but my partner brought me back down to earth. Chris and I are travelling to Mexico and finishing my writing studio in the spring. Additionally, we are planning a summer wedding and are hoping for an extended honeymoon before year end.
With everything on my plate, I have decided to try a different approach with my next novel. I plan on querying this manuscript with an agent. My goal would be to land an opportunity to be picked up by a publishing house. As much as I love indie publishing, I have decided to at least make an attempt at this course now that I am better established. The primary goal for my writing career has always been to become a full-time writer and this is the best path forward.
I hope to release a short story or two this year to keep you dear readers engaged, but given my prioritization on my personal life, I cannot promise a release this year. I will continue to hope that Lester will find its audience and that Wonderland will break new ground. Thank you again for all of your support.