An Almost Mid-Year Update by Jim Bronyaur

Writing is about pushing ourselves forward, reaching limits we never thought possible, and taking those chances that always seemed like dreams too far away to grab at.

When the New Year’s ball dropped, bringing in a hopeful 2012, I wasn’t prepared for the ride I’d have to take to get to this point… and it’s only May.

I won’t get into the personal matters at hand, but in a change of pace and things adjusting themselves – and beating me up more than a few times – I am now in control of my publishing company like I never thought I’d be.  Inside and out, this is a complete operation now, a nonstop machine of projects, ideas, and new authors.

More so… we’re publishing books.  And we have a lot of books on our list of upcoming projects.  We’ve expanded our boundaries and genres, reaching from horror to thriller to mystery to romance, and we are working in between those genres too, looking for any and all niches we can find and satisfy.  The dream has perhaps shifted from being a super big bestseller to just being a book seller.  The thought of it seems scary at first… just a book seller?  But when you boil it down, all I care about is producing the best work I can.

The release of the Minivan Mom Mystery Series has been successful, selling more copies than I thought and it also prompted me to jump right into the second book of the series, which I hadn’t planned on doing until summer.  People bought the book, read the book, and then started writing to my wife, asking her when I’d be finishing the second book.  The notion of it all touched me, so I pushed a few projects back and got back to work, writing Eve Bailey and her next mystery.  The second book, A Mess to Die For, is ready to be published this week.

The publishing climate has changed again and again since January, but that’s just the trend and will continue to be the trend.  I’ll be the first to admit… I’ve gotten lost in the mix of news and rumors a few times, so much so, that it left me wondering what exactly I was doing.  My advice to writers is to enjoy the message boards, but don’t get too involved.  Separate fact from opinion.  And never stop writing.

The writing is still the only thing that matters here.  We may shift our dreams, our plans, and our projects, but it all revolves around writing.

I can’t say where we’ll be in another five months, but I really hope that on the personal side of things, the road is a little less rocky.  I’m bruised, but healing, but the spirit of the words and the passion for idea has never left me… and never will.

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Photo used courtesy of Rama (Wikimedia Commons)