I’ve never been one to get my head stuck in the clouds. Not in the way we generally think of the saying. Yet, even grounded, I’ve found myself out of my league.
Lesson #1: Keep Your Mouth Shut.
Until I see my upcoming release for presale, I should not have mentioned even an estimate of when it would be released. I’ve been incredibly fortunate of my quick successes. It is truly humbling. My first book, Black Creek Burning, reached #52 on the Amazon overall Best-Seller’s list and #7 on their Romance Suspense best-selling list in just its second month out. 
For that I thank my readers first and, of course, my publisher. Better yet, readers turned around and read book 2, Flying in Shadows. I knew when I would have book 3 of the Black Creek Series finished. Dark Vengeance should just magically come out a few weeks after that, right? Except, I had things come up that put me behind. My editors weren’t sitting at their computers, waiting for my manuscript. Imagine that? I learned I needed more editors to comb through it than I had planned. All this takes time. Then, retailers (Amazon, Barnes 
and Noble, iTunes, etc.) changed their practices causing my publisher the need to adjust plans for my book’s release accordingly. It’s incredibly fascinating while horribly frustrating all the same time.
Lesson #2: Trust Your Publisher.
This one is trickier. There are some awful publishers out there. Authors need to be smart just like any other employee of any other company. We need to check our employer’s backgrounds and keep a vigilant eye on their practices. However, if we don’t trust their judgment, why did we hire them in the first place? I’m learning to find a balance, but the mistakes in my learning path are cringe-worthy.
Lesson #3: Sign up for author’s newsletters.
Most of us are careful only to send one out once a month. It is the single, only way to ensure you get the latest information from an author regarding the status of their work. Few of us have time to check on author’s websites. You might follow us on Twitter or our official page on Facebook, but did you know you only get 10% of the posts from the official pages you follow? I’m not talking about your friend’s personal profiles. You get all of their posts. Official pages are different. We pay Facebook if we want more of our followers to see a specific post. The more we pay, the more of our followers see it in their newsfeeds. Right now, I have close to 800 followers and a certain post that is standing at a ‘total reach of 11.’ Eek!
Lesson #4: Go write.
Find a reasonable balance between blogging, promoting and writing. Far too many of us spend too much time on the former. I am fortunate enough to have a publisher who does much of the work for me. So, I’m off now to go work on Book 1 in the Nickie Savage Series. It is set to be released … I have no idea!
Have a great June. Your interest is truly what keeps me going.
-R.T. Wolfe
Great tips, RT! Your journey has been so much fun to follow ~ good luck, I love the series!
Kristina, It can be surreal. As a successful author, I’m sure you know what I mean. Thank you! -R.T.
Nice of you to share your experiences and to be frank about it. Thanks for a great post.
Thank you, R.T. for sharing what you’ve learned about publishing. It is most helpful! And continued success with all of your novels!