It’s been three years this month since Agatha Annotated was published. Yes, I’m working on my next book. No, it’s not finished yet. And depending on who you talk to, three years means that I’m way overdue.

Agatha Christie was well-known and admired for churning out manuscripts on a regular basis, inspiring the catchphrase “A Christie for Christmas.” A new book every year is still considered the standard for authors, both traditional and self-published. Many in the self-publishing industry advocate publishing four times a year, a new book every season, to sustain their marketing and keep their readers engaged, and some authors publish even more often.

I imagine that authors with those kinds of statistics must be writing full-time. While I do write a lot in my day job, that content is not the book I’m working on. To be fair, my day job is no longer an eight-hour commitment, so there is more time for an author career. But if you are also an independent author, you already know we fill a lot of jobs in addition to “writer.”

Getting books in front of readers is a lot of work. Blogging, Instagramming, social posting, and finding content for all of these outlets take a lot of effort. Beyond digital marketing, there’s searching out and attending author fairs, book talks, and library presentations. There’s creating content for talks and practicing the presentations. One has to order books and pack them for each event, along with the rest of the display, including bookmarks, business cards, book stands, and so on.

Also, since I’m working on a second glossary, there’s time-consuming research. Now, I love to research, but it can be slow-going to track down the facts and wait for experts to reply to my questions. Finding original sources as much as possible is very important to me. I can’t ever trust what is said by Google AI or Wikipedia because both can be very unreliable.

While the next volume of Agatha Annotated should have already been out, I beg some indulgence for having had to renovate a house and move during those years. And there is a silver lining to the wait, too. During that time, we heard from readers who said they wanted to see the glossary terms within the Christie books themselves.

So we have been experimenting with different approaches. Currently, we offer a Kindle version of The Mysterious Affair at Styles that links words in the text to the glossary definition. And in celebration of the 100th anniversary of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, we will soon release a print book that includes the glossary definitions within Christie’s story. We have a few other options in development as well, so stay tuned.

If you are one of those writers who publishes a book – or more – every year, congratulations to you! If, like me, it’s been a few years since your last release, you should still be congratulated. That’s a fabulous achievement not everyone can claim. We each have our own writing rhythm, and I’d better get back to mine!

Photo by Ralf Schmelcher

Photo by Arturo Añez