It has been a year since City Limits Publishing released my debut novel, Sitting on Top of the World. At the time, I knew there was something wrong with the “company,” but I never imagined it would be as bad as it turned out. And instead of rehashing the devastation of having that publisher close doors and ghost all of his authors and staff without paying anyone what they were owed, I want to focus on the positive.

What has happened since that disaster has been so much hard work and so much money spent (advertising, marketing, giveaways, technology costs, etc.), but I have been in control, and the rewards have come in spades:

• I’ve been recognized by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards with a First Horizon Award for debut authors and with the first place award in the Young Adult category, plus I made their Grand Prize shortlist.

• I’ve started a monthly author newsletter and have a pretty good following.

• I’ve built up my social media accounts, learned and tried new things.

• I’ve received several excellent editorial reviews from BookLife, the Historical Fiction Company, the Book Commentary, OnlineBookclub.org, and Self Publishing Review.

• I’ve built up my author website and added a feature so readers can purchase a signed book from me.

• I used ACX to get an audiobook version produced.

• I’m steadily working on a sequel to Sitting on Top of the World, and I have another book idea in the works — both of which I think I’ll self-publish under my Purple Marble Press imprint.

• I have gotten to know some wonderful authors who have become friends.

All of these things make me feel proud, but they also in a way make me feel grateful for the way things happened. If the CLP disaster hadn’t gone down the way it did, I may have never accomplished any of these things. And I know many other CLP-disaster survivors have gone on to do great things despite the setback.

So … here’s to moving on, and here’s to not letting anyone smother your fire.