A Plan for 2014

People at writer's conferences like to talk about author career planning. Until recently I thought it was some kind of silly mind game:  Tell them career planning is possible, and then watch while they plan and struggle and see it all collapse in smoke. Fooled them, ha-ha!

Publishing is such an odd business and only a small part of the business decisions are made by the author. Once the publisher gets a signed contract, in come marketing, cover design, layout people, promotions, yada-yada-yada. It's enough to scare many talented people out of the game.

But the rules are changing. It's been most of a decade since a writer colleague sent me an article called "An Author Needs a Publisher Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle." The article extolled the virtues of digital self-publishing and how an author can have full control over all her own publishing, marketing, promotional decisions, cover design, etc. All she has to do is take all the risk and do all the work. No biggie there.

I still see advantages to traditional publishing, especially with the Big Six in New York. Have a book published by Random House or Doubleday or [fill in the blank Big Publisher] and the odds are you'll reach a much bigger audience with a broader range of backgrounds and interests. That's no small thing. Still I have finally jumped into the world of electronic self-pubbed novels with the release of MAGGIE RISING and RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK in the last three months. With that in mind, I've cautiously made a plan for 2014.

The Basics
First comes DANNY'S GIRL, the eighth book in the highly successful Rainbow Rock series. Readers who have eagerly inhaled the first seven books are looking forward to seeing what kind of woman Danny Sherwood needs and wants. That book is well on its way, expected for an early spring release, and there will be further books in this series since I love returning to Rainbow Rock.

Next comes the yet-untitled second book in the Maggie Rising Case Files. We left Maggie at an interesting place in her life  at the end of MAGGIE RISING. Now we need to move her forward, letting her become a young adult, cheering her on as she discovers new talents and abilities.

There's a new series in the works, one I hope to market to the Big Six. Set in a medical center in fictional Hope Creek, California, the series will focus on the private lives and romances of the doctors and other medical personnel who live and/or work in a former Gold Rush town in the Sierra Nevadas. I'm having great fun with the early-stage research and writing. Somewhere in the next year, I also hope to make time to continue developing my novel set in the Italian Renaissance and featuring Lorenzo di Medici. (Can you see me crossing my fingers?)

If you've enjoyed the books so far, you can help in a variety of ways: (1) Drop me a note. Tell me if you might enjoy being a beta reader for an early manuscript of one or more books and which genre you prefer. (2) Review the books you've already read, especially on Goodreads which is fast becoming the major book reviews site since being acquired by Amazon. (3) Tell your friends, neighbors, mail deliverer, life-long enemies and people you meet in the grocery store about the books you've enjoyed most. Encourage them to read and review. Word-of-mouth advertising is always the best.

The Goal
My ultimate goal for 2014 is to be successful enough with the books to greatly reduce time spent at the day job and greatly increase the time I spend writing. That's what I've wanted since I was nine years old and started my first novel on a yellow legal pad. It stands a chance of coming true in the coming year.

For you, faithful friends, I have another plan:  May the New Year bring you your fondest goals, dreams and wishes and may it be a happy, healthy and prosperous time for you and those you love.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth

Thinking of Thanks

Having just passed Thanksgiving weekend, I've been pondering the many gifts of this past year. First I am grateful for family and friends, the lovely people who give my life meaning every day. My children are spread out across the continent, but I have a son close by who hosted us at Thanksgiving this year. Instead of spending two days in the kitchen, I contributed a few small items to the dinner, half of which were prepared by my sweet husband, who is a fine cook in his own right and always makes the lemon meringue pie (yum!). All that made for a lovely, relaxing holiday we enjoyed very much.

Though my offspring and their little spring-offs are all dealing with day-to-day problems and inconveniences, everyone is happy and healthy. That is one huge blessing and I'm grateful.

As an author I have also experienced much to appreciate in 2013. Here's a short list:

Books
Three new novels saw the light this year.  ZUCCHINI PIE: GRANNY'S RECIPE FOR LIFE appeared in June, a paperback release from Covenant Communications. My first two self-published, digital-only books appeared shortly thereafter, MAGGIE RISING in August and RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK in September. I always feel my time is well spent when I can see the results that clearly.

Agents
Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich at Dystel-Goderich Literary Management may not understand everything that's happening in the current publishing upheaval (no one does), but they come about as close as is humanly possible. They're hard-working, dedicated to serving their authors, and well enough situated in the business (after being in business since 1986) that they have some real power in the publishing world. I'm grateful for the day I met Jane Dystel and delighted to have her and her agency on my team.

Readers
Guessing how many people have actually read my books is tricky since some people download a book and never read it while others buy one paper copy and circulate it to everyone they know before passing it on to a hospital or retirement home where it will be read until it falls apart. Still it's easy to see that the numbers are growing and the range is growing, too. I now have readers in places like India and Turkey. How cool is that?

Twitter
I'm grateful for TwitterPals and RTers. With more than 12,300 followers, I manage to get the word out when there's a new release, a sale, or something to celebrate. I'm also averaging about 14% retweeting on those messages, which I find positively thrilling.

Mostly I'm grateful for the fun I have when I listen to those voices in my head and let them take me to interesting, exciting places. Years like this make the writing worthwhile. Thanks to Janice and Alisa (you both know why!) and to all of you who have been part of it. My 2014 be even better for all of us.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

A Nod to Fine Authors: Part Two

My last blog post looked at new authors I’ve discovered from reading e-books on my Kindle. I mentioned three, ending with the well-known author of PAY IT FORWARD, Catherine Ryan Hyde, who was new to me. I’d like to start with her again.

