The first one is this. I wrote this particular novel before my first non-fiction book Soul Friend which was released last September and was given the choice as to which would be published first. So now it’s time to release the novel. But which direction should I head next? Should I alternate my books and aim to complete another non-fiction book this year? Or should I stick to novel writing?
But my second dilemma is the more pressing one at the
moment. I feel so blessed, having six books published when I never thought I would
have any. My first novel Heléna was
released early in 2007 and since then, I have had one book released each year.
It’s not that I am particularly prolific, however. It’s just that while I
waited to find a publisher for my first novel, I decided to begin the next. So until
now, I have always been in the happy place of having another novel completed by
the time the previous one was released. But now the question is—do I let those first
two novels go and not try to promote them anymore? Although the first one has
just become hard to find in most bookstores, there are still a handful of
copies of the second around. And small numbers of orders still seem to come in
for them via the bookstores, plus I have people contacting me as well for
copies from time to time. Also, wherever I speak, it seems people are still
interested in those first two novels. I sell almost as many of those as my
later ones—which leaves me a little reluctant to run out of copies myself. Yet,
if I did, would I sell more of my later novels? It’s a puzzle!
And of course, there is a limit to the number of books I can
carry around with me wherever I speak. Often, I am unsure which book people
will go for, so I need to take a good number of each. I could no doubt get back
the rights of those first two novels and attempt to make them available as e-books
only, but to me, that seems to answer only half the question. Also, I know if I
did this, I would need to re-edit both novels severely! After all, they were my
first two attempts at writing—and back then, I knew nothing about the current
anathema against using omniscient point of view or the evils of ‘head hopping’!
And my very long sentences are liberally sprinkled with lots of lovely ‘ly’
adverbs! Yet do I want to invest time in re-writing these books? I’m not sure.So ... you see my dilemma. Any suggestions? I know some of you have had many more novels released over the years than I have, so would you have any wisdom to offer from your own experience?
Meanwhile, I will keep thinking and praying about it—and writing
that next best-seller!
