Thursday, June 16, 2011

Milestones and Moments

Earlier this month marked my one year anniversary into the world of indie publishing. In a couple of weeks, I'll have a guest post over at Lisa Yarde's The Brooklyn Scribbler, detailing the journey of my first year.

Meanwhile, I've finally cleared my schedule and am deep in wrapping up the first draft of the third book in The Bruce Trilogy - The Honor Due a King. After that there are still edits, proofing and cover to do (I sometimes forget how long that stage can take), but once I have a projected publication date I'll announce it here. I almost think I've been dragging my feet on this because I don't want to leave Robert, James and Edward behind. Authors really do get attached to their characters. After all, they usually lead much more interesting lives than we do.

The highlights of my first year:

1) Getting my first fan mail. Believe it or not, it came from a reader in Scotland. (Whenever I lose touch with my motivation, I glance at the letters taped to the wall behind my desk. Endless thanks to those who have bought the books, recommended them to others or left reviews and written to me. I urge all readers to spread the word about books that you enjoy. Word of mouth really is the best way for good books to find an audience.)

2) Being awarded the IPPY Silver Medal for Historical Fiction for Isabeau. (So, so wish I could've gone to the ceremony in NYC to meet other writers and publishers, but sometimes family takes precedence over business.)

3) Surpassing 10,000 sales in e-books. (That absolutely blows my mind, especially considering that in my first month of July 2010 I only sold 21 Kindle books.)

I'll have more to blog about when I emerge from my imaginary world. Until then . . .

Happy reading,
Gemi

7 comments:

Lisa J Yarde said...

Congratulations, Gemi, you've been on a wonderful journey so far and I hope it continues. Looking forward to hosting you next month.

N. Gemini Sasson said...

Many thanks, Lisa. Looking forward to reading what the others have to say. Can't believe it's been a year already.

Shayne Parkinson said...

What a year it's been, Gemi! Here's to an even better one ahead.

Christine Staver said...

Congrats, Gemi, for having such a great year. I am looking forward to the 3rd Bruce book. I just downloaded Isabeau to read while I am waiting.

N. Gemini Sasson said...

Thanks, Chris! I hope you enjoy it. And Shayne, you've been an inspiration to me from the very start.

Rebecca Lochlann said...

Ditto on all the above comments! 10,000 is an AMAZING NUMBER!

Lyndsey Davis said...

How exciting! What a milestone year. Congrats on everything: the first fan letter (way cool), the IPPY Silver Medal and selling over 10K in ebooks! Awesome achievements. Wishing you even more success in the coming year.
Lyn
http://lyndseyrosedavis.weebly.com