Books

It's always interesting to see how much information there is out there telling you what to do to be successful as a writer. The interesting thing about it is that the writing itself doesn't seem to get a lot of attention. It's more about getting your book out there, getting it marketed, spending money on covers, books, getting reviews. Don't get me wrong, they're all great things to work on. But does it end up taking away from the actual writing? Something that I sometimes wonder about. Doing it on $0 budget is a challenge (teaser).

Sometimes with all this, one seems to wonder if they are a writer or an advertiser or marketer. At one time, writing books was a matter of getting a publisher and it was all done with maybe a little exposure through the newspaper. Of course there were physical books and harder to get published.

Now with self-publishing finding a foothold, there are so many things to think about. The least of which is the writing. I wonder how many people find themselves lost in the details of trying to find a way to get their book noticed. There is just such a bewildering array of formats, books and genres out there. Each one battling for prominence and attention.

I see some irony in the whole thing. Though books are more available, it's harder to get interest in your particular book. Though it is easier to buy e-books, there are just so many out there.

So, one thing to bring away from this is it takes a lot of determination. Make sure, when/if you get a chance for publicity for your book(s), that you consider what it is you want people to know. For example, I make sure to keep my regional location to our beautiful Island Province. As a Canadian author, keeping my roots visible is important to me. If you just state some location without claiming any citizenship, you risk losing the interest of local people. If you are too non-specific, you can miss out on the local area. However, this totally depends on what is important to you. For me, my PEI home is a source of interest and imagination. I associate it with the wonderful Lucy Maude Montgomery who brought the Island alive for many. So, I am honoured to be able to claim my Prince Edward Island kinship. Others may have different ideas. It might suit the purpose of the author to be non-specific so that they can be a kind of enigma.

As always, I'm realistically unrealistic. I find inspiration in our daily life, on the Island and it's flora and fauna. If you allow yourself to follow your dreams and your inspiration, you never know where it will lead.

Thanks for reading my blog and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures