Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Starting again

Months have past since my last post. Here's what happened:

For almost a year I was deeply invested in marketing activities for the books that I had published. I used an author services group to improve my outreach. This effort was costly in time, personal effort and money. The events in Santa Fe and Albuquerque seemed so promising. I embraced each opportunity with enthusiasm, but every event was a disappointment with minimal attendance. The few books I sold didn't begin to cover my expenses of driving to the venue and my meal. Undaunted, I decided to try another approach focussing on the parallels between my writing and current events in Arab countries. No one came for the conversation series. This was the final blow.

I became discouraged to the point that I decided not to write anymore. During these months of my absence, I put away all of my writing materials: books, research and magazines. I waited to see what, if anything would happen. Much to my surprise, people began complimenting me on my writing and asking about future books. I even sold a couple books. Then, someone familiar with my current writing project told me how anxious she was to get the book because she felt that it was needed. No one knows how much all of these reinforcing and supportive comments have meant to me. It was enough to prick my interest in writing again.

A couple days ago, I saw the completed book for my current project in my dreams. It came to me without any other dream storyline---just the sight of the completed book.

It's time to start again with new insights and new energy for research. Perhpas I'll post a story from my project in this blog to learn your reaction.

Stay tuned.