Catherine Ryan Hyde

As I mentioned before, I discovered Hyde when I read her book, WHEN YOU WERE OLDER. The day after losing his job and many of his coworkers in the collapse of the Twin Towers, Russell awakens to learn his mother has just passed on and he has inherited the care of his brain-injured brother, Ben. Although chronologically older, Ben is now much like a child and Russell must help him learn to live again. It’s both painfully raw and touchingly tender.

Having read (and thoroughly enjoyed) that first Hyde book, I picked up another. The title tells the story. SECOND-HAND HEART is indeed about a transplant and fans of RETURN TO ME will enjoy it, but it has some unexpected elements—and developments—that make it well worth reading. Most recently I read Hyde’s DON’T LET ME GO, a touching discussion of fear, courage, and the transformative power of a child. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Michaelene McElroy

When I saw the title, THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY, I wondered if I’d be comfortable with the story, but I downloaded it anyway. The fresh, appealing voice caught me within seconds and the quirky, I’ve-never-read-anything-like-it plot kept me fascinated. This is an odd book, but it’s a nice kind of odd. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Tracey Garvis-Graves
Ms. Graves debut novel, ON THE ISLAND, was a well-I-can-try-it experiment for me. Wow. I just recently reread the whole thing, start to finish—something I don’t do often since there are so many great books and so little time. This one swept me away.

Anna is 30 years old when the charter plane carrying her and 16-year-old T.J., the high school student she has been hired to teach over the summer, is downed in the Indian Ocean. They make it to a tiny, uninhabited island in the Indonesian archipelago as student and teacher. Three and a half years later, when helpers are rescuing survivors from the great tsunami of 2004, their relationship has changed. How did they survive on the island? And how will their tender new relationship survive when they return to the civilized world?

Don’t read this one if you’re squeamish, but if “painfully raw and touchingly tender” are your style, you’ll love it just as I did. Enjoy!

These are just a few of the many fine authors you can read on Kindle, Nook, I-Phones, computers and other mobile devices. If you are committed to paper-only reading, I'm sympathetic; there is nothing like turning the pages of a book. Yet these are inexpensive reads you can enjoy without getting a cramp in your forearm. Think about it, anyway.  :-)

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

A Nod to Fine Authors

One of the joys of being a hybrid author (both traditionally and digitally published) is the fun of finding other new-to-me great authors to read. Today I'm eager to share some I have found by shopping widely in the world of the digitally-published.

Melodie Ramone
Melodie's book, AFTER FOREVER ENDS, is one of the most memorable I've read in a very long time. The love story of Sylvia and Oliver, if it were a movie, would likely be rated PG-13 for language and adult content, but I've read two dozen books I can barely remember since discovering this book and I still recall large chunks of this story in great detail. It was touching, "real" (in the sense of well, most of it could probably happen), and made me both laugh and cry out loud.

June Kearns
AN ENGLISHWOMAN'S GUIDE TO THE COWBOY has just the right touch of tongue-in-cheek humor. It's a clean, wholesome romance tossing a Victorian maid who believes she can handle anything into a situation which she clearly cannot manage at all. Thank goodness, June has also given her heroine a cowboy who takes pity on her situation and quickly learns to appreciate her courage. I had such a good time with this book!

Catherine Ryan Hyde
The author of PAY IT FORWARD was already well-known to many readers, but I discovered her when I read WHEN YOU WERE OLDER. Since then I've read several of her books and every one was a treat. She takes on some difficult topics, but she deals with them in touching and realistic ways. Most sensitive readers will enjoy her work.

These are just a few of the many great authors whose work is now available for reading on Kindle, Nook, I-Phones, computers and other mobile devices. If you are committed to paper-only reading, I'm sympathetic; there is nothing like turning the pages of a book. Yet these are inexpensive reads you can enjoy without getting a cramp in your forearm. Think about it, anyway.  :-)

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

Looking Forward with Hope (Creek)

An eighth book coming in the Rainbow Rock series (watch for DANNY'S GIRL), a second on the way for the Maggie Rising Case Files (title pending) and a life to maintain. You'd think I'd have plenty to do--and I do! Yet somehow in the middle of all this, my agent planted a seed which is growing into a whole new series. Sometime in 2014 it will bear its first fruit, a medical romance set in the fictional town of Hope Creek, California. Here's the town's story:

As the California Gold Rush drew to a close, a small party of miners found color in the Sierra foothills overlooking the Sacramento Valley. A few men filed claims on Last Hope Creek and were rewarded when they struck a rich vein. When even that played out, the Last Hope Mine closed, but the town surrounding it continued, driven largely by tourism in its four-block stretch of Old Town and visitors to the shored-up tunnel of Lost Hope Mine.

One other economic engine keeps the town alive: The Hope Creek Medical Center began in the late 19th century as a sanitarium for "consumption" victims, built around the area's small hot spring. It's now a large, modern special services hospital and regional trauma center. Most of the stories in this series will be centered at HCMC featuring its medical personnel. 

There's also a great, recurring character I'm already learning to love. A mysterious figure who appeared out of nowhere to open a "Beans and Brew" shop in Old Town, Madam Esmeralda sells coffee and tea, predicts the weather and presidential elections, and tells customers about their future love lives. As Hope Creek rumor has it, if Madam Esmeralda tells you about the coming thunderstorm or the next president, she'll be wrong, but if she predicts a romance in your future, you're already on your way down the aisle.

I'm looking forward to working with Caro and Sean, the orthopedic surgeon and trauma device sales rep who are the subjects of the first novel, and to an ongoing friendship with Madam Esmeralda. I'll share more about Hope Creek as the series develops. Stay tuned! 

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.