Want to get more mileage out of your manuscripts? Read on.
My brother Randy named my method of accumulating sales "Colleen's Gravy Train."
Good description. Multiple and reprint sales brought in money after I quit my government job for the uncertain world of free lancing. They also added credits to my resume and helped establish me as a serious author.
If a manuscript is worth publication, it is worth being published again, I advised my writing students, "For every hour you spend writing, spend another half-hour studying the market." I practiced what I preached, received what felt like enough rejection slips to insulate my house, and rejoice that my stories, articles and books continue to be resurrected.
The Gravy Train Rolls on
Mystery,
adventure, love, and inspiration
In 1989, Barbour Books chose my historical
romance, The Calling of Elizabeth Courtland as the launch title in their
Romance Reader flip book line. Several titles later, I was asked to
launch Barbour’s Heartsong Presents Book Club. Numerous historical and contemporary
best-selling, award-winning titles followed, most of which have been reissued
by Forget-Me-Not-Romances/Winged Publications.
I recently reread the flip book novels and
felt led to revise into a Cherished Romances series. Each book is unique and has strong
characters who face a multitude of challenges in order to find God, love, and
happiness. Settings range from frontier Wyoming to the frozen North. From
Washington State during World War 1 to Virginia during the Civil War. From
Boston to Montana Territory, and from a prestigious Charlotte, North Carolina
hospital to an isolated mountain hamlet. All are filled with excitement,
suspense, laughter, and tears.
Characters all learn life’s most important
lesson: It is impossible to overcome adversity without God’s help.
Book #1. A Girl Called Cricket
I recently reread the flip book novels and felt led to revise into a Cherished Romances series. Each book is unique and has strong characters who face a multitude of challenges in order to find God, love, and happiness. Settings range from frontier Wyoming to the frozen North. From Washington State during World War 1 to Virginia during the Civil War. From Boston to Montana Territory, and from a prestigious Charlotte, North Carolina hospital to an isolated mountain hamlet. All are filled with excitement, suspense, laughter, and tears.
East is East and West is Far Away
The farther the better for Charity Endicott, darling of Long
Island’s 1920s society. All she wants is to escape the nightmare of publicity
after a tragic accident and a shocking disclosure about the man she loved. The
problem is: where can she and her millionaire grandfather go that scandal won’t
follow?
Charles Endicott suggests a working
cattle ranch in Wyoming near the Grand Teton Range. Decades earlier, Charles
and his bride spent time in the area. They meant to return, but life and acquiring a fortune got in the way.
Now only “Gramps” and “Cricket” are left of their family. Using their middle
names, the intrepid pair become Charles and Cricket Lee.
Just when the eastern girl begins to be worthy
of a true westerner’s love, a specter from the past arrives at Tillicum Ranch
and exposes the Endicotts’ identity. It takes a life-threatening blizzard to
show that no one but God can bring happiness to a girl called Cricket and her
beloved Gramps.
Colleen
L. Reece, author of 160+ “Books You Can Trust,” six
million copies sold, based portions of this book on stories from her parents' courtship.
Angel of the North: A courageous young nurse seeks absolution by serving in the Canadian wilderness in the late 1890s.
The Hills of Hope: WW1 rages overseas and at home for a troubled young woman whose father is determined to marry her to a man she despises.
Legacy of Silver: Civil War tears families apart in formerly peaceful Virginia, forcing a plantation owner's daughter and friend to escape from unspeakable danger.
Storm Clouds Over Chantel: Runaway bride seeks refuge in 1880s Montana Territory when stepmother plots to declare her insane in order to divert the girl's inheritance.
To Love and Cherish: A selfless act destroys a surgeon's career and causes him to flee to a backwoods mountain hamlet in mid-1800s North Carolina.
Colleen's books
'
Other titles planned for this series
Author note. These novels were written before I had a computer. This means scanning individual pages into Word in order to edit. Time-consuming, but worth it. I am a better writer than I was thirty years ago (!) The stories do not change, but the revised editions reflect my current level of writing expertise. 🙂
Angel of the North: A courageous young nurse seeks absolution by serving in the Canadian wilderness in the late 1890s.
The Hills of Hope: WW1 rages overseas and at home for a troubled young woman whose father is determined to marry her to a man she despises.
Legacy of Silver: Civil War tears families apart in formerly peaceful Virginia, forcing a plantation owner's daughter and friend to escape from unspeakable danger.
Storm Clouds Over Chantel: Runaway bride seeks refuge in 1880s Montana Territory when stepmother plots to declare her insane in order to divert the girl's inheritance.
To Love and Cherish: A selfless act destroys a surgeon's career and causes him to flee to a backwoods mountain hamlet in mid-1800s North Carolina.
Colleen's books
'
7 comments:
Some of your friends call you The Queen of Recycle (: I like your line about "good enough to publish, good enough to publish again."
Oops--misquote. I should have said "worth publishing, worth publishing again."
Wow! Lots to look forward to.
It's great that new generations of readers will have the opportunity to enjoy your stories. Yes, they're definitely worth publishing more than once!
Thanks, Judy, Dace, and Sandy. I love doing these posts. I have had almost 12,000 visits since Susan set me up a few years ago. Susan has over a million! Exciting
I just read your "Circle of Kindness" entry in a recent edition of Woman's World. It reminded me how thrilled I was after reading one of your books to learn we were in the same part of the Pacific Northwest! I wish you much joy and peace this Thanksgiving and thank you for your legacy of writing! Judy L. Harmon (East Texas now)
Thanks so much for your comment. Yes, I have always lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Wow, East Texas is a long way from here. God bless and a Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.
Colleen
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