If you read my blog regularly, you know I’m editing a novel that I wrote over 30 years ago. It details one woman’s experiences dating in the 1990s, long before chat rooms, It’s Just Lunch, Bumble, Match, and all those other dating sites became the gold standard. It was before most people owned cell phones too. Instead, they used personal ads in newspapers and pencils.
I’ve self-published two works in the past, but don’t want to spend the time or money to do that again. So I’m revisiting, reviewing, and revising this manuscript in the hope of having some literary agent think it’s clever. Given the speed at which dating has changed, you could almost call it historical fiction.
Which is one reason I’ve returned to blogging this year. Agents (and publishers) are interested in writing talent that demonstrate a built-in following. That’s one reason well-known people get their books published, even when the work itself isn’t very good. I won’t name names, but I’m sure you’ve picked up a book written by a television personality or an actor, only to find that person should have stuck to the day job.
Knowing the publishing world looks for dollar signs instead of literary treasures, I blog most days, push the material through SEO and sometimes Facebook. And I keep statistics too. As of yesterday September had the highest readership of any blog month this year. So thank you for this subtle support as I build a following.
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