Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to F. G. Keel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, F. G. thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. ther times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

Being an author is about writing but also about dealing with constant failure. Each draft of a story is about improving the multitude of imperfections in your work. Once you’ve polished your book as much as you can, it’s time for rejection on a wholesale level.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve submitted my work to almost every literary agent with a working email address and have received nothing but polite rejections. Through this process, I have had many learning experiences, mostly about marketing yourself and your story. You need to replace your writer hat with that of an expert marketer.

In today’s market, publishers want authors who already have a large social media footprint. They want you to do most of the promotional work for them. So I decided to cut out the middle person and self-publish. There are endless resources available for this endeavor, some are incredibly helpful and some are simply exploitative. There’s a different skill set involved in recognizing the differences.

Now, you have so many more avenues to get your novel out to the readers. And like with anything, it takes a lot of learning and hard work, but with persistence, it can be rewarding.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an instructional designer who creates adult training by day, and an author by night (and on the weekends). I got into writing by composing stories for my daughters when they were much younger. After much encouragement from family and friends, I finally started writing stories for everyone in all different genres.

I’m immensely proud of publishing my first novel, The Ring Eternal, in April of this year. I’ve received positive feedback from so many that I’m working on publishing my second book, Trimble Hollow, in January 2025. Self-publishing is a Herculean effort, but it gives me the flexibility to do everything my way,

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The one resource I wish I’d have used is other authors. I relied on family and friends for feedback on my stories in the beginning, which will only take you so far as a writer. Once I joined both an online group of writers and a local AVL writer’s group, my writing went to another level. The comments and suggestions from these folks have only served to make my stories that much better.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding (and terrifying) aspect of being an author is putting my work out for anyone to read. It’s been nothing but positive so far, and there’s something amazing about reaching another person and making a small, yet significant impact on them. Even if it’s only laughter, tears, and an occasional smile, touching someone’s heart and mind with my words is the ultimate prize.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fgkeel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/f.g.keel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/F.G.keel.author
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gene-keel/