You can barely see the scar now

I’m back! Well, kind of. Maybe a little.

When I released Fault last Autumn, I had no idea how much my confidence was going to be shaken by the experience. After all, it was my third release and I was happier with it than I had been with my previous two books. I knew that the book world had changed since my previous release but I hadn’t appreciated quite how much until then. Fault didn’t manage more than a whisper amongst the many sellers shouting about their wares. I don’t want to whinge, and I know my reduced online presence was a significant contributing factor, but the whole experience hurt, financially and emotionally.

Other than attending a signing being run by friends, I’ve stayed in the shadows to lick my wounds. I’ve been researching and doing a bit of writing. But mainly I’ve been asking some big questions of myself.

As much as I love to write, I can’t afford for it to be an expensive hobby; and publishing Fault was a very expensive lesson. I know that I don’t have to pay for editing, a nice cover, formatting, a release tour etc. but I also know that I couldn’t put something out there that wasn’t as good as I could make it – and therein lies the problem. I can afford to write but I can’t afford to publish in a way that I would be proud of.

So what does this mean?

My head tells me that I should continue to write (because I would miss it too much not to) but not to publish. My heart tells me I should trust it will all work out fine with my next book.

Anyway, I am writing and I guess we’ll have to see if it ever makes it beyond a Word file.

Thanks for reading.

xx