My cabin window from a Highlights Foundation Workshop I attended 5 years ago. I’m so looking forward to my next one!

Several of the authors who write for this blog have agreed to share something out of our experience as writers, perhaps on the theme of “A Day in the Life of …” This will my attempt to share my writing experience thus far.

I retired from my position as an elementary school librarian to write full time, and two years later self-published my first book The Creation. I wasn’t totally fool-hardy in doing so as I had received a glorious rejection letter from Eerdman’s Publishing that I may still have framed to hang on my wall. They really liked my book and illustrations, but since they already had a similar book on creation, they couldn’t justify the expense of publishing a second book on the same topic.

I got advice from many people, some good, some not so good, about many things. I made a few expensive mistakes – like having too many copies of my book printed and pouring a lot of money (according to my shoestring budget) into publicity that wasn’t very effective.

So when I published The First Christmas a year later, I used print on demand and did not spend a lot of extra money on publicity. Instead I relied on what I could do on the Internet, and sent out PDF files instead of hard copy books for reviews. I haven’t finished my taxes yet, so I don’t know if I turned a profit on what I sold last year or not. I feel slightly optimistic.

Self-publishing gives me more control over my books and content – actually more control than I want. Wearing too many hats can become a serious drawback. I’m ready to explore more ways and places to get published through traditional publishers.

I am eagerly looking forward to the Sharing Our Hope: Writing for Religious and Inspirational Markets 2014 workshop on March 27 – March 30. I feel very fortunate to have been offered a scholarship to this Highlights Foundation Workshop along with financial support from friends who are also helping me to pay for this fantabulous opportunity. This workshop will be lead by two highly qualified, multi-published authors and editor with only eight or ten learners like me. There will be so much hands-on and quality time and feedback. I hope to come home with a refined vision of how I might better use my writing talents.

In the past two months I have intensified my blogging about the Bible and focusing more on teens and adults. I also changed my approach to blogging and building my platform. You can get a better picture about what I’ve been up to, both past and present, (more than you ever wanted to know) by exploring my new site at www.janicedgreen.com. This blog/web site has windows to let you peek into all of my other blogs.

I also worked out the kinks in my ebooks in the past two weeks so they can now be downloaded. As a promotional move, I made both books free for a time that was supposed to end on March 9, but considering this blog post is going up today, I plan to extend the freebie for another day or two. My ebooks can be ordered through this link.

My print books and other published items can be ordered from my Etsy Shop with this link.