Whenever I publish a book, I go through a weird slump in the weeks to months that follow. Before the book is released, all of my energy is spent on getting that baby ready to be published – editing, formatting, tweaking, etc. During all of this, I’m getting the word out. All of my thoughts rest on this book and how people will receive it.
Then, I release the book. A lot of faith goes into this process. I trust I’ve done everything I can do, and that it’s truly ready for others to read. I hold hope that it will change readers for the better. At the very least, I hope readers will love it, spread the word about it, and maybe even leave a 4-5 star review.
Of course, my job doesn’t just end with releasing the book. In this, I have to continue marketing the book. Admittedly, this isn’t anything I’m good at, though I get a clearer picture with every book I release.
However, I am drained by the time I release each book. This is the worst time to lose energy, because the momentum needs to remain to help further the reach of the just-published book.
Last year, I wrote my heart out. I finished and released, Come Here, Cupcake, which, admittedly, was met with disappointing results.It’s been largely ignored, though I still believe there’s some potential there. More on that in a bit.
I’m gearing up to release Loving the Wind in August, if all goes according to plan. The manuscript will be in my editor’s hands this week, a step in the process that always excites me. It means I’ve perfected this baby as much as I can, and it’s about to get that final polish before release. And I can’t even begin to describe how in love I am with this story!
Back to Come Here, Cupcake. I wrote this book a few years ago, but revamped the storyline with the help of a few creative friends. The process was both wonderful and challenging. The original story turned into something totally different, making way for a better, three-dimensional story. But along the way, I had to kill a few darlings, a process that was incredibly emotional for me. It was also hard taking the story I had written and changing it into a collaborative effort. I’ve always written my books solo. So to share this experience was something new, and totally out of my comfort zone. I’m not saying it was bad. It was actually awesome most of the time. But it was also different than any way I’ve ever written.
In the end, the story became stronger. It also turned a standalone book into the beginning of a series.
A series I have not written yet.
So, back to that slump. When I released Come Here, Cupcake, I went through the slump. I knew I needed to keep writing to that series, but I was worn down from a completely emotional experience. Following that book, I needed to recharge.
But then I got the inspiration for Reclaim Your Creative Soul. Following that, Neverland haunted my dreams and Loving the Wind – the story of Tiger Lily and Peter Pan – was born. Along with some freelance work I’ve been blessed with, all of my energy has turned toward those books. Because of this, Come Here, Cupcake has been put on the back burner.
My goal is to start planning out and writing the rest of that series in the next few months. Once the series is written, I plan to re-release Come Here, Cupcake with a new cover, and then roll out the rest of the series in a much quicker fashion.
However, this is going to have to take some patience from any of you who have been waiting for the next books. Once Loving the Wind is released, my writing energy will be spent on the follow-up novels to Come Here, Cupcake. I don’t know when my next published book will be, as I have nothing ready for publication following Loving the Wind.
At any rate, I appreciate all of your support. I cherish every word I receive about the stories I write, and it warms me whenever I hear that they’ve touched a reader as deeply as they touched me while writing them.
Thank you for sticking around!