Sunday, December 4, 2011

It's Jean Henry Mead's Day on the Blog!

Why I write

by Jean Henry Mead

Publishing is a crazy, unstable business and few writers earn enough money to pay their expenses. The last I heard, 95% of us earn less than $15,000 a year and the average book sells less than 99 copies.

So why would anyone in her right mind devote so much time and effort to writing and marketing books? Is it the desire to give birth to something unique? A need for recognition? Or the desire to inform and entertain? I can’t answer that question. I just know that it’s imprinted in my DNA.

I sold my first book in 1981, a collection of interviews with politicians, authors, artists, craftsmen and ordinary people who had accomplished extraordinary things. The book was published by Pruett Publishing in Boulder, Colorado, and sold some 2,000 copies. I traveled around the state to take part in signing parties and sold 40 books the first time at a small town in eastern Wyoming. My signing parties slid downhill from there.

My second book required more than three years of research and writing. I shudder to think how little I’ve earned for my time spent although the books sold steadily over the years from two publishers and eventually became a college textbook. My third was a book of interviews with well-known writers of the West, including Louis L’Amour and Hollywood screenwriters. It’s still selling online but I've never received a royalty payment because I was told it didn't earn out its advance.

After checking WorldCat, the library site, I found that there are still copies of Maverick Writers available in 114 libraries, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Baverische Staaftsbibliothek in Munich, Germany. Now, there’s a reason to continue writing. The advance I received barely covered travel expenses, so satisfaction and eternal hope are also motivations to continue writing as well as the satisfaction I receive from it.

I then decided to write my first novel from leftover microfilm research. Escape on the Wind took a number of years to write and was helped along by the advice of two award-winning western authors, Richard S. Wheeler and Fred Grove. It’s now in its fourth edition and retitled
Escape, a Wyoming Historical Novel. It remains my best selling book.

I next began work on my first mystery novel, originally titled Shirl Lock & Holmes, a humorous senior sleuth novel, which was originally published in 1999 as an ebook and later in hardcover with another publisher, which eventually closed its doors. I then changed the characters' names and it was republished as A Village Shattered in print, Kindle and multi-format.

I’ve written a number of nonfiction books along the way, none of which sold more than several hundred copies, so I decided to write what I enjoy reading most: another mystery novel, Diary of Murder, the second in my Logan & Cafferty series, which was followed by my recent release, Murder on the Interstate. I enjoy writing about my senior sleuths, Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty, two 60-year-old, feisty widows who are not afraid to push the envelope when it comes to crime detection, or to brave the elements by driving their motorhome through a Rocky Mountain blizzard. Dana and Sarah are like old friends whom I thoroughly enjoy visiting each day and eavesdropping on their conversations.

I think I’ve found the answer. I write because it’s fun and deeply satisfying.

Jean's latest Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense novel, Murder on the Interstate, is available at:
Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/6znjvsa (print and Kindle) and
Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/3vxzppy (Nook)
She's giving away one of her mystery ebooks at the end of each of her 14 blog appearances as well as three print novels at the conclusion of the tour. Be sure to leave a comment and email address to be eligible for the drawings. Her blog tour schedule is listed at: http://jeansblogtour.blogspot.com/





Bio: Jean Henry Mead is the author of 15 books, half of them novels. She’s also an award-winning photojournalist and children’s author of the Hamilton Kids’ series:  Mystery of Spider Mountain and Ghost of Crimson Dawn. Her magazine articles have been published nationally as well as abroad and she served as a news, magazine and small press editor. The native southern Californian now lives in the Laramie Mountains with her husband and Australian Shepherd.

23 comments:

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

If I wrote to make money, I'd have quit years ago. I do make some, but not enough for the time I put into writing. Writing is a passion.

Marilyn

Jean Henry Mead said...

Thanks for hosting me today, Alice, on Day #10 of the virtual tour. Christmas will be here before we know it and I hope that our blog visitors will be filling stockings with mystery novels or downloading ebooks for new e-readers

Jean Henry Mead said...

I agree, Marilyn. Writing is imprinted in my DNA, passed down the gene pool from my dad, along with his music and art talents. The enjoyment they bring is much more important than any financial reward.

M.M. Gornell said...

Good reminder, Jean, of why writers write.

Madeline

Jean Henry Mead said...

Thanks, Madeline. I guess we all write for different reasons but that compulsion is there for all of us.

Alice Duncan said...

Thanks for being here today, Jean! Yesh, if I wrote for money, I'd be on the street, where it would be really hard to plug in my computer!

Jean Henry Mead said...

lol, Alice. You'd have to hang out in libraries and 24-hour WiFi cafes. Those small royalty checks do seem to validate our efforts, though.

Jean Henry Mead said...

lol, Alice. You'd have to hang out in libraries and 24-hour WiFi cafes. Those small royalty checks do seem to validate our efforts, though.

Earl Staggs said...

Jean, your sticktoitiveness is an inspiration to all. Giving up is simply not an option.

Alice Duncan said...

At least there are WiFi places around, Jean! That's a good thing for those of us trying to live on our book earnings :-)

WS Gager said...

I write because I can't afford the counseling. Making a few pennies is a bonus. Great post Jean.
Wendy
W.S. Gager on Writing

Jean Henry Mead said...

Sorry, Alice. I was laughing about your long cord. I'm glad you've got places available that have Wifi. I'm an hour's drive from any WiFi station, so when our satellite goes out, I'm stuck.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Thanks, Wendy. Writing is great therapy. It got me through my daughter's death three years ago. My book Escape came out the following week and I threw myself into promoting it online. It helped tremendously.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Thank you, Earl. You're right, quitting anything is never an option unless it's health threatening.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Jean,

I think we write because we can't not write. We just need to do it.
But more money earned would be very nice!

Jean Henry Mead said...

I agree, Jacqueline. It's somethng we need to do, like breathing.

Karen Mayers said...

I love your title Sherl Lock and Holmes. I am becoming intrigued by the senior sleuths as I enter that age group myself. I will definitely have to look your books up and see if my mystery reading group wants to give them a try. I am the youngest and some of them can barely remember their 60's. The problem with an aging readership is that their eyes start to go. Luckily our library system buys alot of large print editions.

Jackie King said...

If I wrote for the money, I'd be much slimmer. :-) My house would be dark in the evenings and very chilly, and I'd have to steal water from the neighbor's outside spigot.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Karen,

Shirl Locke and Holmes was republished as A Village Shattered and two additional books have been added to the series: Diary of Murder and Murder on the Interstate.

Jean Henry Mead said...

lol, Jackie. Ain't it the truth. But we're doing what we love and it's worth it. :)

Unpublished Life said...

I write because I can't not. Simple as that. It is the way I make sense of the world and the goings on around me. It's how I clear the clutter in my head.

If I didn't write, I would go insane!!

Sheila Deeth said...

So 99s the number to aim for? I find myself counting friends and family and realizing I probably don't have enough. But I'll still keep writing.

Alice Duncan said...

I feel your pain, Sheila!