This weekend marks one year since I published my first novel, Sink or Swim! It’s hard to believe it’s already been that long and thinking back, I’ve done a lot of work since then. From learning Amazon ads, to book fairs, to working on book #2 and everything in between, it’s been quite the journey.

Since this was my first time doing this, I had no idea what kind of response to expect. Would people like it? Would people actually want to buy it and read it? Are people saying nice things about it because they’re afraid to be rude, or do they actually mean those things?? I’m not going to lie, as much as I love it when people I know personally tell me they really enjoyed my book, I get especially excited when a complete stranger tells me they liked it because I know for a fact they aren’t just saying it to make me feel better! But since I had no idea what to expect and nothing to compare it to, I’m happy with how my first year went.

Over the last year, I was a guest at four different book events and was a featured artist for Northern Prairie Arts. I sold about 250 books in my first year, which I really can’t complain about! Obviously won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon, but hey! Gotta start somewhere. 🙂 I also haven’t been running any ads since March, so haven’t been actively marketing for a few months now. But I do plan on getting those back up and running hopefully soon.

I’ve gotten 17 verified Amazon reviews, which isn’t a terrible start. Most of them are good, but I also got that first bad review that I was dreading. Oh well! I can’t please everyone, so it doesn’t bother me that much.

Anyway, along with all the work I’ve put in for Sink or Swim, I have also been doing a ton of work in preparation for book #2. The official title for that book is Below the Surface. Since it’s the sequel to Sink or Swim, I tried to keep that underwater/swimming theme going for the title. Anyway, I completed the final first draft of that and had sent it off to my editor a few weeks ago. She just got it back to me a few days ago and gave me some good feedback. She said overall I knew my genre very well and have a great story on my hands. There are a few pieces in there that I will need to go back through and edit a bit for clarification purposes, but I also expected there to be changes I’d have to make. If my editor came back and said it was perfect, no changes were necessary, I don’t know if that would sit well with me haha. I’m glad she’s honest with me and gives me a lot of good advice on how to make my story even better. I’m super excited to get to work and polish it up!

Another thing I’ve been working on lately is that I am going to try and traditionally publish Below the Surface rather than self publish this time. Basically instead of doing all the work myself, I find an agent who will do all the leg work for me. If I can find an agent to represent me, it’ll take quite the load off my plate, and I’ll have a lot better chance at getting my books out to more people – not to mention have more time to actually write!! It’s a lot harder to do it this way, and I’ve already been rejected by three agents, but most of the research I’ve done shows that you may have to ask several dozen agents for representation before you finally land one. So, I’m not giving up yet! I’ll keep you all posted on that as well.

Otherwise, couple other big things: I’ll have a table set up at the South Dakota Festival of Books in Brookings September 23-25, so make sure you stop by and see me! One way or another I will make sure I have both Sink or Swim and Below the Surface available by then. AAAAANNNNDDDD! I’m three pages into BOOK THREE. So that’s exciting! Getting started is always the hardest part. Three pages is barely anything, but it’s not a blank page and that makes me happy.

I can’t wait to keep up the hard work and see what the next year brings!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger