Category: business

Got Some Good News

Back in June of this year, I entered a chapbook contest. A chapbook is a very short work of prose or poetry, about 20-40 pages worth. I had put this chapbook together a while back, but when I saw this new contest, I revised my little five-story manuscript, retitled it, and sent it in.

Finally heard back last week–I’m not one of the finalists that was sent to the final judge, but I was in the group they selected the finalists from. That was encouraging!

So I think for the next little while I am going to make revising and submitting this chapbook around my next creative endeavor. I have a list of 12 outlets to send to, spaced out from now until September 2026. I can have something to work on while I try to sort out what I want to do next with my third book–do I want to continue to revise what I have, rewrite the whole thing from scratch, move on to another manuscript, or what. Give my overstimulated brain a little time to relax from creation.

Done with events this year, but I start right back up again in January 2026 with three speaking engagements. That’s good. Soon I’ll be getting cover designs for Looking for Home, and all of that excitement will be in motion. I feel good about this plan to submit while the planning for Looking for Home is going on.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of my work and my stories!

Yesterday

You never know what’s going to happen at a signing.

Right as I got set up to sell and sign, a gentleman came up to me with that look on his face–the “do I know you from somewhere?” look. I said, “I recognize you from somewhere, too, but I’m not sure where.”

No matter–he picked up a book and said “I’ll buy it!”–no questions about it, no me giving a sales pitch, nothing. Then as I was inscribing it for a gift, he picked up another one as well for another gift. And I inscribed it and signed as well.

Then another lady bought two at a time as well–and just like I that I’d sold four within the first forty minutes. I was on a roll– that continued on throughout the afternoon.

The girl who told me she was in sixth grade during Hurricane Katrina and had been obsessed with the event ever since. She walked away with a copy.

The older man who became emotional when telling me about working on the Gulf Coast among hurricane victims. I did not begrudge him walking away without buying–he had been through enough.

The chubby little girl and boy who kept coming up to ask if they could have more complimentary candy out of my bowl. I smiled as I said yes.

The last one I sold was to a lady who’s mother was buying it for her for a Christmas present–that made ten sales on the day. I only had one left out of the books I had brought. I had sold all the books the store had bought so that felt good as well!

I thanked everyone for a good event and left out, ready to prepare for the next signing at Dixon Books in Natchez, MS on Saturday, December 13 with fellow Madville novelist RJ Lee. Hope to see you there!

Busy, Busy

Last night I answered questions from the design team for Looking for Home about my book, key scenes, setting, suggested cover images, and characters to inform the design of the book. That was fun! Hopefully some designs come in later in the week and I can pick from them.

The designer said she liked to try to pull the theme out of the book and into the cover to attract the reader. I have no idea how that might work–I know what I’ve always envisioned for the cover, but I don’t have a graphics design degree, so I truly have no idea what may be coming. But I look forward to finding out!

In other news, I have another two events this coming month for Hurricane Baby: Stories! I go back to Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Flowood, MS on Saturday, December 6 from noon to three p.m., signing and selling books for Christmas. Then the next weekend on Saturday, December 13, from three to five p.m. I sign and sell books alongside Natchez native RJ Lee at Dixon Books in Natchez, MS for their Christmas sales. So we will see how those events go.

Things seem to be moving fast this holiday season–before you know it, it’ll be Christmas, then New Year’s. If you want to buy a book by an indie author, debut author, and Mississippi author all in one, click on “Hurricane Baby: Stories” in the left-hand menu, then look for the order buttons to the right on the book page. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Three Little Wins

I had a series of small votes of confidence the past two weeks, and I want to share them to show that sometimes it only takes a bit of encouragement to keep going.

I have been invited to speak at Mississippi State University on April 7, 2026, the school I got my BA and MA from. This invite was very exciting, but so was the information that came with it–I’m also going to meet with a creative writing class for a Q&A with graduate students. And they’re going to have read Hurricane Baby as part of the curriculum for the class.

My book will be a textbook for a writing class. I’ll be REQUIRED READING, y’all!

Second–my publisher put out a photo advertising the press’ books. It was labeled “Best of the Best” and captioned “Best Sellers”. And Hurricane Baby was in the shot! (I have no way of knowing if I’m really a best seller–but it looks good in my Facebook feed!)

Number three–I got an email congratulating me on my new book, and the writer said he looked forward to getting a copy and reading it so he could nominate it for the Mississippi Arts and Letters Fiction Award. I was stunned. I barely know this person–and he has this kind of belief in my work? AMAZING.

Like I said, small encouragements. And maybe I’m reading too much into them. But they helped me break through my imposter syndrome and actually write on my new work-in-progress. And that’s a big something for me.

Happy writing, y’all!

Candy-Store Problem

A candy-store problem is when you have a lot of choices, and all of them are good–or at least not bad.

I have four ideas for books–a paranormal novel, a double murder mystery with a twist, a father-son relationship novel, and a mother-daughters novel. I have been trying to work on the paranormal novel as it’s an old manuscript that would need to be rewritten, as is the double murder mystery. The other two are fully outlined from beginning to end.

The murder mystery feels the most like a conventional genre book and the most commercial. The paranormal one feels like another small press book with the twists and turns it takes. The other two feel more conventional as well.

When I set back out doing this, I decided I would rewrite the four older manuscripts first, querying indie and small presses for the first three (Hurricane Baby, Looking for Home, and the paranormal book) and query agents for the murder mystery to see if I could get a Big 5 deal. Then I’d write the other two from scratch and maybe be of age to retire if I wanted to or try to think up new ideas if I didn’t.

Now I am wondering whether that’s the proper path to take.

But at least my choices are all good because they all involve writing!

So please think about me in the next few weeks as I chew over my choices. Happy writing to you all!

Upcoming Schedule

Well, it seems for a bit that I’m back on the travel circuit–I made a stop at a storied bookstore this weekend, go to a celebration of another tomorrow, and then travel for a friend’s book launch the first of November.

Yesterday Bob and I went to Oxford, Mississippi–former home of American novelist William Faulkner and of the University of Mississippi, home of the state-supported residential MFA program. Writing is in the very air there–literally everyone in Oxford is working on a book, if the gossip is to be believed.

To that end, Oxford also features a set of independent bookstores–Square Books, featuring adult contemporary works; Square Books, Jr., housing children’s books; Off Square Books, purveyor of extra and remaindered books, and Rare Square Books, repository of difficult-to-find editions. We visited Square Books because I had talked with them about doing an event earlier this year. We never had settled out how to make that happen, but I did know they stocked some of my books on the shelf.

We went in and were greeted by owner Richard Howorth–we told him it was our first time to be there, so he pointed out the different sections of the store. I introduced myself and mentioned that I’d like to sign the copies of Hurricane Baby they had, so we hunted them up in the Mississippi authors section, and I borrowed a pen from the front counter and signed then, with my hand shaking a bit as it’s prone to do. They seemed very appreciative of that, and we spent sometimes wandering around looking at everything. So that was fun to meet everyone.

Tomorrow I go to Jackson’s independent bookstore, Lemuria Books, for their 50th birthday celebration. I’m just going to go and visit for a bit and tell them how much I appreciate their support over my author journey. Probably will also mention that I have a new book under contract and get that news out and circulating.

Then on November 1, my friend Shannon Evans is releasing a pair of new books, both on antebellum homes in Columbus, Mississippi. Wisteria Place: A House of History and Haunting and Riverview: A Monument to Greek Revival Architecture are pocket histories of these homes that came to define to cityscape of the town of Columbus. And she invited Bob and I to her event, actually being held at Wisteria Place. So we look forward to that.

Anyway. Next week I can update you all on the progress on my second book and where its development stands as of that point. Happy reading and writing, everyone!

THE GOOD NEWS!

Last month, on September 23, the day after I had a very good birthday celebration, our home phone rang during dinner. We constantly get phone solicitor calls at our house, and I assumed this would be one of those. My husband Bob picked it up and said hello.

After a second, he said, “May I ask who’s calling?”

Another few seconds, and he handed the phone to me. “Amy Wilson from something press.”

I wondered what this was about. I took the phone. “Hello?”

The woman introduced herself to me as well and then said, “You know, some information I just think ought not be in an email—the phone can be more personal. I read your book, Looking for Home, and I love it! Would you like to publish it with me?”

