Remember Newvember

I love this blog, the posts, the comments the pictures - but it's time to move forward. As I did on Facebook, I am transferring my blog posts over to a Jennifer Bogart - Author. When I first started this blog, I had one goal in mind. That was to send "Remember Newvember" out into the world, get it noticed and make millions. At the time I wasn't thinking about the future, or where I would be two years later.

If blogger would allow it, I would change the title and URL of the blog, but it's not so simple. I can do what I want with the title, but the URL is stuck. Lucky for me, I managed to snag my name a while ago in preparation for this moment. So, I'll continue to work on writing fresh and inviting posts while keeping readers up to date on my progress, only it will be at jenniferbogart-author.blogspot.ca. Thanks to everyone for your support!

I joined this tour on a whim, thinking it would be an easy post, a bit of publicity and a chance to support fellow writers. What I didn't realize was the amount of soul searching it would require to get the job done. To be honest, I had never planned to be an Indie Author.

Writing does not come easily to me. I stress over each word, each sentence, each paragraph and when I think I might have it perfect, I usually end up deleting and starting all over again. It's a painful process but in the end I have something created for me, by me that I am happy to share with the world. Being an Indie Author gives me the opportunity to maintain the integrity of my writing without having to succumb to publisher norms, market trends or writing styles that don't work for me.

To be honest, this wasn't the path I intended to take. Like every hopeful writer starting out, I created my opus and sent it out to agents and publishers thinking I had an immediate best seller on my hands. Of course, that wasn't true. Oh, it was good - but it wasn't what anyone was looking for. It didn't "fit" their piece of the marketing puzzle.

With a lot of encouragement, I blindly set out on my own, self published and put my heart and soul on display for the world to see. Not having a clue about publicity, or how to go about advertising with elegance, I joined Indie writing groups on social media networks, hooked up with other self-published authors, read everything I could find and am now starting to actually sell books outside of my small social circle in the world.

Indie Authors provide a unique brand of enthusiasm for their work. They are approachable, giving, helpful and work hard for all their achievements. Contrary to popular belief, they simply don't zip off a quick story and publish to Kindle. They take their time, pass their books through editors, beta readers and their own critical eye. They hire cover designers and attend courses for marketing, social media and promotion. It's hard work, but worth every moment when a reader says, "I loved your book. When is the next one coming out."

Even more rewarding is when someone says, "Wow, your writing has improved. The first book was good, but the second was simply amazing."

There are some really good authors out there, easily visible, mixing with traditionally published writers. Put them side by side and you can't tell the difference unless you go looking for the publisher.