New Sale and Why It Matters So Much

I don't think I announced it here yet, but *toots my own horn* my short story "A Few of My Favorite Things" will be part of Evernight Publishing's holiday anthology this year. First off, I'm excited because I love the opportunity to visit with my naughty elves. Second, the theme of the antho this year is kink. WOOT! And thirdly, I really enjoy doing these anthologies as it's an opportunity to stretch a specific set of writing muscles I don't touch through the rest of the year.

Another reason it's important?

I've only had two releases this year.

Now, this doesn't seem like a big deal since I've sold other pieces, and 2013 is already shaping up to be nice an busy and prolific and all that. However, digital publishing isn't like publishing 5-10-20 years ago. Hell, it's not even like publishing now in NY where you can still build your career by starting with one release a year. In digital publishing, backlist and consistent releases are the name of the game. Pretty much, you produce or you die.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm working all the damn time, but that doesn't mean that I'm selling all the time or that those sales will come out in an expected timeframe. A book I subbed in January didn't get picked up until May and isn't coming out until NEXT May. A book I subbed in March(?) got picked up in April, but it isn't coming out until NEXT March. Another I wrote didn't quite fit what the publisher wanted for the series, so I have an entire manuscript that goes with my series that is hanging out on my hard drive, waiting to be re-written. Another that the publisher wants me to make full-length (again, waiting).

So, I'm producing, but due to the fact that I'm currently working with four different publishers, my brain and writing haven't quite lined up with their timelines yet. Which meant that without this holiday antho, I had two releases this year... and they were back-to-back (less than four weeks apart). So, needless to say, I need to work with my publishers and get some timelines nailed down so I can avoid another year like that.

Good news is right now it's looking like I have March, May, and July releases next year (assuming everything gets done when it should be), which is pretty awesome. I'm really hoping to add a January one to that as well as a September (and possibly others). This makes me happy. Like bright and shiny happy.

I don't know if I'll ever be one of those authors who has ten to twelve releases every year, but I'd really like to consistently do at least half of that. Five to six sounds perfect. Hell, four works if they are spread out well. But no more years where I'm looking at my releases and saying "Oh shit. It's been X months since my last one and it's Y months until the next one." That means it's time for me to buckle down and make things happen.

Wish me luck.

And words. Words are always good.