A year ago today, I published my first novel. I was excited, motivated and a little naive. I knew this writing gig was going to be tough. I didn’t want to believe it was going to be this tough. That little bit of naivete is a good thing. It keeps you optimistic and it keeps you fighting for what you want.

Dream big and take small steps to get there. Anything is possible if you can imagine it!

I’m imagining popping open a bottle of Dom Perignon once my writing income exceeds $100k. It didn’t happen this year, but it will happen one day. I believe it, I can see it.

On May 26, 2015, Lethal Disposal was published. My first novel that took me a little over two years to write. It was also a mess. I had it edited, but it still contained errors when it was published. I probably should have spent a few more weeks polishing it and paid more attention to detail when it returned from the editor.

Lesson learnt: Never rely on a third party to do the final edit. Go through it with a fine-tooth comb even if it means having to read your book for the 50th time.

The good thing with ebooks is that you can edit them and republish at no real cost other than time. I had Lethal Disposal proofread and went through it again and republished it since then. I’ll probably do it one more time before I publish an omnibus of books 1 – 3 together.

I’m glad I hit publish on that day though. It changed the direction of my life and turned a dream to a goal and a goal into reality. Ok, maybe that’s a little dramatic. But it allowed me to cross a line that I didn’t think could be crossed. I was a published author. My book was finally out there. I crossed the threshold of no return.

I did it once, so I knew I could do it again. In my first year as a published author, I put out three books: one novel and two novellas.

• Lethal Instincts (Novella)
• Lethal Disposal (Novel)
• Lethal Aftershock (Novella)

The goal for year 1 wasn’t to sell tons of books although I wouldn’t have minded if I had. The goal was to get a few books to the market. Three was a sweet number.

My sales didn’t matter. My writing output did.

There’s no point in spending a fortune of money or time on marketing with only one book out there. Some authors will tell you the same thing others will tell you the opposite. So what if a thousand people read your first book, if you don’t have a second or third product available then it’s likely they are going to forget you by the time you do and you’re back to square one. You could try to draw interest with just one and hope your readers will wait in anticipation for the next one. You need to find what works for you. I’ve found it easier to concentrate on the writing first to prove to myself that I am in this for the long haul.

It’s taken me a year to realise where I want to be and what I want to do. A part of me wondered whether I’d get over it, but as I’ve stuck it out and published three books, have two more in the series lined up and came up with an idea for another series that is nagging at me. I know I need to be doing this. I love writing. I love creating stories. My dream of being a full-time author has become an achievable goal.

My motivation is my son. I have three years before he starts school. By that stage, I’d like to be earning enough not to have to have a day job although if I want and I’m still enjoying mine, I can have it. It’s all about choices and having more than enough to pay the mortgage, put food on the table, go on a holiday a few times a year and enjoy a nice glass of wine with family and friends.

It’s all possible but it takes time. I also have a shopping habit. Nice clothes make me feel good. Just the other month, I purchased four pairs of shoes, granted, they were massively reduced, but still!. And, it was my birthday month, so I treated myself a little too much. Well, let’s just say I need to start selling a lot more books to support this expensive habit of mine. We all have our vices, don’t judge.

So what are some lessons learnt in my first year as an author-entrepreneur?

There you have it. My first year as a published author in around twelve hundred words. I learnt a lot. I also proved to myself that I still wanted to be a writer who wrote rather than one who just wants to have written. It wasn’t just a childish dream that would go away once the first book was out. It was no longer a ‘maybe one day I’ll give it a go’. It was happening, and it was happening right now. I was on the road to becoming an author-entrepreneur.

My second year is about to start and there’s so much more I want to do. I’m setting the bar a notch higher. I’m shooting for writing and publishing six books, and aiming to sell and giveaway 10,000 copies.

I currently have the following in the works:

* two more books in the Lexi Ryder series – both full length

* a non-fiction book for writers

* a crime/thriller with elements of the supernatural

* two stand-alone thrillers that have been written but require intense rewrites and editing

* translate Lethal Instincts into Polish (I will aim to do this on my own – a personal challenge rather than a marketing tactic and more for family than anything else)

* publish an ebook + print omnibus of Books 1 – 3 in the Lethal series

* Writerly Pursuits – blog, e-course & non-fiction book

* Personal finance site (currently anonymous)

Mind you, I don’t have all day every day to write. I work four days per week with a two hour commute (my main writing time!), I also have a toddler at home and I’m trying to build a house and train for a marathon, while still getting at least 6 hours of sleep per night and spending quality time with family and friends. It’s a juggling act. There are days when I feel like giving up, days when I’m grumpy, days when my family are grumpy with me, and days when nothing I do is good enough. I let them pass. Generally a break, a run, or a good glass of wine make everything better again – sometimes it takes all three, in that order.

If you want to achieve anything, you’re going to have to soldier on. Giving up isn’t an option because if you do, it wasn’t your dream or your goal to have.

Happy writing and reading! I hope you join me on this journey.