I apologize for the long content.
We want to welcome our new members.
I wanted to start today by talking a little about something that’s been on my mind. Books. Yes, I said books. That may not surprise you to know that I often think about books. I am a publisher after all. But this thought is just a bit different. It’s about the relationship between books and authors.
How many authors cherish the books they write? I would say probably all of them. Books to many authors are like their children, and each new book birth is like a brand new addition to their family.
I remember my first book, Just Like a Newborn Baby. It woke me up in the middle of the night wanting attention, and it was the same with each of my other books. And just like children, each one of them has their own personality.
So, yes, each book I finished became a member of my family.
So, I feel with each author, and his or her books are exactly that. A family.
How many of you remember the old song, ‘Daddy Frank’, by Merel Haggard?
The family in that song needed each other to perform and sing, and without each other, they were less useful. Their performance was hindered. And that’s how an author is with his or her books. Together, they’re stronger and can please more readers. Just like the Daddy Frank’s song, The Bigger the Family, the better they became.
I can hear you asking. What does all this mean to me as an author? I reckon I’m saying that you need to keep writing. When you finish one manuscript, don’t sit there patting yourself on the back and think you’ve done good.
Don’t misunderstand me. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with congratulating yourself, but you need to start another story. Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait to see how sales are going on your first one. Start another one, and when you’re finished with that one, start another, and then another, and so forth.
I simply cannot understand why authors wait so long to publish a second or a third book. I know one author who has written five westerns and still has them on his computer. What does it achieve to keep a member of the family out of the market? Why not let those precious family members out there to pull their weight and bring home more bacon for the whole family to enjoy?
I think the philosophy that works for books is to keep the family growing,
keep producing, and gaining strength every day. So, don’t hoard those books.
Don’t hide them away in your desk or your closet. They don’t help you or the reader any good sitting on your computer. Get them finished and out the door.
Let them pull their wait in the reader world. Keep growing your family and keep feeding your creativity. You, like everybody else, more than likely have a thousand stories to tell.
So why not tell them?
This is the Old Cowboys, saying Audios and Happy Trails. |
