2016 Year End Review

2016 Year-End Writing & Publishing Review

This is my 2^nd year-end review, check out 2015 here. Since this blog has become more like a “journaling” blog for my writing career, I’m excited to have one post that details the path that my writing has taken in 2016 with all of the ups and downs.

I consider myself a full-time writer, which also includes the work I do with my indie publishing press (Mirror Press), and managing my freelance editing company (Precision Editing Group). I currently publish with 3 traditional publishers: Covenant Communications (Inspirational fiction & non-fiction), Thomas & Mercer (Thrillers), Kindle Press (Young Adult), as well as indie publish (self-publish) through my own imprint Mirror Press (Romance & Women’s Fiction).

January:

Set a goal to finish novel on 10^th great-grandmother who was hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692. Decide to title it: Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft. Mindy Holt helps me with some of the research, motivating me even more. This is a book that I started in 2012, so I needed to stop putting it off. 

Contacted by TJ Mackay of InD’Tale Magazine who invites me to write the new “serial” novel in their magazine. Parameters include contemporary romance & it needs to be in 10 “episodes”. Of course I agree! I decide to call the novella Falling for June with the intent to create a trio of best friends and eventually I’ll write the next 2 novellas.

February:

Mail Order Bride (A Timeless Romance Anthology) is released.

March:

Solstice is released (Kindle Press), written under pen name Jane Redd.

Deliverance (The Moses Chronicles #2) is released, published by Covenant Communications.

April:

Love is Come is released. This is part of the Power of the Matchmaker series, a series of 12 books by 12 different authors, all with the “matchmaker” in common. This book receives an excellent Kirkus Review.

I begin to write Lake Town (Solstice #2) hoping that I can then submit directly to Kindle Press (without going through the Kindle Scout contest again), and have the book come out in the fall. Since the first book, Solstice, has a pretty steep cliffhanger, I knew I wanted the book out sooner than later. I had in my mind for a long time that I’d make this a 2-book series, but as I neared the 70,000 word count, there was no end in sight. I was really struggling with how to wrap everything up. When I decided that it would have to be 3 books after all, the ending flowed, and I was able to finish it the way it should be. 

Agent shops Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft to Lake Union publishing (Amazon imprint). It’s turned down. Agent recommends self-publishing, I sit on it for a while.

May:

Road Trip Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology) comes out! Fun contemporary romance anthology. 

Writing Lake Town (Solstice #2)

I started writing The Killing Curse at the end of May, knowing I’d have to write throughout the summer. I used to be able to take most of the summers off, but the last couple of years, things have ramped up too much. It’s tricky to write with the kids all at home during the summer, so I found myself writing at very random times. Sometimes in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, and other times in short snatches. In order to keep myself on task, I’d set a 30 minute timer and write without letting myself get distracted. My youngest is 12, but it's amazing how much preteens & teens need their moms still.

June:

Mail Order Bride is selected for a BookBub ad in June and it hits the USA Today bestseller list at #101! This is my 2nd publication to reach this status!

Falling for June is serialized in InD’Tale Magazine, one episode/chapter will be published per issue for the next 12 months. 

July:

Edited & submitted Lake Town to Kindle Press

August:

Kindle Press says they’ll have the answer on Lake Town by end of August.

Exodus (The Moses Chronicles #3) is released about a month early. 

Slave Queen (Omar Zagouri Thriller #3) is released August 30.

Finished writing The Killing Curse and submitted to agent who then submits to Thomas & Mercer.

On the first day that my kids go back to school at the end of August, I tentatively open an old email from my Covenant editor in which we discussed my next Biblical fiction book: Ruth. I read the deadline that I committed to—end of September. I think I might have to push it back. Then I attend a writers conference that same weekend and Mette Harrison talks about missing a deadline that resulted in a chain of events that eventually led to a cancelled contract. I decide not to miss my book deadline with Covenant. So I map out the word count I need to accomplish in the next 5 weeks + editing time. 

September:

Blind Date Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology) releases. More contemporary romance novellas. 

