September 2019
Hello from St. Pete Beach!
If you’ve received my newsletter for a while, you may remember that last summer I went to New York City and attended ThrillerFest. It was a great conference for writers. And I really enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lee Child, George R. R. Martin, and many others. The sessions on writing were good. But I felt a bit out of place there.
Then I found out about NINC (Novelists, Inc.). I learned they had a conference just two hours west of my home in Orlando and, while it also had a lot of information for traditionally published writers, their indie membership and workshops were growing.
It seemed like a good mix of both sides of the writing world. I was in!
I arrived on Wednesday and have met a lot of really great people. The sessions I’ve attended have mostly been on how to advertise on Amazon, Facebook, and BookBub and have been really useful. And the conversations I’ve had with other writers about what’s working for them were helpful, too. As an introvert, I of course felt anxious about coming, but it’s amazing what can happen if you step out of your comfort zone.
And best of all, my wife drove the boys over after school on Friday and were able to enjoy the TradeWinds Resort while I learned about the business side of writing.
Win-win, so I’m really glad I came.
If you’re trying to grow and get better, you have to do things that are uncomfortable. And be brave. Because great things never came from staying in our comfort zones.
A quick update on Blake Jordan #6:
I finished the second draft last week, but I’m going to have to do a third draft, which I plan on starting soon. Next week, I have to travel to Omaha for a few days. That’ll throw off my routine a bit, like this week did. But I’m determined to finish this book.
I’ll keep you updated and hope to have more progress to share next month. -Ken