Positive feedback from readers an antidote to tough times

It hasn't been an easy month, to be honest, with a flooded basement, a punch biopsy and a lot of family-related stuff going on.


Not surprisingly, the thing that has kept me going has been the release of the new collection of stories and all the public appearances that go with it. I often complain about the non-writing aspects of writing such as the preparation of press releases, the preparation for public appearances, the review and editing of various promotional items.


If I am truly honest with myself, however, I have to admit that I do enjoy the public appearances themselves.


With the launch this fall of Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, Volume 4, I have faced a packed calendar of events.


Most recently came our first appearance at the Boyce Farmers' Market in Fredericton in support of the new book. The Boyce Market is where Abigail really got launched in 2012. I remember standing outside at the market on a miserable, cold morning (6:30 in the morning, in fact) in 2012, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Then the line-ups started and, 90 books and five hours later, I realized that we were into something special.


Mary and I were back at the Boyce this past Saturday and, although sales weren't quite as strong as on that first day three years ago, we still saw lots of people and signed and sold a goodly number of Volume 4. As I said to Mary at the start of the day, however: the goal is not so much to sell the books as to sell people on the McAdam Railway Station.


That approach has always, for me at least, taken a lot of the pressure off. Instead of trying to "close the deal" every time someone stopped by our booth to talk, we could simply focus on the discussion itself. People response really positively to that kind of low pressure, it's-a-pleasure-just-to-talk approach.


And we hear a lot of wonderful stories that way, from people of all ages and from all across the country, about how the railroad and the McAdam Station impacted their, or their parents and grandparents', lives.


Even more importantly for me during this difficult period, I found my spirits buoyed by many kind, positive comments about the Abigail books themselves.


So many people stopped by, anxious to get the latest in the series, telling us how much they enjoyed reading the first four books (three volumes of stories and the Christmas novella). Among the many kind comments we received, these were the ones that struck me most deeply:


1. One woman bought Volumes 2, 3, 4 and the Christmas novella, all at once: "I've read the first collection of stories several times already," she told me. "I'm thrilled to be able to read the rest of the books now!"


2. Another man came to our stall, never having heard of the Abigail stories. We chatted with him about the Station and the books and his eyes glowed brighter and brighter. Railways are a part of his family history, he told us. He then rushed off to the nearby bank machine to get sufficient money to buy all of the books at once, a gift for his 91-year-old mother who "will love these books, I'm sure!"


3. Finally, a man and his two sisters (I think), all in the 40s or 50s, came around the corner and, when they spotted the posters on our stall, their eyes widened. "I can't believe it," the man said, excitement in his voice. "My brother in Halifax is just crazy about your Abigail books. He called me last night to tell me he had heard there was a new collection of stories out and to demand that I keep my eyes out for them. And here you are! He will be so excited!"


Small things, perhaps. But so kind and so fulfilling for the writer in me. The excitement of these people to have the chance to buy our books and enjoy our stories just fills me with a sense of joy and contentment. As I have written before, writers who self-publish rarely get reviewed in newspapers or other forms of media -- we rely on these kinds of personal interactions to find out what people think of our work.


And, during a difficult period in my life, the very kind feedback we've received from people at all of our events has been incredibly important for me -- a much needed injection of positivity.

Promoting is always more challenging than writing your stories

Awesome book launch event last Sunday afternoon for Volume 4 of the Abigail Massey stories. After some tense early moments, we ended up with a full house and a great crowd of supportive people.


My colleague, Mary, for whom this was the first real event to feature her creative work, seemed to enjoy herself very much and spoke beautifully. I did my bit and we ended up selling more than $1,000 worth of books.


All in all, an excellent day.


And now the real work begins. We have no fewer than eight promotional events on the slate for the next two months, plus media interviews, email campaigns and all kinds of other things we need to do to get people interested in the books.


It's fun but, to be honest, I find it hard. And extremely tiring. While I really enjoy the writing and I find it fun to do the public presentation part (both at speaking engagements and with the media), I do find the pace and the demands rather challenging.


You get yourself into a place where you don't want to miss any opportunity to promote the book so you have a very hard time saying no. You check your email constantly, you're always on Facebook or Twitter or Youtube tracking the progress of your various campaigns and you always... ALWAYS... feel like you have to respond fully and immediately to any request.