Writing like the wind on Ruth, which basically means that I don’t shower or run any errands until the afternoons when I’m finished writing. I need to write 15,000 words a week, a minimum of 3,000 words a day, Monday – Friday. 

Received very disappointing news from Thomas & Mercer. They turned down The Killing Curse  because Slave Queen (#3), which has been out for a week isn’t rocking the sales charts. Yes, publishing can be brutal. All of my beta readers told me The Killing Curse is the strongest book in the series. Alas. And ironically, the night before I was wishing I had a full-length thriller I could use to market my other thrillers by putting it into one of those box sets that hit national bestseller lists. (be careful what you wish for…) So I contacted the editor on the other Zagouri thrillers, Charlotte Herscher, and she agreed to do the content editing starting in December.

Christ's Gifts to Women: This book came out four years ago, and now the publisher wants to re-release the book in a shorter "gift booklet" form for Mother's Day 2017. Co-author Angela Eschler work on paring down each section to 300 words. 

  

October:

No word on Lake Town. I work with the same cover artist, Claudia McKinney, who did Solstice to create a custom image. She sends me photos from Will Jardell, who was a runner up in the America’s Top Model contest. 

Conference call with Thomas & Mercer editor to talk about my future with them and what types of books they are looking for. A couple of weeks later I pitch a book idea for Amazon Huntress. Get the green light to proceed.

A Season in London (Timeless Regency Collection): Writing this novella for the Timeless Regency Collection publish through Mirror Press.

 

Ruth is accepted by Covenant Communications, but instead of a Spring release, they decide to release the book Fall 2017. This sets back my publishing schedule of 2 novels a year with them. 

So I find myself with a bit of a reprieve and decide to write the 2 novellas that will follow Falling for June. I write Falling for Sydney and Falling for Maria.

November:

Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft: Put together photo shoot with photographer Brekke Felt and model Dana Moore (my daughter). We had a fun photo image contest on this blog.

No word on Lake Town. Decide to indie publish the book since I need to keep the series viable. I’m already set up to self-publish successfully, and I can’t keep emailing and hoping KP will respond. 

Also, what about book #3? When I write that one and submit, will I get no response either? So I contacted the editor who worked on Solstice and booked her for January 2017. Set up release date for March 1, 2017.

Start drafting Amazon Huntress.

December:

Mostly Murder: Till Death comes out. This murder mystery anthology was an interesting project. It started with an invite to a Facebook group in the Spring and the original creator had to bow out. So Patrice Fitzgerald took over and had to move the release date back. There are more planned anthologies, but I was fortunate to be in the first one. I submitted a turn-of-the-century mystery set in NYC. Our maximum word count was 7,000 words, so that was a challenge. Author Simon Wood and I added each other’s names into our books, so you’ll recognize his name in my story Two Faces. 

Falling for Sydney releases (Falling series)

Anna the Prophetess: started drafting this book for Covenant Communications. I plan to submit summer 2017 and it will most likely have a 2018 release.

Submitted: I turned in the first pages of Amazon Huntress to Thomas & Mercer to get approval & feedback.

Great news received from my foreign rights agent. A publisher in Norway has purchased Norwegian rights to two of the Timeless Romance Anthologies. More news when contracts are signed.

Started edits for The Killing Curse.

2017 Release Schedule:

January 2017: A Season in London (Timeless Regency Collection) (written)

February 2017: Valentine’s Day Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology) (written)

February 2017: Falling for Maria (Falling series)

March 2017: Lake Town (Solstice #2) (written)

March 2017: Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft (written)

April 2017: Christ’s Gifts to Women booklet (written)

May 2017: The Killing Curse (Omar Zagouri Thriller #4) (written)

June 2017: Falling for June (written)

June/July 2017: Delilah's Bakery (Tangerine Street Romance #4) (haven’t started)

August 2017: Solstice Novella (Title TBA). This will be part of a box set for 90 days. (not written)

September 2017: Ruth (written)

October 2017: Happily Ever After Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology)

October 2017: Solstice #3 (haven’t started)

