Hi again,

Albert Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Is there something you do that fits that definition? Dieting? Relationships? Checking social media? Trying to make the perfect chicken scampi pasta? (Ha, I might do that last one. Pasta is my favorite food.)

I feel that way about writing.

At least, I feel that way about publishing my books.

Last month, I finished the first draft of my 30th book (Magically Missing) which was an amazing life goal. Whoot Whoot. Accomplished!

But why?

I love crafting a story by creating interesting characters, situations, and even worlds, and I love hearing from readers that they enjoyed something I wrote.

But...I hate editing. I push myself through this torture, changing my first draft dribble into something readable because I hope publishing this next book will be the book that changes it all. (i.e. a book that tells the story that a landslide of readers want to hear, and it helps get my name out there.)

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet. Each book is like the last...and with book #30, I've began to contemplate the future of my author/writing career. What is a reasonable goal for the next 5 years? 10? Do I even need goals?

And then there's pressure I put on myself. In the indie publishing world, the gurus say to "publish a book every month" to stay in the amazon charts. That to be visible, you have to "rapid release" an entire series within a few months. I tried these methods over the past year or so, but haven't seen much change other than I now have a ton of books out there on the virtual bookshelves.

How many of you have read ALL my books?

I think I have enough of them out there to keep the average reader busy for 2 1/2 years. (Assuming the stats are right and the average person reads 12 books per year.) I'm happy (proud?) that I published nearly 30 stories, but I don't think I have to work as hard moving forward.

Plus, I'm kinda bored with the method I've been using to write, edit, edit, edit, publish books. I'm a bit bored with sticking to the same series to get all the books complete. I'm a bit frustrated with Amazon publishing, but that's a different story.

I need to do something different for mental stimulation, but I'm not sure what it is yet. I know I love shorter stories (I'm a little attention deficit) and I love Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance, so I'm going to focus there for a bit. I'll be publishing more slowly and not entire series grouped together within a few months. There's probably a bit more that'll change, but I just need to be less insane...

(Did I mention that my life in general has been super busy with moving, selling a house, having a new kitty, the kids online school and college applications, and our family zoo business is INSANELY busy, as it's one of the only things open with COVID? I'm probably just going through my second or third mid-life crisis--I seem to have one every year or two.)

But, I'm curious. Keeping the definition of insanity above in mind, what do you do that's insane? Maybe we're all a bit crazy. :-) (But we're in it together, right?)

Don't worry. I still have many more books to come. (And I'm not looking for encouraging words, just sharing what's been going through my head for the past nine months or so.)

• The Dragon You Know releases this month. (You probably already have this story in the Dragons and Mages Anthology.) It'll be free when it releases, so I'll make sure to send you an email when that happens.
• Hitched on Halloween (Dream Droids, Book 4) will release in August or October, whenever I can get up enough motivation to edit that puppy. Draft 1 is written and was my 29th book. It combines all the characters from that universe in one final mystery to solve...and, of course, ends with a wedding (or three.) I'll also publish the box set for this series sometime around the holidays.
• Magically Missing (Paranormal Bed & Breakfast Mysteries, Book 3) will release in September. This could be the end of the series...or a spin off could be written. I have ideas. :-)
• Earth's Only Hope Box Set will release in October or November. I already have a beautiful cover for this.

And then I have Sins & Sacrifices (Angels of Sojourn, Book 4) and a pile of other books I want to write...(I'll share some cover reveals next month.) Only you might begin to see some of my stuff (in a less-edited form or more novella length) in newsletters, on my web page, Wattpad or Royal Road, or a different method rather than publishing through Amazon initially. Goal: Less pressure, MORE FUN!

Anyway...more to come.

Thanks so much & I hope you're doing great.

--Joy

(aka Joynell Schultz, Author - If you've forgotten who I am, check out a list of my books here: www.joynellschultz.com/books )

P.S. I've been working on adding some additional availability of some of my older titles. Here is a list of books that are available in other places than Amazon. (i.e. Barnes and Noble, Apple, Google, Kobo, etc.)

• Fangs & Fairy Dust: Ryker's hunt for an out-of-control vampire brings him back to the one city that haunts his nightmares...and into the arms of the one woman who can both heal and destroy him.
• Broken & Burnt: In Bree's desperate fight to keep her angelic wings, she accidentally stabs the angel sent to take them away.
• Flame & Fortune: Trapped in the underworld, Lena is given a chance to return to the mortal world. All it takes is performing a literal deal for the unfortunate one himself.
• Angels of Sojourn Novella Box Set: Collection of Fangs & Fairy Dust, Broken & Burnt, and Flame & Fortune...as well as the short story Bitten.
• Love, Lies & Clones: June's desperate search for her father puts her face to face with the truth about her creation.

P.S. #2 I've been desperately trying to grow my Bookbub followers. I believe this only works for you folks who are in the US, but if you could follow me on Bookbub, that'd be fantastic. I've been trying to score a Bookbub deal to reach their 10 million readers, but I've been hearing an author needs 3000 followers to be more likely to qualify. I'm at 1400 or so. If you follow me, make sure to claim it on these two promos, so you have a chance at winning some huge Amazon cards.

Here's my Bookbub Link: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/joynell-schultz

And this contest's Link: https://sffbookbonanza.com/win-amazon-gift-card/

And a second contest's Link: https://clcannon.net/2020/07/06/c-l-cannons-july-bb-giveaway/

P.S. #3 I've had two authors who helped me advertise my last release (Magically Murdered) and I wanted to give them a shout out.

• Coven of Secrets / Coven of Lies - Read Roxy and Ray's heart-stopping race against time and dark forces beyond their control.
• Bennett Sisters Mysteries - Book 10 in this mystery series (Dead Flat) just released.