Tag: 2020

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A Shift in Thinking

Pre-pandemic, I thought that signing a deal with a major publishing company was my only ticket to literary success, so I started publishing short stories in hopes that I would attract their attention and build an audience while I focused on my freelance writing business. Then COVID-19 hit. 

All of a sudden, publishing my own full-length novels was a better idea than to wait for professionals to take notice of my work, so I started writing a novel I thought would be enjoyed by a mature audience (likely adult women).

In the last year, I published my first novel, The Ties That Bind (which is the premiere novel in a series I’m writing intended for a mature audience) and my first short story collection, Staycation for the Soul: A Collection of Short Stories. 

I turned the short story that started my foray into publishing, Musings of a Masterpiece (which is available in Staycation for the Soul: A Collection of Short Stories) into a screenplay and my work has been sold and enjoyed by people in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, and Japan. (Which is incredible! Thank you to everyone who has read and purchased my work.)

What’s on the Horizon?

Throughout 2020, my focus has shifted from merely wanting to attract attention from people in the industry to a desire to become a respected professional in publishing as time goes on. (I would like to help other writers as I progress and grow, so I am starting a writers’ group in 2021.)

Though The Ties That Bind is the first novel I published, it’s not the first novel I wrote. I completed my first novel (an untitled work of fantasy intended for readers 16+) in the summer of 2019.

Since we’re in a 28-day lockdown in Ontario, I am focusing on editing and publishing it as soon as possible. 

If you’d like to receive updates and special offers as I continue on my journey, please join my mailing list.

Give life the green light. It’s A Go!

A.F.S. Green     

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2019: Year of the Phoenix

2019 may be the year of the pig in East-Asian/Chinese astrology (it remains so until January 24, 2020), but for yours truly, it has been the year of the Phoenix (like that in ancient Greek folklore).

I burned my preconceived notions and tired formats to the ground through three major shifts and accomplishments in my professional life this year:

  1. I started my own publishing company, It’s A Go Publishing, in order to self-publish electronic short stories available through Amazon (Kindle) and Kobo. Each story is/will be written with a message of hope, empowerment, and inspiration intended to permit each reader to enjoy, pause, and reflect. In time, I seek to build an online following that I will use to leverage a highly coveted publishing deal with a major publishing house for my first novel. Speaking of which,
  2. I completed my first novel earlier this year, which is the first installment of a trilogy. In my pursuit of a literary agent, I have already been the beneficiary of great kindness from other writers and professionals in the publishing industry, who have served as learned cartographers as I continue to navigate my travels through the literary landscape.
  3. I shifted and redefined the focus of my freelance writing business, The Write Results.  

I emerge from the ashes with these experiences and sage lessons as a businesswoman with a new sense of purpose, an impregnable answer for the oh-so-necessary, “What’s my why?” and continued feelings of gratitude for all of those who have helped me along the way. 

Whatever your business- whatever your purpose- I hope that you will join me as I bring the heat in 2020. 

Extinguish the doubts and fears that have been holding you back and illuminate your dreams until your mission is ablaze. Like the Phoenix, rise from the ashes of your past lessons and welcome a renewed, revitalized version of yourself this new year.

It’s A Go, 2020! Let’s light it up! 

Amber Green