2015 Year-end Writing & Publishing review

2015 Year-End Writing & Publishing Review

After reading Brandon Sanderson’s State of Sanderson 2015, I thought I’d do something similar, but obviously not quite as extensive since Brandon Sanderson’s writing and publishing is simply that: extensive. I’ve read many of Sanderson’s books, in fact, the first one I read was Elantris. I’m not an avid fan of science fiction or fantasy, but I absolutely fell in love with Sanderson’s storytelling abilities. Since Elantris, I’ve read the Mistborn Series, Warbreaker, The Rithmatist, and the first book in his middle grade Alcatraz series. There are probably others that I’m not remember off the top of my head, although Sanderson’s books are all unforgettable.

This blog has turned into more of a publishing journal for me. The past few years, life has intervened (3 teenagers and one up-and-coming) and I’ve spent much less time on-line reading blogs, and interacting with others through social media. When I’ve had computer time, I’ve had to hyper-focus on my writing deadlines and whenever I find myself “clicking” I’ve had to reign back in and focus on my work. This is all good, but it also puts me a bit out of touch with many other writers and friends I had previously felt more connected with.

When others ask me what I’m working on, I literally hesitate. I’m dealing with a multitude of projects, and this past summer I finally put together a production schedule so that I could keep track myself. I usually say “I’m editing . . .” since it’s the easiest way to not let someone realize that I might be a little over the top in some things in my life. But after reading the State of Sanderson, I loved what he said about how he’s been forty, “an adult,” since he was twenty. I definitely identify with that. And how he said he always intended to make his dream happen. “Friends of mine would tell me to relax, but I couldn’t . . .” Yes, that’s me too.

So, to the year 2015.

January: January started out with the release of A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Regency Collection that I self-published through my indie imprint Mirror Press. I’ve been publishing these romance anthologies since October 2012, in conjunction with authors Annette Lyon and Sarah M. Eden. For each collection, we invite an additional three authors. With a January release, I quickly realized I’d never do that again since December was spent coordinating editing and formatting, and some of it over Christmas. Not too fair to those editors. By the end of January, sales had taken off for the All Regency Collection, and that began a series of thoughts and discussions that would eventually lead to a new anthology line called Timeless Regency Collection, which would debut in October.

 

But January wasn’t over. I had another book released January 12, The Boardwalk Antiques Shop. This was book 2 in the Tangerine Street Romance series that I co-write with Julie Wright and Melanie Jacobson. We call it a 3-part novel, and it contains 3 contemporary romance novels that are inter-connected. The first book in the series The Fortune Café (March 2014) was well-received, and this November saw the release of book 3: The Mariposa Hotel. This book was my summer writing, and although it was 100-page novella, Julie and Melanie and I had to do a bit of coordinating as well as editing for each other. This series is also released under my imprint Mirror Press.

 

I spent most of January working on a historical novel based on my 10^th great-grandmother Susannah North Martin, who was hanged as a witch. To date, I still need to go through revisions, beta readers, and figure out where to submit.

February: I’d been looking forward to February 3 for months for the re-release of Finding Sheba with my new publisher Thomas & Mercer (Apub imprint). For more details about this book’s multi-faceted publishing journey, through 2 publishers and 2 agents, read this post. Sales for Finding Sheba took off and I reached the Top 60 overall on Amazon. I’d ranked higher in 2014 with the Romance Through the Ages box set that hit the USA Today list (another post). So I was pretty excited. Although books published through Apub imprints won’t hit national bestseller lists because their e-books are single platform, and the national lists require multi-platform sales. With the release of Finding Sheba, per my contract, I could submit book 2. I sent Lost King to my agent (Jane Dystel) mid-January, and she read the book and loved it. This was a monumental achievement for me because Finding Sheba did not go through the traditional agent-acceptance route. Within a week, I had a new book offer and contract for Lost King, and the release date was set for December 1, 2015.

 

February also saw the release of Loving Helen by Michele Paige Holmes, part of the Hearthfire Romance series that I took under my wings when Michele said she wanted to self-publish her historical romance. Her first book, Saving Grace, did very well in sales, so Michele got busy writing the next two books and novella in the series, all of which we put out in 2015.

