Since this month’s theme is publishing, I decided to have questions to prompt discussions rather than photos to prompt stories. So, authors, what’s your best publishing advice to new writers?

My best advice is to dream small. It’s fine to work on a novel that you hope will become a national bestseller. But don’t pass up other writing opportunities because they don’t fit in with your dream as a novelist.

I joined my local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers because I was working on a Christian novel. When the opportunity came for me to contribute to an anthology of Christian fiction, I jumped at the chance. Although I wanted my novel published, I recognized that this might be the only story of mine to see the light of print.

So I published my first mystery short story in 2018. I heard about a Christmas anthology and submitted “A Rose from the Ashes”. It was published. The publishers liked my mystery short story so much that they wanted to see the next story I wrote. That was A Shadow on the Snow, which became my first published novel.

No, it wasn’t the one I’d been working on for years and years. Shadow was much better. But I wouldn’t have had the chance to develop this new novel if I’d been stubborn about clinging to my original dream of becoming published.

So I’d love to hear from you, authors, what’s your best publishing advice for new writers?