Happy Friday in May from www.GailGaymerMartin.com It’s spring in our new homeland of Sedona Arizona and flowers are everywhere. I had no idea our landscape had so many amazing colors and so many beautiful birds. In Michigan where I lived all my life until our recent move, I knew the flowers and birds popular in that part of the country, but here in Sedona, I’m seeing orioles, hummingbirds (by the droves) and even the Western Bluebird that is so beautiful.
You can probably see that I am happy. I am, but that’s not the only reason. After contacting my two major publishers, I have been able to request and receive reversions on the rights of some of my book which means, they now belong to me rather than the publisher. Since I have been active writing for a small press, I also have the opportunity to rework my older novels are bring them back for a whole new audience.
One thing we learn as novelists and readers, who might also be interested to know, that writing grows and changes with experience and practice. I have studied writing for years, grasping every new concept, honing my craft and trying to be the best writer I can be for the Lord who gave me the talent. It has been an adventure, and when I look now at my early writings, sometimes I cringe because I see ways in which I could have said something so much better. Now with the reversion, I can improve on that writing and make changes that will bring the books closer to the abilities I now have as the author of 76 published novels or novellas. I will never be sorry for my earlier books. The stories are often some of my favorites, but now I am able to make them even better with changes.
For novelists who have the opportunity for having your older novels revert back to you, do yourself a favor and study them to see in what way you can improve them. It will make your readers happy, especially the new ones who have never read the books. So far I have often used the same title with a new cover but I usually refer to those books as reissue so no one will buy the book who has already read them. Today I have many new readers than I had back in the 1990s and early 2000s. Almost 20 years have past and new readers spring up every day. Next month, I hope to share with you some of the changes that I have made with the older books and the new techniques I have learned. Look for it next June.
For now you can look for two of my latest new releases, one a reissue: Love Comes to
Butterfly Tree Inn and a new novella, Poppy Fields With You. Click on the title with link to read more about both.
Enjoy spring and I hope you take time to look at the flowers and birds. Blessings.