I sat back in my chair, absolutely floored. It had taken a solid year to sell Hurricane Baby: Stories. I’d been querying Looking for Home for not quite two months—and here was an offer! Was she serious?!

So I started thinking aloud—I asked what the terms were, how was the contract set up, etc. She gave me some information about that. I asked if I could have the rest of the week to check with other publishers who still had the book to see if they wanted to counteroffer, and she agreed to that. She said she would get a hard-copy contract drawn up, sent to me, I could look over it, and then if it was satisfactory, I could sign it and send it back.

During the whole time we were talking, my mind was yammering away in the background, “You sold your second book. You sold your second book. YOU SOLD YOUR SECOND BOOK!”

After we finished talking, I looked over at Bob, who was looking at me with an expectant look on his face. I said, “Well, I just sold Looking for Home.”

I told him what she had said about the contract. So we waited.

She emailed me on Thursday, October 2, that she’d mailed the contract in a priority envelope. I received it the next Monday, looked it over, and then sent it back with my signature.

So we’ve been exchanging emails with questions and answers and details ever since.

Looking for Home is now under contract with Red Dirt Press of Oklahoma with a tentative release date of October 2026!

Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive of my work as I embark on this new author journey! Come on along for the ride!

Meeting the Moment

I’ve started wondering what exactly I need to be writing about.

I’ve got a novel idea that excited me for a while.

But the wackier this country is getting, the more I wonder if I need to be using my voice, small as it is, to do more than just fret about that.

I was schooled on the idea of journalists as objective observers of the actions of the body politic–good, bad, or indifferent. I tried to embody that in my writing, giving readers facts to let them make their own conclusions. This tack was pretty easy when I was doing features coverage: who, what, when, where, why, and how pretty much covered it.

Then I got into investigative reporting on mental health issues in my state–a topic very close to home given my diagnosis of bipolar disorder. I wrote and wrote and wrote–exposed, exposed, and exposed–and exactly nothing changed in practical terms. A few new laws got passed about training more people and setting up a new task force to replace the last task force, but that was all.

And I got burned out.

I could not see how someone involved in mental health matters could have read my work and not come away with a resolve to do what they could to change matters. But it seems they could.

I had been raising awareness for almost twenty years. I was tired of raising awareness. I wanted action. And it wasn’t forthcoming.

Now this country is on a collision course with history. I’m in the catbird seat to watch it–older, wiser, jaded, smart enough to able to see clearly through the smoke and mirrors, and seriously wondering where all my ideals went.

If we are no longer a free society, then what are we?

I’ve skated through life being comfortable with my political ideology as a moderate–suspicious of extremists of any flavor. I still feel that people can be trusted to make good decisions when given all the facts. But the very concept of what constitutes a fact is under attack from every conceivable direction these days.

What should we, as writers, do? It no longer seems to matter if we expose corruption as there’s no guarantee it will ever be prosecuted. No one seems to be interested in reading or hearing about government malfeasance unless the content already fits their own narrative.

I believe the answer is to write anyway. At least you can go to bed and sleep soundly, knowing you did your part.

I don’t know what this means for me yet. But I’m ready to find out.

Mississippi Book Festival 2025

I went again to this year’s book festival and had a wonderful time–I met MJ there and we walked around saying hello to everyone I knew. I also met several new people that I had not before, like the folks in charge of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, the University of Southern Mississippi Creative Writing program, the future Greenfield Residency program, and the Hancock County Library programs. Really neat organizations that I hope can continue on even as support for the arts is dwindling here.

I’m feeling at loose ends. My enthusiasm for my new manuscript suddenly disappeared last week. It was very disturbing. And I’m not quite able to figure out how to find it again. I may just have to do some for-my-eyes-only writing to figure out my why and what I actually want to do with the project. I may wait until I sell my current manuscript to start back on it in earnest since the energy is not there at this point. We will see.

But one of the sessions yesterday was very illuminating on what may have happened–the moderator, Steve Almond, said that you need to write what you’re obsessed about. When I first wrote the manuscript, I had an obsession–to explore the relationship between these two characters and see where it would go. But now I’m turning it into a very different book–about how the female lead overcomes when her life suddenly falls apart. I need to figure out why readers should care about this character. So I think that’s where I’m going to direct my efforts.

Happy writing, everybody!