March: No releases this month. I spent time coordinating the upcoming release of A Timeless Romance Anthology: California Dreamin’ and writing madly my second Moses book, Deliverance. My publisher Covenant Communications was hoping for a Fall 2015 release, and requested that I turn in the book by May. This was really pushing the production schedule, but I was determined to meet it. Book 1: Bondage was about to come out, so I started working on marketing plans.

April: The contemporary romance anthology A Timeless Romance Anthology: California Dreamin, was released, and I was a bit nervous since my novella in the anthology was the lead title. This means that anyone who downloads a “free sample” gets the first chapters in my novella. But reviews came in positive right out of the gate.

 

May: Release of The Moses Chronicles: Bondage, my new historical fiction series on Moses. When I first started brainstorming this series, I realized that the story of Moses delivering the children of Israel from the hands of the pharaoh of Egypt was not a single-volume book, but at least a 3-book series. Fortunately my publisher Covenant Communications agreed. In May, I met my writing deadline, and after sending the manuscript through beta readers, I turned it in. Phew!

 

June: On a personal note, my family moved from our home of 15 years to another home in June. This of course cut into all kinds of writing and editing time, and I’m not sure if I slept more than 4 or 5 hours a night for about 60 days. I received a letter from Covenant with several concerns about my manuscript which would require a significant revision. After reading through the notes and thinking (and praying), I decided there were some things that did need revision, but it wouldn’t be as significant as first presumed. I was able to turn in the revision by the deadline, but now that it was the end of June, a fall release was out of the question. Neither myself or my publisher wanted the production to be rushed. Also, the sales on Bondage were not what expected and my publisher decided to change the covers for the series to hopefully better reach the target readers. Book 2: Deliverance would now be released Spring 2016.

July: This month had two fun releases under my imprint. A Timeless Romance Anthology: Annette Lyon Collection and Marrying Christopher by Michele Paige Holmes. I was also able to finish writing The Mariposa Hotel novella and write my next novella for A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Hallows’ Eve. I’d also gotten into the habit of putting all my indie publications on pre-order which meant the book was for sale before I’d written it. Sort of a freaky thing if I allow myself to dwell on it. I started writing my Power of the Matchmaker novel, Love is Come, that I’m self-publishing in April 2016. This series is the brainchild of Rachael Anderson, and along with 11 authors, we are releasing a book a month in 2016, all connected to the same matchmaker.

 

August: Release of A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Hallows’ Eve. We released this with plenty of lead time for Halloween promotion. And by October, Annette had put together a Murder Mystery Dinner that ended up being a lot of fun with our readers and Timeless authors in attendance. I finished up writing a Christmas novella for the upcoming Under the Mistletoe anthology.

September: This is where my writing schedule ballooned. With Lost King coming out December 1, I could turn in the next thriller that week. But I needed to get it to my agent in advance so that she’d have time to read it before submission. Also, in an August meeting with Covenant, they said they needed my 3^rd Moses book in December so that they could have enough time to schedule a Fall 2016 release. I looked at the estimated word count for each book (90,000-100,000 for my thriller, and 80,000 for Moses #3), and realized that I would have to write the books back-to-back, 5 days a week, 3,000 words a day. I would not be able to take one weekday off of writing or skimp on the word counts. I had to put my WIP Love is Come on hold for the time being. Because I knew that that my thriller would be more complicated and stressful to write, I started that one first. Coming up with the title Slave Queen, I dove in. Some of you have heard of Nanowrimo, a November writing program where authors will draft 50,000 words of a new book. This is essentially writing about 2,000 words a day. For me, I was about to do 2 “nanos” in 8 weeks. It’s one thing to write 3,000 words a day (physically and mentally challenging), but when the criteria comes in that my agent has to fall in love with the book, and then the publisher enough to offer an advance, the emotional challenges come into play. I was vigilant in writing 3,000 words a day, breaking it up into 1,000 word chunks, as well as vigilant about taking every weekend off from writing so that I could re-charge.

