Writing, Finishing, Publishing, Marketing, Repeat

How it all began: We were driving home from a wedding held on Long Island years ago. Mr. Gordon and I chatted away about this and that. We finally got around to the subject of writing a book. One of my oldest dreams was to become a writer and publish a good book.

As I told him my idea for a story, Mr. Gordon kept asking, and then what happened?

This went on for miles and hours. In that time, protagonist Emily Swift, along with her friends and foes, started to take real shape in my mind. I knew the overall story by heart, but I started flesh out the details, connecting the pictures in my mind to a timeline of events that Emily would face. By the time we were home from that trip, I was ready to put it all down on paper.

And I did. Mr. Gordon even agreed to be the primary breadwinner and let me chase after my dream. I wrote, wrote, wrote, and edited, proofed, edited, edited, edited. I sent off chapters to beta readers for feedback. I edited again. Wrote draft queries and the synopsis, both long and short. I read books on writing to “do it right.” I edited again. And again. (I think you get the drift.) Then, I got stuck on the final edit.

I simply just stopped. I was done. I put the manuscript into a box and shelved it. I told Mr. Gordon. I’m done. I had, as I mentioned in a comment on this post:

“…made myself crazy trying to perfect query letters and the synopsis. Then I buried myself in all of the “shoulds” I needed to be doing online to market myself to publishing houses. I just wanted to finish my book and put it out there for people to read. I wanted my characters to have a life. I ended up becoming paralyzed in “what to do.” So I stopped. Completely. I put it in a box and put it all away.“

Pandemic

Then 2020 happened. This long, agonizing year of waiting, waiting, waiting… Then in September, I was overcome with a compulsion: It’s now or never.

I finished the last bit of writing and editing – after my beta readers finished their final pass-through, spent a good chunk of free-time learning how to publish as an independent author (the wheres and hows of it all), and picked a publication date of October 31, 2020. Halloween, a Blue Moon, a Full Hunter’s Moon. I thought – well, that seems perfect for Door to Door’s launch! 😀

Then came the pre-launch marketing and the after-launch marketing. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube – oh my! Have you seen the book trailer?

And the marketing, and the marketing, and the marketing. The paid advertising to various degrees of success. (On a tiny budget, it’s pretty challenging.) The marketing continues, of course. But, because of life and the j-o-b, marketing gets tucked in here and there as I have time.

So, that’s the story AND that’s one of the reasons why I have not been as busy writing here at Garden, Cook, Eat, Repeat. I think it’s a good reason. 🙂 I’m working on book two, Through the Door. That outline and story was also completed back when Door to Door was put on a shelf. I’ve known where I’m taking Emily’s story for a long time. I used this year’s NaNoWriMo to motivate me to work on the manuscript. (I only completed 16,520 words of my 50,000 word goal for November, but I am completely okay with that. It sparked the first four chapters.)

Well, we are nearing the end of this post. I also hope you visit and / or connect with me on “my other website” and in social media. Here is a short list:

• https://writertracybrown.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/writertracybrown/
• https://www.facebook.com/WriterTracyBrown
• https://www.goodreads.com/tlbrown
• https://www.amazon.com/T-L-Brown/e/B08LR3T5KM

Ready for the link to the ebook?

You can order Door to Door online from Amazon. (By the way, if you DID order a copy – thank you! If you read and liked it, would you be kind enough to go to the book’s page on Amazon and leave a positive review? Thanks in advance!)

There is also a paperback version available. Please note, the paperback price is driven by Amazon. The minimum amount they’ll let me charge for the paperback version is $9.40. At that price, there are no royalties paid to the author (me). Wild, huh? At $9.99 per paperback I receive 36 cents – yes, you read that correctly – per sale of the book.

While I love holding a printed book in my hand as much as the next reader, I recommend the ebook. 😉 Plus, it’s only $2.99 and delivered instantly.

Note, this IS an affiliate link.

Blog Drop Series

This post is part of my December 2020 blog drop series (that is, four posts published at once.) You might also like:

• The Topic of Conversation
• I still love my chickens.
• The harvest was not good. (Or, we’d starve this winter if we didn’t have a grocery store.)