So, a couple of weeks or so ago, I felt somewhat deflated regarding engagement etc through platforms like Facebook groups, X and so on. Admittedly through observation more than engagement, but they were leaving me flat, and inundating my e-mail account with various proposals to make me the next 'big thing'. Then I watched a YouTube video @TheGuerrillaPublisher and found myself popping over to here. I am so glad that I did. Not only because I feel I may now have found the type of community I have been seeking, but also that finding it has just improved my mood and my attitude towards things this week. The coincidence of finding here at the same time as self-publishing my third novel has not been lost on me. I may not have replied to a huge number of posts but I have been reading many, and in doing so got the nudge I needed to perhaps direct me in a path that suits me. That rewards me. So, to that end I did a thing. My latest novel is a dual timeline historical fiction. One half of the book is set in 1845, in a factual town called Newmarket in County Cork, Ireland. The other is set in a small factual town called Paxton, in Illinois, USA, in 2025. This week I made contact with the libraries of both places. Both have agreed to host me for an afternoon later in the year. Two towns, two countries, both of them real places in the book, and both saying yes in the same week. I am so looking forward to it. Sitting in a room with even a few people who have come to hear about the thing I wrote is the exact right fit for the type of self-growth as an author I want to follow. It is far more me than dropping a post somewhere I don’t really understand and hoping. There was another lift this morning too, that made me very smiley. My first ever KENP page reads. Someone actually turning the pages. I found that I cared about that far more than the couple of sales this week. Thank you 'The Independent Authors Guild' and its members for helping me to reframe things….

Portrait of a Suspect, by Sonya Myers. I've written for many years, but never to the point of publishing. But today, my debut novel is live on KDP. It's about sixty-year-old woman who has lost almost everything then becomes entangled in a murder while trying to rebuild her life. It is a heartwarming mystery about finding the courage to create the life you always wanted, and discovering that love—and murder—can arrive when you least expect them. This is book one in a three-book series. Available on KDP, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HC4HWQS8

In the spirit of @David Burdick I will share my cover concepts. My speculative fiction novella is a hybrid genre (Romantic Techno-Horror) so getting the "signal" to be clear and not muddled has been challenging. The potential readers may come from all three genres: romance, horror, and sci-fi; however, the plot does not follow the accepted tropes and arc of a romance novel (the promise to the romance reader is different). The other problem is this started as a side-distraction short-story-novelette, while working my first full-length novel (a romantic techno-thriller that does generally adhere to romance genre tropes), which inspired a sequel before the first novelette was even completed. I decided the pair of novelettes (35K words) should be published in one volume because each on its own is too short. So in addition to the hybrid genre, there now is the need for a combined title and subtitle on the cover. Do any of these send the correct signal? (transition from digital-urban of novelette 1 to remote wilderness of novelette 2)

For the fiction writers here, how do you develop your plot? Off-the-cuff (i.e. spontaneously), systematically, or a hybrid method? Note, there was a post here about this subject but I can't seem to locate it.

As the Guild grows, I want to take a moment to clarify something important about the kind of community we are building here. One of the things I care about most is creating a space where authors can freely exchange information, ideas, questions, experiences, and encouragement. I want you to be able to ask real questions, share what you’re learning, talk through publishing decisions, and benefit from the wisdom of other authors without worrying that every conversation is going to turn into a sales pitch. Because of that, solicitation is not allowed in the Guild. I have had the unfortunate duty today of banning two members for soliciting services in the group. I do not enjoy doing that. I want to welcome people in good faith whenever I can. But I also have a responsibility to protect the authors here, and I take that responsibility seriously. If you offer services for authors, you are still welcome here as a member of the community. I’m glad to have knowledgeable people in the room. You are welcome to participate generously, answer questions when appropriate, and share helpful insight from your experience. What is not allowed is promoting your services, posting offers, using comments as soft pitches, or sending direct messages to members to solicit work. We have talked before about the need for authors to be careful about who they trust in this industry. There are wonderful professionals out there, but there are also people who see authors as easy targets. For that reason, any service provider who is allowed to promote something in this group will need to be vetted by me first, and that will happen very rarely and very intentionally. If you are a service provider and would like to be considered for a vetted position in the Guild, you are welcome to DM me and we can talk about whether there may be a fit. Please understand that this is not an open invitation to sell to the group. It simply gives us a proper, private way to begin that conversation. I also want to be clear that this does not mean authors will never be able to share their books. We will have designated author promotion days where members can tell us about their books, launches, projects, and reader-facing work. I want to celebrate what you are creating. I simply want to do that in a way that keeps the main conversation helpful, focused, and free from constant promotion.