Friends ask me why I write. Writing calms me in a world of uncertainty where doom scares appear daily on all platforms and hope depends on which podcast you hear or which accounts you follow. Writing forces me to pay attention to my characters, my settings, my stories, and where all of this is in relation to the book’s theme. So I do it, knowing writing won’t make me rich, at best I’ll break even, but my sanity is preserved
To be financially successful today you either have to have a great agent, a big five publisher (or is it four now), or, if you’re doing it yourself, write at least six books a year. I began post retirement and could have written full time, but I chose to enjoy life instead. I was able to land a small publisher who published my first two contemporary romances, but the editor assigned wanted something “fresher” which I translated as “I think you’re too old to be writing for the 18-35 age group” and she was right.
I went the do-it-yourself route for the rest of my Love in Wine Country series (six in all), but only managed to write two books a year. AND I knew nothing—zero—about marketing, so those books were marginally successful. Then I was invited to write in Marina Adair’s St. Helena Kindle World.
Kindle Worlds were popular for a while. A successful author would invite other authors into the world she created and let them write novellas using her settings and her characters in the background. I wrote five novellas in this world until Amazon decided to shut down Kindle Worlds and move on.
That experience helped me learn about marketing, make wonderful friends I still have, and concentrate on what I was better at writing: historicals. I moved from “write what you know” to “write what you read.” I loved Regency romance so that category became my bread and butter genre, along with three California-rancho-period historicals which reflected my heritage. Helping my Regency success was a hot new series on Netflix called Bridgerton.
I found a home with Soul Mate Publishing for my historicals (even the Westerns), and that’s where I remain. I don’t have an agent because they “want to grow their careers along with you” and frankly, my career is about sanity, not success. Authors starting out should definitely try for an agent. But if you go it alone, watch out for scams. Writer Beware is a great place to check on the latest ones.
So that’s why I write. I’m up to 22 books with a new release this month. You can find my books and random posts here:
Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/profile/pamela-gibson
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pamgibsonwrites/
Threads: www.threads.com/authorpamelagibson
Website: www.pamelagibsonwrites.com
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/pamgibsonwrites
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Pamela-Gibson/e/B00MKVB4XE