Homecoming

My journey to becoming a self-pubbed author is something I don’t really talk about too much. Not that there is a huge story filled with shocking twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seats, waiting to see what happens–we all know how it ends anyway, right? I’m currently a self-published author who is set to release his 15th book on 9/22/19 (the conclusion to the ‘Just a Dumb Surfer Dude’ series).

‘Just a Dumb Surfer Dude 3: Summer Hearts‘ – just in case you want to pre-order it…

Since I started my journey as a self-published author, I assumed that it was the path I was going to be on until either I realized it wasn’t working out or I decided that I was tired of writing, whichever came first. Fortunately for me, I’ve sold enough books and had a decent response so that I wasn’t forced to “stop wasting my time.” There were people who enjoyed my books and characters and I had a reason to write. I’m so grateful for that.

However, there always comes a point in every career where a person has to reassess what they are doing, how they are doing it, and if they want to keep doing it. I’ve always been the type of person who is constantly thinking: “And then what?” It’s not a self-defeatist or fatalist thing that I do, I’m just always considering if my expectations are being met or if they’ve maybe changed so that I have to change the way I am doing things.

This madness of mine is what has led me to make a decision. An opportunity has presented itself and I decided to take it.

Self-publishing is hard work. A writer puts in really long hours, loses sleep, has to spend their own money to get book covers, editing, proofreading, marketing…and it’s hard to spend time on writing when you’re worried about book-related tasks that aren’t writing. It can be extremely exhausting. At some point, we all reach our breaking point, right?

September will be my last month as a self-published author because I will (along with a few other authors) be joining a start-up independent publishing imprint and they will release all of my future books. There are still a lot of details being ironed out so I don’t have a lot of information for everyone at this time. However, I’m super excited for this move and have already had so many wonderful experiences with the people at the imprint (though they are few right now). We’ve already worked out details for the next SIX BOOKS after JaSD3! The best part? I mostly just have to worry about writing. There will be other people who worry about the other aspects of publishing.

If you hear some strange sound, that’s just me sighing with relief.

While this means I will have less control over certain aspects of publishing my books, I’m fully confident that I will be working with people who really want to help cultivate my writing career and do right by my stories and characters. But they’re also interested in trying new things and aren’t afraid of failing from time to time. They are my people! It truly feels like a home and a family.

Again, I do not have many details right now that I can share, but I can tell you about the next six books coming out after JaSD3 (not in order of scheduled publication – that has yet to be determined):

A Boy Called Never – an LGBTQ YA/historical fiction/genfic mashup. Sometimes you have to look to the past to deal with the present.

A Million Little Souls – an LGBTQ YA fantasy story. Four high school kids receive mysterious invitations to visit the library at night.

It Means Something Different – an LGBTQ magical realism/genfic story. What does a guy do when the man he loves turns out not to be who he thought he was?

Between Enzo & The Universe – an LGBTQ New Adult story. When it seems like the universe is against Enzo, he decides to give it one last chance to be kind to him.

One Brick Kingdom – An MG fantasy story w/ LGBTQ elements. Love and kindness can be found anywhere, even in the roughest of neighborhoods…if you’re just willing to believe it.

Jacob Michaels Is Dead – The 6th and final book in the JMI cycle (I can say this will be out in 2020). Everything you want to know about Rob/Jacob, Oma, Lucas, Jason, Andrew, Carlita, and the rest will be revealed. But…in the end…Jacob Michaels will be dead.

So, we have a lot of stories and characters to share with each other for a while to come still.

My desire to be the best writer I can be, to deliver a better book each time one is released, is paramount in my mind. Moving to an indie imprint will help me achieve that goal so that we can all continue to experience these stories and characters with each other.

And I truly can’t wait to continue that journey with all of you.

Lastly, before I end this long-winded post, as readers of my books and blog – I want you all to know that there will soon be an opportunity for you to receive some FREE goodies from Chase Connor Books in partnership with my new imprint home. Keep an eye open on Twitter and the blog here for details when they become available.

“Just another tasty treat from the gang at Empire Records.”

From the bottom of my heart:

Tremendous Love & Thanks,

Chase