No matter how run down I get during these periods, I keep reminding myself that I should be grateful that anyone is taking an interest in the books. That I should be (and I really am, to be honest) delighted when the media calls wanting to cover the story and promote the book. That I should be honoured (and I ALWAYS am) that someone wants to spend his or her hard-earned money on the book that I wrote, over all the competing priorities in their lives.


Speaking of the media, I enjoyed a really fun interview this morning with a reporter for one of the bigger New Brunswick newspapers and I am very grateful that the Abigail books will be featured in a publication of that size and reach. The reporter was very nice and very well prepared, with great questions. Even better, she actually listened to what I had to say and asked excellent follow-up questions.


One thing that threw me, however, was that she didn't have a pen nor a single piece of paper with her. She read her prepared questions from her smart phone. She recorded our conversation on her smart phone. And when I gave her contact names and information for further research, she typed that directly into her smart phone.


Wow. It's a brave new world.

Hamilton book event a standout emotional moment

The author behind the window display

There are moments...

I think that's a wonderful way to start a blog post, especially one that is going to be so entirely filled with happiness and delight as this one.

There are moments when it all seems worthwhile.

There are moments when a writer gets the positive feedback he's been hoping for.

There are moments when friends and family (and even a few strangers) gather together to enjoy your work.

There are moments when things just seem right.

My sister Lynn and I enjoyed exactly those kinds of moments last Wednesday evening at a small but fantastic independent book shop in the west end of Hamilton, Ontario, the city of our youth. Bryan Prince Bookseller has been a fixture in the city's west end ever since we were young. More than just a book shop, Bryan Prince offers exceptional service from a group of dedicated employees who take the time to get to know not just their many loyal customers but also the books they offer for sale to those customers.

Clare reading Abigail so beautifully

Often, when my nieces and nephews were young (and the children of my close friends were also in their formative years) I would walk into Bryan Prince looking for just the right book to buy for a particular child's birthday or other special occasion. After asking a few questions (such as how old is the child, what are his/her interests, what kinds of books does he/she usually read), the staff member would walk over to a shelf and pull down two or three possibilities, explain each one to me and then permit me to choose. Without fail, the books offered were new releases; in many cases, they were lesser known or from new authors; in all cases, the book I bought turned out to be the perfect choice for the particular child.

I've heard from many many friends who live in Hamilton and the stories are all the same: if you want service, if you want information, if you want a pleasant atmosphere and the perfect book, Bryan Prince is the place to visit.

For Lynn and me, Bryan Prince was also the best place to hold the first Abigail book event we've ever  mounted outside of New Brunswick. Owner Kerry and her staff were exceptionally helpful and cooperative and the space was perfect for our needs.

About 40 people came to the event and it went over really really well. The highlight for me (and I think for many many of the people who attended) came when Clare, 16, read from the most recent collection of Abigail stories. It was a perfect, dramatic reading of the story and it brought my characters to life. I personally get very nervous when asked to read in public so I have to give Clare real credit for being so calm as she delivered such a wonderful reading to such a large crowd.

The author speaking (not quite so beautifully)

As you have probably already figured out, this was quite an emotional time for me. I was more nervous about this event than I have been about any other Abigail related session I have done. I felt the history -- my own personal history -- all around me as I spoke to my friends, my family members and the other kind people who came out to the event.

And I felt like so much of my work toward becoming an author had led me to that moment. In front of those people. In that wonderful book store.

There are moments when life seems to be working out right.

Being a writer isn't always about writing

Busy times can also be frustrating times for a writer.


I have been run off my feet lately, mostly with every day life stuff but also with tasks associated with my Abigail Massey at McAdam Station historical fiction project.


Here's a list of what's going on with regard to Abigail right now:

• I held a book signing event last week here in New Brunswick;
• I have another promotional event scheduled for next week in Ontario;
• We have just completed the challenging process of preparing Volume 4 of the stories for the printers, including everything from writing cover blurbs to carrying out final proof reading and editing;
• We are now planning the release of Volume 4, which includes arranging appearances, delivering books, drafting and sending out press releases, doing media interviews, and planning the book launch event to be held at the Station itself;
• We spent Saturday morning at the Station filming material for use in the creation of a promotional trailer for the Abigail web TV series we are hoping to produce; and
• I've been planning the work necessary to convert the Abigail Christmas novella into a stage play (for performance, if we're lucky, in late 2016).

