All authors – even James Paterson – must market/promote their novels.  Most of us must learn these skills in addition to the tools of modern marketing, especially the myriad forms of social media.  For a long time it’s been my contention that the skills/talent needed to write a novel are radically different from those needed to market your work once published.  This was my rationale (read excuse) to explain why so many independent authors struggle with marketing and find it as appealing as eating prunes.

Recently, I’ve had a change of heart.  To be an author the once essential ingredient you must have is that you want to be read. What’s the point of writing if your work isn’t read?

My new approach is to forget about the idea of marketing.  My approach now is that I want to share my personal story as a writer and I want to share my fiction with readers.  I completely reject the notion that the purpose is to sell books.
My idea is that if I share my story and my work and readers find interest – the books will sell.  If they don’t sell, I accept that and it isn’t a rejection of me or my work.  An author can’t afford to take it personally otherwise we would all end up in little rooms with no windows.

I won’t market any longer.  I will share my story and my work in as many ways as possible.
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Do you have a story to tell?

​Waunakee Public Library
 
June Author Visit
6/22/2020
 
 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Waunakee Public Library
 
Please join me for the June Author Visit: 
 
Sun Prairie resident and local author, Rex Owens, will discuss his trilogy – The Irish Troubles Series: Murphy's Troubles; Out of Darkness and Dead Reckoning.  His work explores our motives for the life choices we make through his characters living midst the political turmoil of modern day Ireland. His themes include guilt, atonement and contrition.  
 
This event will be hosted on Zoom. To join this event, follow this link:
https://zoom.us/j/5121927987
 
Meeting ID: 512 192 7987
Event Type(s): Adult Event
 

Part of our family live about an hour from our home and before covid (the new b.c. time reference) we saw our 9 and 6 year old grandsons about once a week.  In the time of covid (toc) we haven’t seen them for 12 weeks.  Well, that’s not entirely accurate.  We have had “face time” with a fine little app called duo.  It’s not the same but we made it work.
 
We spent this past Sunday afternoon with the boys.  We planned simple activities like kite flying, bubbles, soccer, frisbee and toss the ball.  I want to share some of the insights of our grandchildren.
 
Our 9 year old wanted to understand that it had been 12 weeks since we were together when before we saw each other weekly.  He needed to put our fun afternoon into perspective.
 
We started by putting the kites together and I botched putting together the kite for the 9 year old while the six year old took off on his own, running the length of the soccer field, screaming all the way with bright red cheeks on the hot, humid afternoon in the sun.  The six year old returned where I continued to struggle with his brother’s kite and offered to let his brother fly his kite for a while.  Thank heavens.  The six year old wanted to play with the bubbles.  We played the game to see who could pop the most bubbles.  Of course he won, he is much more agile than me.
 
The 6 year old decided he wanted his kite back so the 9 year old asked me to play one on one soccer.  He wanted to play to the score of 10.  I told him I couldn’t play that long and we played to the score of 2.  I learned he had some tricky moves and scored first.  I caught him not paying attention and scored second.  The 6 year old didn’t want to miss the fun and joined my team.  The 9 year old drove to the next and scored.  He won the game and it was time for a water break.

The 9 year year old wanted to play catch with the ball while the 9 year old took another turn at kite flying.  Before long both the 9 year old and gram joined us playing catch.  The 6 year old wanted to direct who would throw the ball and who would receive and it became complex.  The 9 year old finally shouted – “oh let’s just throw the ball.”  We then threw the ball in a circle and became faster and faster, we all laughed.  The 6 year old shouted “Go Team Family.”
My soul and heart were refreshed.
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We are planning an overnight stay over late in June.  I can’t wait.   

On May 24th I typed ‘THE END’ on the last page of the rough draft manuscript of my fourth novel.  I began writing last December and originally planned on completing the rough draft by November 1 – so I am 4 months ahead of schedule.  My goal was to write a draft of 70,000 words but the final product is 77,254 words. Staying safer at home has translated into being more creative at home.  I have written this work of fiction much faster than my three previous novels.  I don’t think that means I’m a better writer.  I think it’s because I had more time available for writing.

To be honest, I feel odd about reaching ‘the end’.  I felt sad about finishing the draft.  I plan on spending at least two months in self-editing before I turn it in to my editor Christine Keleny.

I’ve decided to not change my goal of publishing in April 2021.  The book is the life story of a pack horse librarian in Kentucky and I want the release to coincide with national library week 2021.
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For now, I’m going to take a week off from writing and editing.  I need to let this project ‘get cold’ so I can have a fresh look at it.  I don’t expect to change the story or the plot, I need to work on craft and weed out all of my little problems like to many “that’s”.
 
What has been your writing experience while being ‘safe at home?’