My debut novel's out....Now what?

by Kim Van Sickler

Snatched in Gullybrook is the first of the four book's I've written that I've felt was ready to publish. More than ready. I'd spent nearly a year querying the book to agents and hearing back that the book was great...but too edgy. Yes, it's difficult to write a book about sex trafficking of minors as anything other than edgy.

Meanwhile, a human trafficking professor at OSU spent the past year urging me to publish the book so she could recommend it to the students in her massive open online course. I missed her last course. Her next one starts this month (August 2014.)

Did I really want to miss this opportunity again?

Uh, no.

I took the leap. I don't know what I'm doing, but doing it anyway. I enjoyed the publication process with CreateSpace. They were easy to work with, and any issues were resolved quickly and decisively. I loved finding Michael Di Gesu to create my cover art, Michelle Ziegler to develop my website, and Janie Sullivan and Kate Kyle Johnsen to edit my manuscript. Finding Dr. Jacqueline Meshelemiah, during the writing process, to guide me and inspire me. I've been contacting human trafficking organizations, registered to attend a September human trafficking conference, and encouraging book groups to read and discuss this difficult subject.

I decided to donate 10% of the profits I make to organizations that educate about human trafficking or rehabilitate/aid victims.

And I'm working on my next book so that I can take advantage of the momentum created by Snatched in Gullybrook, the first novel set in the sex trade industry and told from three interconnecting viewpoints. (See how I'm choosing to think optimistically, that the book will sell and readers will be looking for my follow-up novel?)

Here's the pitch for Snatched in Gullybrook: Three of Gullybrook’s teens are manipulated, then snatched from the local mall. In their new lives as sex slaves, Megan, Candace, and Sissy, strangers before their abduction, forge a bond with one another that becomes their lifeline.

I've got a giveaway going on Goodreads.

I hope you enter, or that you buy a copy of this book and become part of the "proceeds" I donate to human trafficking charities. I welcome your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, and your recommendations to other readers.

I also welcome your advice. I'm learning as I go. This is a process. I'm in it for the long-term and want to do things the right way. What pearls of wisdom do you have for this debut novelist?