📚 Guest: On Writing & Publishing by 'Christmas in Newfoundland' Mike Martin @mike54martin

On Writing and Publishing

By Mike Martin

I have always been a reader. Since I was a little kid and my older sisters would drag me to the library, I have always loved the magic and adventure of reading. I also started writing early. Stories and poems mostly, but I never shared any of that with anybody. Later, when I started working, I found myself in jobs that required writing. And I loved it. But deep inside I harbored the desire to write a book of my own.

That didn’t happen until much later in life but when I actually wrote my first book I was over the moon. I didn’t know anything about publishing or how that worked, but at first I didn’t care. Then I started checking into that and discovered that it was much harder to get published than to write a book. That was disappointing news.

It took me three years to get The Walker on the Cape published using a small publishing company in my hometown. We agreed to share the expenses and rewards. The expenses were much greater. But I didn’t care. My book was published and I can still remember looking at the cover over and over, pinching myself to see if it was really happening.

My writing journey has been much smoother since that first book. Now there are 12 books in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series and two additional Christmas books including the latest, Christmas in Newfoundland Book 2. It’s a book featuring some of my own Christmas memories and some featuring characters from the mystery series.

Along the way there have been highs and lows. Like winning the Best Light Mystery Award in 2019 and having to switch publishers mid-series, and then having to switch back. Mistakes? I’ve made a few. Quite a few. Perhaps my biggest mistake was not being patient enough in the beginning of my writing career. My books have improved over time, but I cringe sometimes when I take a peek at my early work. It could have and should have been much better.

If I had waited, I might have been able to get a traditional publishing contract and with that, the editorial and marketing support I needed at the beginning. Today, I don’t really need that, and I understand the challenges that the publishing business faces. They need to make money. But they may end up forcing so many great authors to take an independent route that they may not have anything left to profit from.

But at the end of the day, I have learned how to produce and market a quality product. Books that I can be proud of. I rely on professionals for editing and proofreading and promotional companies and social media to help me show my book to the world. Social media has really leveled the playing field when it comes to book marketing and if I have time, I can do most of the promoting myself.

My goals today are simple. I am grateful for the opportunity to write and to have people who are willing to spend their time reading my books. I want to produce quality books that are well written and designed and to give them a good send-off out into the big world. I don’t care whether people buy or borrow my books, get them from Amazon or the library. I’m just happy that my stories are out there in the creative current.

My hope for younger writers is that you keep writing. Write for yourself and to please yourself. If you do that, you will be a success inside. Be brave and share your writing with people you trust. They can help be your guide as to whether it is ‘any good’. Create the best book you can and them let it drift off into the world. You never know where they or you will end up.

ABOUT MIKE MARTIN