Novel: Lust and Submission
Lust and Submission is out and about! I am trying to market this, but I do feel super shy and awkward. I know I need to push a lot harder. I am focusing on Tiktok and Instagram for the next few months (as well as my usual Facebook and website work :-) Additionally, I am partnering with other authors in the promo/marketting stage of their novels, sharing resources, ideas and painpoints as I fumble and bumble my way from writing to.... attempting to sell!
Book Two of Lust and Submission (title not yet revealed) is complete. I sent this to Blueberry Lane Books and they gave some fantastic feedback that assisted in an edit, but unfortunately they are not in a position to publish this piece at this time, due to low sales on the first. We will revisit this in a few months, see where things are at.
Short Stories and Novella News:
April 2023: A magazine that published my work last year is producing an anthology featuring some of the pieces they published in 2022. They selected one of my reprints into this project. Whoot! Contract signed :-) I will announce the publisher, project and story via video in the next month or so.
April 2023: NOVEL NEWS - I am delighted to report interest in a second novel-length piece. A publisher has responded to a submission into their slush pile, asking for the full manuscript on one of my completed novel-length pieces. My fingers are of course crossed, but however it pans out, I am so pleased to be receiving SOME interest in novel-length pieces! They advise they should have a response for me in the next month.
Feb 2023: NOVEL NEWS - I gave my first ever pitch as part of a ticket for an event. This was the first time I have ever sat down in front of a publisher to try and sell my work. I had abysmal internet/connection issues but I am really proud that I went through with it (I was SO flippin' nervous) and I am pleased with all the work I did preparing for it. They asked for a full manuscript. I am not sure if it is the right match for them, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to pitch.
Dec 2022: SHORT-LISTED/ONGOING: An unpublished piece remains short-listed by a fantastic magazine I have been aiming for for some time. They advised my piece made it through THREE sets of readers. It is now on hold, to be considered by the editors. Only one in 20 pieces that are "on hold" makes it into this magazine. Even so, I am going to take this as a win!
2022: CONTRACTED: An anthology open call accepted not one but THREE of my reprints for an upcoming project. The contract is signed. Anticipated release date was December 2022, but it looks like there are some delays. I have seen no updates on this project on the publishers website or FB, so I am worried something may have gone amiss for them :-( I have removed this off my "published" page, as I am no longer sure this one is in the pipeline. My fingers remain crossed!
What's in the pipeline?
My goal for 2023 continues to be: to have many things published in many places.
2022 ended on a beautiful note with eight pieces published that calendar year (a novel, a podcast, four magazines and two anthologies).
Novels:
- Four completed novels in the editing/submission stage (two currently sitting with a "full manuscript read" at two separate publishers). I continue to polish and improve these whilst I chase opportunities for publication.
- I completed a fresh new (fifth) novel-length piece for NaNoWriMo 2022, a 100k novel that is refreshingly different - its... comedy spec-fic! Well. Hopefully it's funny. It cracks ME up. It needs a lot of editing, which I have started. This piece has undergone a solid round of editing and has just been submitted to its first beta reader. Eeeek!
- I plan to complete or write ANOTHER novel or novella for NaNoWriMo 2023!
Short stories/Novellas:
- One longer short story/novella completed (20k words) and in the editing/beta reader submission stage. This is a piece of adventure fantasy.
- My goal this year is to have 20-25 pieces (shorts, novels and reprints) out chasing oportunities at all times. Which means: no more sooking over rejections.
- I intend to continue to improve my writing and step outside my contemporary urban fantasy comfort zone and dabble in other genres, including: lit fic, fantasy, horror and fantasy/adventure. I also plan to work on adding diversity to my POV characters. Short stories are a fantastic place to explore characters, genres, worlds and practice new things! Will it work? Lets see what gets published!!!
There's also a lot of writing... ideas, fragments, half-completed pieces with their wheels off and grass growing over them and crickets chirping. Every now and then I stab my toe tripping over an old piece and kick the muse into gear :-)