I’M EVERY WRITER…you’re all in me

[Austin S. Camacho]

When I began this blog I promised to make it personal and talk about what was going on in my writing life. I figure that will involve sharing the actual metrics – how many words written, events attended, submissions made – but that data will require some context. What kind of writer am I? Well actually, I’m all kinds.

I am a Print on Demand author. Two of my novels were first published by a POD publisher and they still have the nonfiction book they asked me to write. It was a how-to on marketing POD fiction. Selling POD books is different, mostly because most booksellers don’t want to stock them. I’ve made no effort to sell this thing, but it has sold steadily and I still get letters from readers about how helpful it has been.

I am also self-published, or rather wife-published which most people take as the same thing. My lovely wife Denise publishes five of my novels under the Intrigue Publishing imprint with greater success than I would have expected. My first project for this year is to update and rewrite my marketing book for all fiction writers, and Denise will publish that new volume.

And finally, I’m a mainstream hopeful. My efforts promoting my writing helped me get the attention, and representation, of a New York agent. Susan Gleason is presenting my manuscripts to big-name publishers. A part of me believes it’s only a matter of time before Ballantine or Penguin Books recognizes the value of my work. The rest of me is not willing to wait for that recognition, and really enjoys signing books at various events and receiving those e-mails filled with praise.

So you see, no matter what kind of writer you are, no matter how you choose to be published, I can relate.

Oh, and as for the metrics: I’m 117 pages into the final edit of the 164 page how-to, tentatively titled “Successfully Marketing your Novel in the 21^st Century.”

Then next Hannibal Jones mystery doesn’t even have a working title, but I’m 27, 072 words into its first draft.

I’ve started the Northern Virginia chapter of the Virginia Writers Club and today we held our third monthly meeting after receiving our charter. I want to make this chapter grow and make it an engine for promoting the work of all its members.

Now you can track my progress… and I’m committed. To you.