Three Years and Counting

When I write these publishing anniversary posts there's this strange feeling that I just finished writing the last one and yet when I go back to read the last one I can't help but think, "Holy crap that was a long time ago.  I was so innocent!"

Greater cosmic forces than I decided that October should be my milestone month.  It marks the start of both my teaching and publishing careers.  This October marks my third year of being published.  So I think this now makes me a minority in the indie publishing world?  Sweet.

As I look back I would say this has been a year where I've grown more as a writer than a publisher.  My publishing strategy hasn't really changed all that much.  Other than blogging and the occasional Facebook post, I'm really not into social media anymore for book promotion.  It was such a major time drain and I just don't have enough hours in the day to really make an effective presence.

I've stuck to my plan of releasing more novelettes at the $2.99 price point.  So most of my writing this year has revolved around longer (for me) works rather than super short stories.  I plan to continue this since I actually find myself liking these slightly longer works and the extra money they generate makes them well worth the time.

In an effort to become a more efficient publisher, I've created a project schedule and set aside even more time for writing.  I now write every day and the project schedule ensures that I don't neglect pen names.

It's strange because in my first year of writing/publishing I avoided doing these things because I thought it would suck all the fun out of being a self-published author.  After all, isn't the main attraction for such a route the leisure to write whenever one wants?  I worried that too much organization would stifle the creative process, best to let the ideas flow naturally.

But really the opposite has happened.  The organization has helped the creative flow.  There's something very powerful about doing something every day.  It changes you.  In previous years I was excited about the publishing process.  Now it's the writing that excites me.

Ok I phrased that badly.

Writing has always excited me.  But I used to write blindly.  Putting words on the page without any thought about how they work together.  I'm now more craft oriented.  The challenge of finding the perfect way to write something is now exciting to me.

It's interesting because writing is subtle.  Previous years have felt like a steep uphill climb of learning and now it's more like choosing which path I want to take.

So here's to the start of year four!  I'm excited to see where it will take me.