I'm Baaaack!!!

Whew it's been a long time! And I do mean long. I've been out of the literary industry for six years (well technically four since I did fill an Amazon order back in '08!). I took the years off to concentrate on my Resume Writing and Career Consulting Company. Now, for those of you who don't know me let me bring you up to speed with a synopsis of my life history :). WARNING: It's long!

Back in 2003, I started an independent publishing company with the sole purpose of publishing my own works. Just to learn the ins and outs of the literary industry first before seeking out a mainstream publisher, see: http://.www.stormysteele.com
I self-published my first novel Behind The Screen, which is about two people who meet through an online dating site. In 2004 I released it, did a whole promotional and marketing tour, got it onto the shelves of ALL of the brick and mortar stores (ok 2, Barnes & Noble and Borders), most libraries and many independent stores around the U.S. I even had readers all the way in England! I participated in nearly every major book conference there was, got radio interviews, some magazine mentions, etc... you name it. My #1 priority was exposure and that I got! I was a marketing and promoting powerhouse diva!! Which led to me getting an agent on my third try, shopping it around, her getting tired, me finishing my second novel, her trying to change me, her quitting the agency and disappearing. Yep! Oh and now I hear from one of her other clients (that she did get a book deal for) that she's out of the literary industry all together. And she had to track her down to find this out! Oh, such is life.

Ok, so one day while on break from touring during the holidays (cause the literary industry practically shut down for the holidays during this time), my old supervisor called me up and asked if I would come and help out for a few weeks. Well, I explained that I still had some tours lined up. He said no problem, and we worked it out where I could tour on the weekends, do my book signings, workshops, etc... and return on Monday or Tuesday. This was working out well. So well that when he asked me to stay permanently I agreed and those few weeks turned into a year. I mean now I had my medical benefits back, vacation time, extra, and I mean GOOD extra money which was good, since those quarterly checks I was getting for Behind the Screen were not cutting it. I either had to put those back into more print runs (I sold between 2500-3000), or by the time they came I needed that money just to survive! Which is why I ended up getting an agent because I just couldn't afford to run my little SOHO publishing company anymore. Who knew that Borders was going to order 980 copies? Not I! Shoot, they just about cleaned me out. Wait, they did. LOL!

So, about a year later after saying yes to going back into IT permanently (that's what my field was by the way in Corporate America), we were laid off. I was going to miss my benefits, but glad that I could get back to writing full time because I kinda put it on hold to concentrate on the job. NOTE TO AUTHORS: IF YOU LEAVE YOUR DAY JOB TO LIVE YOUR LITERARY DREAMS DON'T GO BACK TO YOUR DAY JOB. I mean unless you just have to. More on why later. Now, my second novel was a mystery novel so my agent had a tough time because the agency didn't specialize in these. So, it was put on hold while we brainstormed other ideas like chick lit, YA, writing under a different pseudonym for these new genres, etc... and I wrote some pretty interesting reads. I probably have about eight manuscripts, most half finished! LOL! But... I had to figure out what I was going to do in the meantime because what started out as extra income was now major and without another book coming out, well... I had to figure out something fast!

That's when my resume writing and career consulting firm was born. Ok, I know this is getting kinda long so I'll wrap it up. I built the company up well into six figures. I was a guest speaker at Emory University, featured in Good Housekeeping magazine, another business magazine, now have 7 offices around the U.S. and working on two more divisions. I even give advice to aspiring entrepreneurs and existing business owners who are struggling. I've learned so much during my seven years in business! Now, I have a great team in place and the business runs like a well oiled machine. I could go away for a whole month if I wanted to and it would run just fine. With my guidance from afar of course. :)

My kids are grown now too. One finished college, I think the other is planning to finish, Lord help him. Ok, so now I'm ready to get back into the literary industry. I always said I would once I got the business up and running. Later I said maybe once I retire from the business, but I really miss the literary industry too much to wait that long. I can't believe how fast time flies! One of my bestselling author friends said I haven't missed much! I see a lot of things are the same, but so much has changed! So many indy bookstores out of business, and who would have thought... Borders! We actually had some of their managers as clients. All of these publishing house mergers, everybody and their grandma getting into self-publishing... I mean Simon & Schuster pairing with Archway doing self-publishing? WTH? Literary agents getting into it, man...everybody! And a flood of new authors who have no clue as to how to market, promote and sell. They're expecting POD companies to do everything for them without any legwork themselves. Just a mess. I like the e-book options that are out there now. Authors have still come to me for advice through the years even during my sabbatical, and it just amazes me how little research they do. I had two who had NEVER heard of BEA! And they had been trying to sell their book for months! Again, WTH?

Anyway, my plans now are to try the self-help route. I'm still writing novels (I never stopped writing), but I have so much business knowledge now just waiting to burst out of me! I want to share it. I'm currently working on my first business series. It's the Wendy Steele Reality Business Series. Yes, I'm using my real name for the self-help books, because we have over 11,000 clients now who know me as "Wendy" and they are my targeted audience. I'll continue to write my novels under "Stormy" since that's what my other readers know me as. At least I think they still do.

Be back to write more later. I'm tired now. Until then... keep on writing!

Ciao!