Moving Forward

It’s December, and I’m not as far in writing my book as I meant to be.  I’m not as far at ANYTHING as I meant to be.  This year has sort of gotten away from me.  My broken leg didn’t help.  It’s cost me a lot of time, but next week, I have therapy on Monday and Thursday, and those are my last sessions.  I love my therapists.  Every single one of them at the clinic is awesome.  I’ll miss them.  I won’t miss the actual therapy:)  It never feels good, and it’s really cut into my writing time.  It’s made my leg better and stronger, but I thought I’d be skipping through the back yard by now, which made my therapist laugh. She advised me to just keep doing my exercises and getting better with my cane.  She said it’s going to be a long, slow process and that I probably won’t be feeling frisky again until next August.  She reminded me that I’ve come a long way, and I just need to be patient.

I hate being patient.  Hate waiting.  But I’m doing the same thing with my writing.  When I got a book contract and a publisher, I did a happy dance.  And my editor John Scognamiglio and all of the people who work with me at Kensington/Lyrical Shine are wonderful. They’ve done a fantastic job of promoting my books, but I’m still not a best-selling author.  I knew it would take work as a self-published author, but with a publisher behind me, why aren’t I selling more?  Because my agent and editor both told me that building name recognition takes TIME.  A fellow writer told me that she didn’t really start selling until she published her fifth book in a series.  Another writer told me her books didn’t take off until she published her seventh humorous romance, that she had to build an audience.  Aargh!  I’ve come a long way, but I have a long way to go.  Just like my leg.

Writers tend to think of agents and editors as enemies when they don’t have them, but if you’re lucky enough to get good ones, they’re willing to stick in there and help you grow. They know how the business works, and they actually DO care about writers.  They’re serious about books and authors.  They’re willing to invest time and energy in them, even when they’re buried under manuscripts and slush pile pages.  Most people in publishing are over-worked!  I’ve just published romance number three, so I’ve sort of come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to be an instant success.  Most people aren’t.  I’ve never been instantly wonderful at anything, and I guess writing shouldn’t be an exception.  But I’m making progress.  I’m moving forward. I’m working on romance number six right now.  And someday, I hope I have name recognition, that people look forward to buying my next books.

Wherever you are in your life, in what you’re striving for, have a great December!  Judy

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