In order to get down to the heart of my post today, I need to first tell you a story. But don’t worry, it’s an encouraging success story– the kind that everyone likes to hear. Also, it’s about my dad, so I figure that I’m justified in going around doing some mild bragging on him.
Back when I was very young (younger than 5) my dad supported our family as a full-time novelist. He was (in my obviously unbiased opinion) great at it. But unfortunately that old truism about it being hard to get published but even harder to stay published was in his case entirely true. Through no fault of his, his publishing house went through a major restructuring, his editors left, and his books were largely abandoned. It must have been incredibly hard work, but my dad landed on his feet; he went back to law school, climbed the corporate ladder, sent me to college (thanks, Dad!) and has done some great work that mattered over the course of a successful career. But . . . all the time, he still had the heart of a writer.
Enter the digital publishing revolution. After watching me publish both my traditionally published books and my indie series, my dad felt energized to start putting words on paper again. Working nights, early mornings, weekends, etc. around his full-time job, he finished a novel, hired professional editors, cover design, etc., and published the book about two years ago.
His sales were good, his reviews even better. Very quickly, he attracted the notice of an editor at Thomas & Mercer, who offered him a contract on the first book of his series and an option on the second book. My dad signed– and has for about the last year had incredible excitement and support from his publisher. He’s earned out his advance, he continues to pile up the five star reviews . . . one of my favorite English actors has voiced the audiobook version of his novel, and the book has hit Amazon’s top ten in the Kindle store. Thomas & Mercer accepted his second novel, and will publish this coming October.
