June 2019: Wish You’d Known
~ Helen Henderson ~

CTR asked:

What is something you wish you’d known when you first started writing? (Craft or career).

Helen Henderson said:

Warning – this post slides dangerously close to venting.

What do I wish I’d known when I first started out as an author? It could be that the pirates would make more in a month off one of my books that I will earn in my lifetime from all of them combined. No, then I wouldn’t have even started my first story.

Or I could mention how many times I’ve asked for help to promote a book or receive a vote in a challenge and received almost no response. Of course, if you only have one vote and there are two books from the same publisher in the running, a decision has to be made as to which author to support. Is it the author you know or the one the publisher tells everyone to support? Is it the cover you actually prefer or the one that has the best chance of winning? Even in cases where each person can vote twice, despite the perception that two votes will make the decision easier, it merely shifts the question. A split vote reduces its impact. The other option is to throw both votes behind a single book. In one such case, one of the books became a Rone winner and the author of the other was chastised by their publisher for not trying hard enough. Again, not encouraging.

Speaking of publishers, I wish I’d known when I started out oh so many, many years ago, which of the more than a dozen publishing companies I wrote for would fold. It would have saved a lot of time and aggravation.

However, I want to end on a more positive note. No matter how many times I’ve heard crickets, I still believe in pay-it-forward when asked for a vote or a retweet. Not because I expect anything in return, but to acknowledge the talented people I’ve met in this journey called the road to publication.

Being an author may no longer be what it was when I first started, but there is joy in telling a good story or bringing a smile to someone’s face. One thing I DID know that hasn’t changed since my first byline. Authors write because they can’t not write.

– Website – https://helenhenderson-author.blogspot.com/
– Twitter – @history2write

Hatchlings Curse (Dragshi Chronicles, Book 2)

[Fantasy Dragon Shifter Romance, MF]

Lord Branin Llewlyn is a dragshi, a human who can exchange bodies with a dragon. After millennia of waiting… and searching, he and his dragon counterpart, Llewlyn, have found their intended mates.

The firebrand leader of an outlaw band, Lady Broch of Ky’Port, means to take Anastasia’s place at Branin’s side. Broch refuses to share Branin—even if it means killing Anastasia. Which would mean Branin’s death also, for if Anastasia dies, so does he.

For the dragshi, the freedom of flight comes with a heavy price, the curse of childlessness. No dragshi within even their long memories have ever had a child. Now that Branin has found his mate, he needs to find a cure for the curse. Cryptic references to mating flights add hope, but dark references about the deaths of suitors threatens not only his life, but the dreams of all dragon shifters.

Available in Ebook:

More Authors Dish about what comes first.

https://coffeethoughts.coffeetimeromance.com/ad2019-jun-wishknown/