I am writing this with the wish that it may bring either hope or help to some beginning writer. I am an American, 74 years old, with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in US History. I served in the US Army, 1960-1980, then immediately became a Financial Consultant with Merrill Lynch, retiring in December 2009. I wrote fitfully from 2007 through 2009..
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Since the second retirement I've been writing full time, when I'm not marketing my books. I have finished four and one-half novels and eight short stories, almost entirely historical fiction of the US Civil War/Western Era. Four novels and four stories have been published. My sales exceed 10,000 copies, including ebooks, publisher sales, Indie store consignment sales, and my efforts at various events.
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In 2006 I decided to write a non-fiction book on the evolution of firearms technology from 1850-1890. While researching the small arms of the Confederacy I discovered the Eighth Texas Cavalry, who stopped the slaughter of Black Union prisoners at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in 1864. Changing gears, I put some fictional characters into the Eighth Texas and began stumbling through my first novel. I write everything longhand on legal pads which I send to a medical transcription service for typing.
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I did everything backwards. I wrote a 400-page novel, then bought a book on writing novels, then got an editor. She disliked a huge flashback halfway through my book, and said I should limit myself to 300 pages. I bitched, but I made it chronological and took out 100 pages, and suddenly I had NO GOOD LIKE IT IS; I also had 100 pages toward the sequel, DOG SOLDIER MOON. I then joined a local writers workshop, which meets twice monthly to critique each other's work. It's an excellent editing process.
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I finished the first book in late 2009 and self-published it through Createspace in early 2010, having had zero luck with the dreaded query letters. A small press saw it at my first Western Writers convention and asked to publish the sequel, which was released in late 2011. At a subsequent convention a second small press asked for the third piece of the trilogy, and HIGHER GROUND was finally released in 2015.
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At the 2015 convention I met the Managing Editor of Five Star Publishing, a second tier NY publisher. She took the trilogy and reproduced it in Large Print editions, which her company sells to US libraries. She also asked for my fourth novel, BRODIE. It is being released this month in LP, soft- and hardcover, and ebook forms, and she paid modest advances on all four books.
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As for marketing, I have tried to get my books into as many Indie bookstores as possible, since major chains here are only interested in large-press publications. Most small stores here only accept books on consignment from us unknowns, which is labor intensive and requires a good supply of books. Nevertheless, I had books in 222 stores at one point, before a large chain (126 stores) went under. Small stores here continue to fail at an alarming pace, but I'm still in 80 stores.
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I aggressively market at events. Gun shows, book shows, church festivals, and county fairs are good venues for me. I usually display 4-6 original firearms on my table, along with my books. I sell softcovers for $10, or three for $25, tax included (so I'm not bothered with making change). Hardcovers and LP editions go for $20. I use the Square Card Reader for credit card sales, and push book marks as those sometimes become ebook sales.
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I'm currently plugging along on the sequel to BRODIE (working title: CURLY JACK). I'm Mike Long on Facebook, and my website is www.mckendreelong.com
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