Taking the Bad with the Good

It has now been three weeks since I first published the print version of the Evolution Trilogy on Amazon.  Since then, I have also managed to publish the e-book version on Kindle and iBooks.  It should be available on Diesel and BarnesandNobles.com shortly as well.  But I’m not here to talk about my distribution network.

First and foremost I want to say thank you to all the friends and family who have supported me so far.  The overwhelming outpouring of support, kindness, and interest has been extremely touching.  The whole process has also given me a chance to reconnect with friends of the past (admittedly, I am bad at keeping in touch with people, so thank you all for accepting my out-of-the-blue friend requests on Facebook, no questions asked), which has been really nice. 

It is awesome knowing that all of my hard work is now available for almost anyone to experience.  It’s like my characters have come to life—no longer just voices and images in my head (Yes, I hear voices in my head). 

I also want to thank any of my readers who I don’t know!  I get super excited anytime I get a book sale or a Like on my Facebook page from someone who I don't know.  You are the reason that indie writers have a chance to do what they love.  You took a chance on me and I look forward to hearing what you think of the story.  That transitions nicely into book reviews.  If anyone reading this blog has read any of my books, please post a review on Amazon, I would love to hear from you.  All kinds of feedback is welcome, as I want to know what my readers like to read and what they don’t.

This blog is titled “Taking the bad with the good”, and you are probably wondering where the bad is.  In one word, the bad is: time.  Despite the fact that I have managed to write 7 books in 13 months while holding a full time job, I am discovering that the real time commitment comes after you have already written, and even published, your book(s).  Now I am juggling promoting my published books with trying to publish my backlist of books, continuing to work on my next book (for at least two hours a day), and, of course, reading books, which I continue to do at the rate of about a book or two a week.  This is while working full time, trying to stay in shape via 1500 meter swim sessions with my wife, keeping up with our favorite TV shows (hard to go wrong with the Mentalist and Merlin), and enjoying living at the beach (summer has arrived in Sydney!).  I’m not complaining, I’m just saying that it has been a bit of a shock to me that being a published writer is actually significantly more challenging and time consuming than just being a writer. 

But I’ll take the good with the bad any day.  After all, I am now doing what I love and will keep doing it for many years to come.  And as always, please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments about my writing, other books you like, or anything at all.  I will reply to each and every note I receive.