Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie discussion

Hello everyone, how are you? I hear dribbles of news sometimes but it would be good to know how the wonderfully helpful people in this group are getting along now. Still writing? Still reading?

Hi Anna, I was just wondering the same thing. I miss our old group. I stopped writing as Carole P. Roman or Brit Lunden. I've been a medium for the last two years and have made more doing that than selling my books. lol. I published under my real name (Phyllis Okon) late last year two books about mediumship and 366 Affirmations and Inspirations to Live By. While the books don't do especially well, teaching mediumship has paid off, and I am currently running three classes. I write regularly on Medium.com and have over 4500 followers. YOu can look me up on Facebook as Lady Phyllis Medium or check out my webpage www.ladyphyllis.com. I recently ran a seminar on how to write, publish and promote your book. I had over ten participants and it was a lot of fun. I think writing got me to this point.

Carole wrote: "Hi Anna, I was just wondering the same thing. I miss our old group. I stopped writing as Carole P. Roman or Brit Lunden. I've been a medium for the last two years and have made more doing that than..."

Wow! You've always been a mover and shaker! (Does anyone still use that term now?!)

You are not only successful with your books and life in general, you passed on your knowledge to all who belonged here (and elsewhere too). I hope Goodreads manages to hold on to people like you.

I can't say this about everyone, so I'm not sucking up!

lol. Thanks, Anna. I learned a lot from the folks at Goodreads too. I often suggest to budding writers they come here and learn from those who have started the process before them.

I wish we could get our thread back to discussions rather than a bid to get others to read their books.

I learned so much here from some of you...especially you, Carole....and will be forever grateful for the experience. I didn't continue to write, but I'm a voracious reader! I was following Alex on another social media site and he's disappeared...no posts since mid-April. I think something has happened to him, which is sad. His last post indicated he wasn't feeling well.

And congratulations on reinventing yourself, Carole!

I hope Alex is all right. Does anybody have any news?

Yes, sharing how things worked was very useful.

I'll write him and see.

Thanks, Carmel. I loved publishing, but it became prohibitively expensive to market. Both my son and I have scripts from books we've written, so there is a chance that writing and publishing aren't completely finished. If they get picked up, I think we'll be back to writing.

However, I have tons of experience, and if anybody has a question, I am happy to answer.

Carole wrote: "Thanks, Carmel. I loved publishing, but it became prohibitively expensive to market. Both my son and I have scripts from books we've written, so there is a chance that writing and publishing aren't..."

Best of luck with that possibility, Carole. It was that cost to market that convinced me not to spend more time with it. That, and when I wrote the one I did I really felt I only had that one book in me. Didn't set out to do it more, just had one story to tell. I'm satisfied with how it did, and have people here to thank for doing even that!

Carole wrote: "I'll write him and see."

I wrote twice, probably back in May, no response but he used to respond almost immediately. Worried.

He used to post multiple times a day on Twitter, but went suddenly totally silent. After saying he wasn't feeling well, I'm concerned something really big happened to him.

I wrote him. He hasn't answered me back.

I also think something has happened. I pray it is something he can recover from. His books are still on Amazon UK.

I know Anita is still writing lots of books.

Anna wrote: "Hello everyone, how are you? I hear dribbles of news sometimes but it would be good to know how the wonderfully helpful people in this group are getting along now. Still writing? Still reading?"

Good morning! Doing well, I hope you are. I had to go back to old school writing in a journal over the past year due to my busy schedule. Things slow down by Thanksgiving so that is when I plan to focus all nights on writing, I cannot wait! Sending all of you my best for a wonderful day!

Hi Anna and everyone,

I somehow missed this thread, although I've popped in a time or two since it started.

I'm still plugging along with my writing. I released my 11th book (8th novel) over the summer and have my 12th in editing, probably due out in February. I'm at work on my 13th, which is Howard County Mystery #5, based on a suggestion my late wife Kathleen gave me. (Yes, she continues to inspire my writing journey.)

For 2025, I'm also branching out into something new. I'm just starting to offer services as a writing coach and an book designer (layout and typography; I don't create artwork). I already have one potential client for the former services. My main problem there is getting the word out. I'm not too good at marketing. Still.

On the home front, I've been unemployed since the end of June, 2004. The contract I was on ended, and my company lost the rebid. I can usually count on finding a new job in about 2 months. The longest I'd ever been out of work was 4. This time it's 6 and counting, although I always have a few prospects in the works. I asked my financial advisor if I could just retire, but after running the numbers he told me I'd run out of money in my mid-70's, and my family tends to be long-lived, often getting up into their 90's, soooooo.....

Writing and related services are actually part of my retirement plan, if I can ever make any money at them. But I really need to find something more lucrative, at least for 5 or so more years.

Anyway. If anyone wants to look at my service offerings and suggest improvements, I have them listed on my website: https://www.daleelehman.com/let-me-help/.