After publishing my humor book in 2022 I worked on a 71,000 word mystery/crime novel, finishing it late last year. I started sending it to agents. When that didn’t work I sent it to smaller independent legit book publishers. Not vanity presses. They are traditional publishers but not associated with one of the giant guys. A few rejected it but one in NY State has had it for over three months now, so maybe, who knows, maybe they are interested.
As a new writer, I wanted to see how the novel went over first, before continuing to write more novels. I do have at least two more books in mind for that series, as well as two other book ideas. I guess I needed to take a break as writing a novel is challenging. So, I dedicated myself to improving my writing skills by taking more courses and joining writer groups. Part of that process is writing short stories. I belong to a private writer’s critique group that will tear apart my short story, making it better and teaching me skills. Submitting the stories to publications, I often get helpful criticism from the editors. In some cases, I pay the equivalent of a couple of cups of coffee for an editor’s critique of my story. All of this has made me a much better writer. Also, I have developed the ability to take criticism and rejections. This is a critical part of being a writer.
At some point, I will either have my novel accepted by a publisher, or I will self publish it under my own publishing company, Tabebuia Press.
https://tabebuiapress.com/. I will first review my novel as I have not looked at it in about six months. Maybe get some beta readers and a proof editor.
But in the mean time, writing short stories has been very helpful for my growth as a writer.
The results? Twenty short stories published, and one poem. In order to have those twenty short stories published I had to submit and be rejected by at least seventy publications. Probably more! I don’t track rejections.
Below is a list and link to my published stories:
And of course, if you want to laugh your lungs out, buy my humor book on Amazon!