Understatement of the year … “things have changed drastically in the past seven months”.

No kidding.

I can’t even imagine how some folks are coping; with no work, children about to go back to school, and the threat of a second wave hanging in the air.

I feel for them.

As a relatively established self-published author, Covid 19 has forced me to face some realities as well – low to no print book sales, bookstores reducing inventories, publishers holding off on their next titles and not considering new submissions, and so on.

On the ebook side of things, sales have picked up slightly but I’ve also decided to give ebooks away, as my small contribution to helping people make it through self-isolation, quarantine, and the other isolating effects of the pandemic including cabin fever.

But while the bank account is dwindling and the path forward is still murky, “there is only do”.

Because The Rhino’s Horn, the fifth book in my Dyed In The Green series is set in Tanzania and Kenya, and because I want to get there first to be able to do justice to the story I want to write, Covid 19 travel restrictions and a desire to live longer have forced me to put Book 5 on the shelf and pivot my writing to focus on the next story, Harking.

Like everything else before it, Harking has been in the works for a while but this story is a little different from previous books, a little more geared to younger adults but still, I think, a great adult read.

I’ve shopped it around to traditional publishers (unsuccessfully so far) but I’ve also been pushing forward to once again self-publish this story, working with my cover designer and layout person to prepare the two files (cover and text) printers need to put a book out.

Now comes the hardest part – marketing.

And with everything that’s going on in the book industry right now including Indigo shuttering some of its smaller stores, independent bookstores struggling to stay afloat (with some closing permanently), as well as overall uncertainty about the future, I’m now forced to pause and consider my options.

I think every author will tell you they want their stories in the hands of readers.

We need the feedback to satisfy our efforts (and our egos) and we need it to grow as writers. 

Pausing is not usually my way.

But pause I must.

As much as I like to write and get my stories out there, I can’t afford (financially) to get this wrong.

Yet I’m busting at the seams to move forward with the next great story (there’s that ego talking again).

Now if only Covid would go away!