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When my first book came out, I knew nothing about promotion accept to arrange a book signing which I did at a local bookstore. The publisher sent me some free books, but I gave them away to relatives and friends. I had no idea they should have been sent out for review.

I wrote another historical family saga based on the other side of my family, also using the genealogy my sister researched, thinking Dorchester would be happy to publish it. Unfortunately, the editor I’d had left the company and the woman who took her place wasn’t interested. This time I sent queries first before sending out the manuscript.

The first publisher to respond wanted to see the book, I mailed it in, and it was accepted. Of course I was thrilled. This time it was an independent publisher with no offer of an advance, only royalties. When my book came out, it looked beautiful. I had a bit more idea about promotion and it began selling well. This publisher started out to be honest, then when he realized how many people wanted to be published, he started charging them. As the money, rolled in, he started gambling and lost the money. Eventually he was arrested. I only received a few royalties right at the beginning. Fortunately, I was able to get all rights back and the book was republished in later years and is still available.

Because I’d written about both side of the family, and still had the urge to write, decided to concentrate on mysteries, since that’s what I was reading the most. My first mystery was a stand-alone called The Astral Gift. I found a publisher for it in Canada, one other authors had recommended. The book was published. I arranged a booksigning and the bookstore ordered 50 copies. Somewhere around that time, the publisher disappeared. Turns out, he was a crook too. The only copies of my book were those the bookstore had. I met a one-woman publisher who said she’d republish the book. And she did.

My son-in-law was a police officer and he loved to tell me stories. He also took me on a ride-along. From this came the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. I actually found an agent by this time. I had the agent for quite awhile and though I’d written two books, she never found a publisher for them. I put the manuscripts aside. At least, by this time, I’d got a bit smarter and knew not to throw them away.

I put Rocky Bluff P.D. aside. I did another ride-along with a female police officer from ten p.m. until 6 a.m. From around 2:30 a.m. on, she didn’t get a single call. She told me all about the difficulties of being the only female officer on an all male police department. In fact, she poured her heart out to me about many things, including how hard it was to be a single mom and how much her son feared for her because of the dangers of her job. At the time, I was writing personality interviews for the local newspaper and interviewed a woman who was the local resident sheriff. I also met a darling young Native American who grew up on the reservation near our new home. Eventually those three women became Deputy Tempe Crabtree and I wrote Deadly Trail.

After Deadly Trail came Deadly Omen. I had an agent for these books too. Unfortunately, she hardly sent them out and found no publisher. The small independent publisher who took on The Astral Gift offered to publish the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, but wanted to begin with Deadly Omen which she put out as a mass market paperback. Eventually, she published three more of that series.

In the meantime, I’d discovered e-publishing. The first of the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Final Respects, was published by one of the first e-publishers. Unfortunately, the only way to read an e-book at that time was on a computer. That company failed, and I placed that book and Bad Tidings with another e-publisher with a bit more savvy about the business. The last two in that series are with yet another e-publisher.

None of this has been easy and it happened over many years. My advice to any aspiring writer is never, ever give up. Make sure your novel is the best it can possibly be, then keep querying. While you’re doing that, write the next book.