The road to success?

For some reason, recently in my feeds are coming up with a lot of questions about this topic. How to reach success?
To be honest, I am the least to give any advice. I also think that success has so many facets and is bound to just as many factors.
The reason, I suppose, those questions are rising up mostly now, is due to the uncertain times we're going through. The pandemic has taken away all the rational thinking, replacing with an irrational, yet understandable fear.
Many of us are facing unemployment, and particularly, for freelancers, this might mean bankruptcy, hence the need to reshape a career into something new.
This is also affecting writers, as they need people to buy their books. However, with this crisis going on, people are more careful with their expenses.
So, success, how to reach it in these times?
First of all, don't get overwhelmed by fear, although I understand it is not that easy.
The best piece of advice is to keep your mind free from the fog of panic. Once you think clearly, you will be able to focus on the solution to your problems.

This is the best time to try a different approach, which is building relationships. This is the time when you create engagement that will secure your future readership. About how to do this is, once again, up to you and the kind of readership you want to build. Creating groups is another great way, but it's very tricky if you are a multigenre author. One suggestion is creating a group inglobating the most recurrent theme in your novels. Another way is creating several groups for the main genres you are writing (but this requires a lot of energies and time).
If time is not an issue, then the latter is probably the best option. Otherwise, you can hire a virtual assistant to take care of running your groups. Yet, make sure that the virtual assistant can attract the right audience to your group.
The more creative you can get, the better you will do, and remember that success coming to those who persevere and never give up. This is especially true in difficult times.
All the best to you all, and wish you all success.

Something to lighten up the mood

Recently, the coronavirus that has been spread like an oil patch in the calm sea has taken over social media. Undeniably, talking about it it's positive and gives he right awareness to a problem that touches everyone on this planet.
Nevertheless, as in many other cases, there is a lot of misinformation spreading on the internet. People are strongly suggested, for their own sake, to follow only the recommendations of their local healthcare institutions. Refrain from believing that lemon will save you from the virus or to start producing at home a cure that might compromise your health, and also your life.

Today, I wish instead to bring something to light up the mood of the people. It's my contribution to lighten up the mood and give a safe medication: A smile.
I know there isn't any proven medical effect on diseases, but if you are quarantined at home, having something that brings a good mood is better than being reclused and sad.
I have two things to offer:
My pictures, a passion that has been with me since I was a little child, and my books.
So, today I will share them with you, and I hope you will like them:

Photography is also a fuel for my writing. 

What I see, inspires me to write the next story. It can be a scenery, a bird, or a particular shade from where flowers seem to glow with their own light.

It's on the people I meet during my travels or the stories they tell. Whatever it is, my books reflect my experiences, not just as a traveler, but as an observer of this planet.

If you, just like me and many others, are forced to stay home and be in quarantine because of the virus, I guess there isn't a better way to pass the time then by reading a good book. 

Something that can bring you far away from the dullness and sadness of forced confinement. 

Better than toilette paper! 

You can find them here:

https://www.amazon.com/author/pjmann

or visiting my website:

https://www.pjmannauthor.com

Take care of yourself and of those close to you be them your neighbor, your family or the elderly lady you haven't seen today.

It's a new year!

It is for a few years that there is this way of saying "New year, New me."
I have no idea why people should change themselves or whether it is even possible to make drastic changes in the span of one night when to develop the one you are now it took a life.

Regardless of this detail, I am not so much into this fashion, and you will have to deal with the old me, I suppose. Well, old me certainly but with new adventures, new travels, experiences, books, and whatever this new year will be able to bring.
Travelwise, the new year brought some bad news, and my husband and I are trying to figure out a solution for it. The problem is that in December, taking advantage of a discounted deal, we decided to purchase the flight to Egypt and Iraq, via Jordan.
I presume all of you have heard, even by mention, the diplomatic problems caused by the american airstrike at the Bagdad airport. Luckily for us, we are not US citizens, and Finland has neither any affiliation with NATO, so this should make, at least, the granting of the visa easier. Nevertheless, concerns seem reasonable and more than justified in this case.

I know, you might wonder: why in the world we decided to reach Bagdad? Well, the reason, as usual, is to gather knowledge from the direct sources. Iraq has a very interesting heritage and hosts many beautiful historical sites worth the visit, and the risk. The ruins of Babylon are my main target, together with other least known places around. I aim to get inside the culture, history, and possibly to stay alive.
This is not our first journey to conflict areas. So far, the most dangerous place we visited was the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, with a bit of planning and updated information, we had one of our greatest experiences so far. Sierra Leone was another dangerous place, and it really touched my heart in a way I didn't think possible.
I hope we will be able to reach it. The departure is scheduled for May, so four months from now.
Let's keep the fingers crossed.
Concerning my writing career, I am now at the learning point, and I am following an intensive course on advertising. This should not take me too away from the writing process, but it might slow down my social presence. I will try and do my best to be present but time might not be on my side.
Despite this, I plan to be at least punctual with the monthly blog and every news that I need to share.

To err is human

Oh well. I guess I am not the only one who has passed through this step. I still consider myself a beginner in the publishing industry, and this kind of mistake is easy to make.
What I am talking about is the re-issuing of the second book I have ever published, "The Ghosts of Morgan Street."
In the beginning, I gave the editing work to someone who had great feedback about her turnaround times and quality of work. Particularly the latter impressed me, so without even caring about the price, I chose her.
Now, and only now, I start to reconsider that the job was not done correctly. Particularly after having found a new editor who did a fantastic job with Aquila et Noctua, I decided to give her the task to re-edit the work.
Better later than never.
Anyway, I am considering to go through all the other books, including the trilogy, and see how can I improve them.
Of course, there couldn't be any re-edition without dressing the book for the party with a brand new cover. That was perhaps another problem that could have resulted in poor sales. Using the blessed time of being alone for the whole week in the house, I put myself to work. Then, with the help with the best purchase ever, a drawing tablet, I started to combine, cut, draw, and color, until I could reach a satisfying result.
Of course, you would like to see it, and here it is:

It is nothing fancy; actually, I kept it as simple as possible, making it more compliant with the standard for the genre, psychological thriller.
Any feedback is welcome.
The re-release will come in the following week, so it's a good time to stay tuned and hope for the best.
So another thing I have been learning is the importance of not just choosing a good editor, but the one that can work with the kind of issue that most likely is affecting your writing.
For example, my problem is not being a native speaker and finding a person who is qualified for editing works of people who have English as a second language, is critical.
Every writer has a particular issue, whether it is a problem of plot holes, stilted dialogues, or anything else, finding the right editor is crucial.
Of course, this means also going through a list of wrong editors. So far, I changed four editors before finding the right one. Therefore, if you are in the same situation as I am now, and are wondering whether your editor is the right one, I suggest following more closely what the readers say and how do they react to everything you are publishing. They are, at least from my point of view, the best channel to understand whether what you are doing is right.
That said, I wish you all a great weekend and see you next week.