May 2021
Hello from Orlando.
I hope you’re doing well on this Memorial Day as we honor the fallen, those who gave their lives in service to their country and paid the ultimate cost for our freedom. I’m reminded of the unattributed quote:
“Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you—Jesus Christ and the American soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.”
Thank them both today.
For a personal update, I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is I didn’t work too much on Blake Jordan #8 this month other than adding another chapter or two. One reason is we did a lot of traveling in May, including driving up to the small town of Slade, Kentucky for my sister-in-law’s wedding which took place against a backdrop of waterfalls, cliffs, a lush forest, and yes… was just as amazing as it sounds.
I’d planned on waking up early and getting some writing done while out of state but the cabin we stayed in had really squeaky floorboards so I’d wake my boys up whenever I tried to write. So I gave it up after the second day. And at the hotels we stayed at, I got a little bit of writing done, but with 15 hours of driving each way, I didn’t have much time to spend as we had to hightail it out of there and get on the road as quickly as possible.
Now for the good news. The other reason why I didn’t get much writing done is I had an opportunity to work on creating paperbacks for my series so I spent most of my time on that. I tend to focus on one thing at a time until it’s done, so I figured it’s now or never. My cover designer is still working on the paperback covers, but as soon as he’s done, it shouldn’t be much longer before I can have proofs shipped to me to check out.
One of my goals this year, other than writing another novel, is to broaden my footprint. For the past five years, I’ve only sold Kindle books in the US. But what about paperbacks? Hardcovers? Audiobooks? What about the UK? Canada and Australia? I’ve done amazingly well in the US, but this morning as I was pouring over the stats during my monthly review, I found that less than 1% of sales come from those countries. Not because my books don’t do well there. I’ve just never focused on them.
But what you focus on you get more of…
I have to remind myself that, yes, I am a creative, but I’m also an MBA. And I’m realizing that this is a business. Something I’ve always known, but never embraced. The truth is smart businesses focus on growth. They offer new formats. They enter new markets. Yes, they come up with new products (in my case writing new stories) but they’re either growing or dying. I want my stories available wherever and however my readers want them. But the struggle will be balancing this with writing new books.
So I’m going to start slow and focus on adding one thing at a time as I continue working on the new story which I know you’re going to love. I’ll keep you posted. -Ken