Over the past several years, I’ve always tried to post the “My # Year as a Published Author” posts on February 22nd, my actual Authorversary. However, since that day is also my birthday, and this year marked a special birthday, I decided to postpone the post until now. So no, I didn’t forget (well, honestly, I almost did 😛 ), and here’s what I learned during my seventh full year as an indie author. 🙂

If you haven’t yet read about years one through six, check out those posts below:

• My First Year as a Published Author
• My Second Year as a Published Author
• My Third Year as a Published Author
• My Fourth Year as a Published Author
• My Fifth Year as a Published Author
• My Sixth Year as a Published Author

Lesson One: God Increased My Faith in His Provision

Piggybacking off of Lesson Three from last year’s post, during a year with no book release, God led me on a journey in which I learned to fully trust in His provision.

What do I mean by this? Well, from the beginning of my author career in February 2017, until January 2022, I experienced several no-sales months, and even times where a few months would go by without a single book sale. From February 2022 (which, as I’m writing this post, I just realized was the release month for Writing by Faith!) onward, that changed. I can’t explain it, but I felt led to expect at least one book sale per month for a full calendar year (Feb. 2022 to Feb. 2023). There were times throughout that year where we’d be within the last few days of the month and no books had sold, and I almost gave into doubt; however, God always provided that one sale, every month, for the entire year.

And not only that! I’m blown away to report that as of February 2024, God has provided me with consistent sales of at least one book per month for the past 2 years now.

In 2024, God has laid another expectation on my heart, one that still may not seem like much to some, but one that requires more faith on my part. I won’t go into details about this just yet, but God has provided in the exact way He laid on my heart so far, and I have faith that He will continue to do so.

Just thinking about this specific journey with God over the past two years brings tears to my eyes, y’all. Skeptics will say all this is possible just because I’m doing more marketing or because my books have gained traction, but I’m here to declare that neither one of those reasons are why sales have been more consistent. The reason is that this consistency is possible through God alone. Why? Because I spent years trying to earn consistent book sales on my own by marketing to get my books to gain traction, and I suffered through plenty of no-sales months and depression during that time. Only when I fully dedicated this author journey to God, and strove to glorify Him in it, did I see any consistent fruit from the work I put in.

Thank You, God, for allowing me to learn this lesson with You, and thank You for guiding me down this new road to increase my faith further. ❤

Lesson Two: Learning to Enjoy Writing Again

I’ve got something to admit… over the past few years, writing has often felt like a chore to me.

I’m not sure when it started. I’m thinking it was sometime between finishing The Crush and starting The Fall, but something shifted for me and for a long time, I lost the joy of writing.

Writing no longer felt like something I genuinely wanted to sit down and spend time doing; rather, it felt like a chore that I had to check off my to-do list, a task that I needed to force myself to do so other writers and readers on the internet would approve of my progress.

It sounds silly, but basically that’s how it felt. I compared myself to other writers on Instagram, and beat myself up mentally for not being able to write as fast as others. Though this issue was more prevalent prior to writing Writing by Faith, I compared my sales to other authors’ and wondered what’s so wrong with my books that they’re not selling as well as others.

It’s not that I didn’t love the books I wrote during this period; I think The Fall and The Dream are some of my best work, and even though it’s not fully released yet, I’m head-over-heels in love with The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy as a whole. Nevertheless, when it fully sank in for me that writing is a ministry tool, and that I need to have a kingdom mindset when I sit down to write, the joy of the craft came back.

That’s not to say that I don’t have bad writing days anymore. I do. Last week, I opened up my document for my current work in progress and ended up closing it out because I was not in the right headspace to write. Yet now, when I’m struggling, instead of moping and giving up immediately, I pray. I ask God to guide my words, to help me honor Him in what I’m writing, and for help on writing the book He wants me to write. I’ve never had a truly bad writing day when I’ve done that. I’ve struggled, yes, but God always helps me solider through. And through experiencing this time and time again, slowly but surely the joy of writing has resurfaced. I genuinely enjoy sitting down at the keyboard again. I’m a giggling mess when I’m writing dialogue, and astounded at some of the things God reveals to me when I’m writing faith scenes.

Writing feels just like it did for me when I was a kid again, and I thank God for allowing me to get back to this place. It feels like coming home. ❤

Lesson Three: Learning that Writing and Publishing are Secondary to What Matters Most

The last lesson my 7th year as a published author taught me was that it’s okay to set aside writing tasks for what matters most: God and people.

In years past, I’ve been selfish with the time I spent on writing, editing, basically all the author tasks. Over the past year, however, I’ve recognized the need to be more present with those I love, and that ministering to others doesn’t always mean writing Christian books.

My parents are getting older, and now that I’m thirty, I’m realizing I am too. My sister’s getting married shortly. My husband has been dealing with a situation where we’re seeking God for answers. My husband and I want to start our own family. We’re trying to get more involved in serving at church.

And all these aspects of life have eternal value, because they involve people. They involve doing life with others, they involve being Christian influences to others and showing them the love of Christ through daily actions.

Writing is a form of ministry too, and while I do, in a way, have a relationship with my readers, that relationship doesn’t need as much nurturing as the ones in my personal life. I can publish a book every couple years, and readers are good. But if I go a couple years denying requests from family and friends just to make sure I write and publish faster, I’d be sacrificing those relationships, relationships Jesus tells us are vital to our Christian walk:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

MARK 12:30-31, KJV

The two greatest commandments, as Jesus tells us, are to love God, and love people. Over the past year, I’ve realized I need to do a better job loving people. Rather than just saying I’m ministering to others through the Christian books I write, I need to step up and love on people more in person. This is hard for me, because I’m an introvert and suffer from social anxiety, but over the past year, God has helped me learn how taking even the smallest sacrifices of time to help others can make an impact.

So, in my eighth year as a published author (I about keeled over typing that out… how has it been this long already?!) I want to become more okay with letting God manage my author task time. I want Him to use me when He needs me to be there for people in my personal life, and I want Him to use me when He says it’s time for me to sit down and write, or edit, or whatever else.

This ministry is for Him, not me, and I need to continue to make the decision every day to hand this author journey over to Him. That’s the only way it’ll survive the years to come.

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you’re an author, what lessons have you learned in your years of writing and publishing books? Which lessons from this post do you most relate to?

If you’re a reader, THANK YOU for your continued support. You don’t know how much your comments, reviews, ratings, and messages have impacted me. Y’all are amazing, and I pray blessings over each of you. Thank you for taking a chance on my books. ❤

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