October: A Christmas non-fiction anthology was released by Covenant, with a contribution by me:

Two releases came out under my indie imprint. A Timeless Romance Anthology: Under the Mistletoe Collection, in which I had a novella, and the debut Timeless Regency Collection: Autumn Masquerade, in which I didn’t have a novella in. Mid-October I finished the first draft of Slave Queen, and I started writing Moses #3.

 

November: Several releases happened this month. First, my Power of the Matchmaker novella, which is a prequel novella that tells the matchmaker’s own love story. I’d written it Fall 2014, and the wait was long for this release. But we didn’t want it to come out too far in advance of the 2016 full-novel releases.

Next, The Mariposa Hotel was released, the 3^rd in the Tangerine Street Romance series.

Then, A Timeless Romance Anthology: Sarah M. Eden British Isles Collection came out, part of the anthology series that I indie publish. The Monday before Thanksgiving, I submitted Slave Queen to my agent, and the wait began. In November, I decided to pull my YA book Solstice from the SwoonReads contest. This book I wrote under pen name Jane Redd. I had my agent submit to the Apub imprint Skyscape. It was turned down, so I decided to enter it into the Kindle Scout contest. This started a rather crazy month of promoting the book and trying to get voters to nominate the book. Kindle Scout is kind of like American Idol for books. The campaign ended December 5, and 10 days later, KS emailed me to say that my book was selected. It will be published February or March of 2016.

 

December: Lost King came out December 1:

And another multi-release month with my indie imprint. The 2^nd Timeless Regency Collection called A Midwinter Ball came out. Also, Michele Holmes’ novella Twelve Days in December released. Although I’m not the author, as the producer and publisher, it was an accomplishment to see both released to critical acclaim. I guess I got the publishing bug because I decided to re-publish a novella that was originally in the Winter Collection. So A Fortunate Exile went live December 17.

On Tuesday, December 15, I received notice that Solstice was chosen as a Kindle Scout winner and would be published through Kindle Press. On Wednesday, December 16, my agent emailed me to say we needed to talk. Thomas & Mercer had made an offer on Slave Queen. Talk about relief! Slave Queen is slated for September 2016 release.

Depending on release date of Moses #3, I might have a busy fall promoting. Speaking of Moses #3, which I’m calling Exodus, I turned in the manuscript to beta readers around December 10. I’m hoping to get through revisions and submitted to Covenant by the end of this month. Not sure how it will all fall into place as I also have revision notes on Solstice and the soft deadline for that is early January. But I will prevail. At this moment, I’m on the last chapter or two of Love is Come, and once I finish the draft, I’ll put my full attention to Solstice revisions. Then I should have Moses #3 feedback in and I can do the revisions on that. While I was taking a bit of down time after sending Moses #3 to readers, and starting to read what I’d written so far on Love is Come, I drafted a few thousand words of a novella that will be in the Timeless Romance Anthology: Road Trip Collection.

While doing a book signing in December, I found that my 2010 non-fiction book Women of the Book of Mormon has been released in paperback. The interior artwork is in black-and-white, but it's one of my best-selling books, so I'm hoping that readers will be happy with the reduced price.

 

2016 Release Schedule:

February 2016: Mail Order Bride anthology (written, in edits now)

February 2016: Solstice by pen name Jane Redd (editing)

March 2016: The Moses Chronicles: Deliverance (completed, awaiting cover)

April 2016: Love is Come (Power of the Matchmaker series) (writing final chapter now)

May 2016: Road Trip anthology (written a couple of chapters)

September 2016: Blind Date anthology (haven’t started)

September 2016: Slave Queen (submitted, editing not started)

Fall 2016: The Moses Chronicles: Exodus (not submitted yet)

Other: Write Solstice sequel Lake Town. Write next thriller in Omar Zagouri series. Finish writing novella for Road Trip Collection. Write novella for Blind Date Collection. Submitting Salem Witch book. Write another Tangerine Street Romance?