It is time to move on...

From the very beginning 'Wilsons Way' has been about recording and sharing some of my own experiences, thoughts and lessons since first sitting down to write Russian Redemption. It has been 100% honest, which is to say I have shared the good and the bad of the journey, and that I have made mistakes - I'm calling that bit 'being human'.

The journey (for me) is all about improvement - and to be fair I have a lot of ground to make up here; my secondary school education hardly compares to the more specialist creative writing degrees, English Lit Majors or the likes that most big-time authors seem to have. However, that is why I use an editor, proofreader and publisher... she does have the qualifications! So, for me it is more about story telling. Looking back over the three years I've been writing I would hope that Judi (Santel Publishing) has seen a marked improvement in my 'skills' and/or development because I've probably spent just as much time reading other peoples blogs, posts, books and articles, as I have actually writing. And, those that stand out for me, those that I believe are valuable to new writers/Authors. I'll bring here - and here is another one for you:- Chuck Wendig's blog 'Terrible minds', in particular:

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/08/26/i-smell-your-rookie-moves-new-writers/

I should warn you that Chuck has a colourful vocabulary, but this article makes a whole lot of sense, or at least it did to me. It's been a bit of a barometer so far as my author growth is concerned (and I think I'm doing OK), but being who he is, makes it kind of better than OK, a bit more than just heading in the right direction - almost a motivational pat on the back. Even more than Stephen Kings list did!

This is not a case of hero worship; I don't know that much about Chuck to be honest. This is more a case of being able to identify with a skilled and successful author, and seeing a lot of similarities in the thinking; in other words it would appear that I ain't doing too much wrong. 

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I've made the decision to back myself. Proof reading, editing and publishing, cover design, and all that stuff is not cheap, we've already covered that off, but it is something that I absolutely believe HAS to happen. The thought of putting a book out on the internet without those processes is a thought that I refuse to entertain. And to be honest the old adage about peanuts and monkey's does ring very true in all of them. So, like I said - 'Its time to back myself.' 

Up to now it has been a case of chipping away at the financials when a few bucks becomes spare, but it's time to change that. So it is time to downgrade the car to free up some money and bet on myself. WiP 6 - 'Elementals' -is back from Judi after the first edit, WiP 7 - Ariana's Law - is in the final stages of rewrite in preparation to send to Judi for its first scrutiny. So, by early 2016 I will have 5 stories published with a further 5 or 6 in various stages of development. They cross a variety of genres so there should definitely be something for everybody, and it is time to take that to market. I'm going to be sharing the idea's, options, successes and failures over the coming weeks and months but I'm starting with this:

Do one thing EVERY day to build awareness. This can be anything; facebook post, blog post, share a link, send a tweet, even just talk to one real person about the stories that I write - maybe I should get some business cards made up???

Today's one thing is this introduction to what I am doing, and why. More than happy to hear your feedback:-

AJWilson on Facebook.

AJWilson website (for book links and a look at what's being said.)