See? Busy busy.


It's all great. And exciting. But how much of it involves actually writing creatively? I mean, I'm an author and I miss the writing part right now.


It doesn't help that, as a result of recent events, I am now anxious to get down to working on no fewer than four different creative writing projects: the aforementioned stage play, a new Middle-Grade fantasy novel, a revision of a mystery court-room-drama novel I wrote several years ago and the completion of a Harry Potter fan fiction novel that I haven't worked on in several years.


I have discussed the stage play and the Middle-Grade novel in this space before so I won't go in to any detail now. The play represents a huge challenge for me but one that could add a significant new dimension to the Abigail project. The novel is one of the more exciting ideas I have had in a long time, a project that was given new life by the enthusiastic response of a young colleague.


The mystery book is something that I wrote about 10 years ago and that went all the way to the end of the professional publishing review process before being finally rejected. I have some ideas on how to revise and improve it and I'm looking forward to putting those ideas into action.


And the Harry Potter fan fiction project just recently jumped back into the forefront. Several years ago, I wrote five pretty solid chapters of a novel that follows some of the minor characters from the original seven novels as they attempt to deal with the aftermath of the "Battle of Hogwarts" that brings J.K. Rowling's series to a close. I have posted the five chapters on my own personal website as well as on my Harry Potter blog.


Last week, a colleague at my work approached me to tell me that she had discovered the chapters on line and had decided to read the first one just for something to do. She very kindly told me that she was soon "hooked" and had to read all five chapters. Now she wants me to write more.


Very kind, exciting sentiments, to be sure. And I very much enjoyed writing those first five chapters in the first place, before moving on to other writing projects (the Abigail project for one). Now I find myself wanting to go back and pick up the story.


I certainly am not complaining about how much time I am currently spending on Abigail -- it's great fun to be so involved in a fairly successful project. But I would really love to get back to writing soon!

What do I want from my writing?

Oh wow. I've just been reading some pretty sad news for wannabe authors like me. For example, according to online sources, the average published author in Canada earns $500 per year in royalties.


Scary, huh?


Or try this one: even if a book is published, it has a 1% chance of being stocked in the major book retailers.


Or this one: the vast majority of promotion and marketing for new books is done by the author, not by the publishing house.


Or this one: The average book published in Canada sells between 5,000 and 10,000 copies over the course of its lifetime.


Scary scary scary scary, especially if you're one of those authors who hopes to make a living through your writing.


Thankfully, I've never really "hoped" anything of the sort. I knew from the start that it is only a very small minority of published writers who earn enough from their books to "quit their day job".


I still find the statistics just a little bit depressing.


My research only serves to confirm a conversation I had last week with a writing colleague at the post-book-launch party in honour of a new collection of stories by a mutual friend, Rob Gray, called Entropic.


This author colleague is, himself, published with a small east-coast publisher and he told me that, from his experience, the publishing house worked very hard to gather sufficient arts grants to pay their own staff salaries, to pay their overhead and to produce the books. After that, the publishing house considered its work to be done -- it's up to the author to sell copies of the book.


He also said that few of the authors he knows have any expectation of selling huge numbers of books: they just feel it to be important to write quality literature and get it out there to the (often few) people who are interested in reading it.


I'm not sure how I feel about all that. And it's made me think pretty intently about why I write and what my goals really are. I spend an awful lot of my time writing, thinking about writing, promoting my writing, talking about writing and all the rest: what do I really hope to get out of that investment?


I love to write. I love the creative process. I love the thinking and dreaming and researching and planning that goes into creating, from nothing, a story for other to enjoy. I love to read other people's writing and to think about why it works (or doesn't), how it is put together, what decisions the author made or should have made to make the piece what it is.


But (and I hate to admit it), at the base of it all, I write because I want to see my creative work published by a real publishing house. For all the success I have had self-publishing and promoting my Abigail stories, I really want to have a professional publisher with a known publishing house say to me, "We want to publish you.; we think you're work is worthy of taking the risk."


Is that too much to ask?