A Path Worth Taking

An Author’s Dilemma:

A Path Worth Taking is a book I never thought I’d publish. I thought I was done with non-fiction. But I found that Along Came A Gardener, a self-help book and memoir published last year, did did not work as well as I had hoped to attract readers. The problem was the the title, which was inspired by a suicidal teenager I had helped.

Though Along Came A Gardener received good editorial and customer reviews, it was lost in the algorithms that moved sales. Was my title too cute? Was it misleading? I think so.

The title was so misleading, that even though I had published it in self-help and memoir categories, Amazon immediately put the book in nature and gardening categories. Google searches did something similar. This was AI at work. Yikes!

But then I thought, maybe my book was largely invisible because I hadn’t established myself as a therapy guru online. I have twenty-five years experience working as a family therapist, but I don’t have the social media platform that influencers like Mel Robbins, author of Let Them Theory, or Gary John Bishop, author of Stop Doing That Sh*t, have. I don’t do any TED talks either. Nor do I go around the country for any other speaking engagements. It could be that, too.

The Importance of the Right Title and Cover

To find a wider readership, I decided to rework some of the content and get a new book cover and title for my self-help book. A Path Worth Taking was inspired by a photo I took when we visited the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia two years ago. Can you see that this looks like “a path worth taking?”

Taking care of your mental health is a path worth taking, too, which is what my book is about.

A New Cover

Launching a new book is not for the faint of heart. A lot goes into it, as any publisher will tell you. Once I get my ducks in a row, I plan to launch A Path Worth Taking in the late fall or in the spring of 2027. Here’s a look at the new cover!

At the same time, I will keep Along Came A Gardener on the bookshelves online and elsewhere. The contents will be similar, and since it’s already out there and reviewed, it may as well stay.

And A New Website

Along with the spit and polish a new release requires, I’ll be launching an additional website, this one devoted to A Path Worth Taking, which will have posts about what I gleaned from my years working to help people deal with their mental health challenges.

I should have it ready for viewing by my next monthly Substack newsletter, which by the way is free to any subscribers.

A House Full of Strangers

Meanwhile, in May, I launched A House Full of Strangers, a book about the upstairs and downstairs of rooming houses. I am pleased with the reviews so far.

But here’s another book that I didn’t realize would struggle to find readers. It’s because people don’t read books of short stories as much as they read novels. Is this another author’s dilemma? No. I have a shelf full of books of short stories I haven’t read myself. I turn to novels like most readers. Still, I’m happy with how this book turned out.

I discovered that growing up in a rooming house is a unique experience. I was born in one, raised in three different ones, and didn’t leave until I got married.

As a child, I would hear my parents talk about the roomers upstairs. I didn’t jot anything down, but using my memory and imagination, I created A House Full of Strangers, a book of short stories, set in Winnipeg in the 1940s and 1950s, about Ukrainian immigrant landladies, their families, and the people who rent rooms from them. It, too, is getting great reviews. Besides a lovely one from the Seaboard Review of Books, it got a FIVE STAR review from Readers’ Favorite.

The book covers stories that are tragic, inspirational, sexy, comic, coming-of-age, and delightful.

What I’m Reading

I’ve been a fan of Mathias B. Freese for decades now. His latest and possibly last book is the one that resonates with me the most. Straw Shoes is about Ah, a 19th century Chinese farmer in his thirties, who feels that life is rushing by. He looks at the earth he loves and wonders if he is all he can be. His wife has just delivered a baby girl, and though he had wished for a boy to help in the fields, he embraces her.

He runs into an old friend of his father’s who tells him of his father’s daring adventure outside their village when he was a young man. Perphaps it’s not too late for Ah to have an adventure of his own.

I’m halfway through, and am delighting in the philisophical ideas that Fresse weaves into this story of a man hungry from more than he’s been given. The prose flows beautifully and at times I marvel at the images Freese creates with words.

Thanks for Visiting my Blog

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you look out for my new website A Path Worth Taking, coming soon. Any comments are appreciated.