Friday, December 18, 2015

My Success Story by T.K. Chapin




T.K. Chapin
Are you struggling with finding the right fit for you in the writing world? Take encouragement by author T.K. Chapin’s experiences when he started on the journey to publication and how he discovered success. ~ Dawn

My Success Story

My success wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for my failures.

Since I first began writing in 2013 and probably up until May of 2015, I spent a lot of time failing. I knew I’d fail when I began, but I also knew failure was required on the path towards success. I’ve always viewed it like treasuring hunting with a metal detector. Sometimes you find something worthless like a rusty old nail other times it’s a worthwhile gem, but every time you have to get through the dirt to find anything.

My journey started with a self-help book for Christian positive thinking. I spent months fine-tuning and editing only to release it and fail miserably. This first encounter of failure was important. It forced me to decide to keep going or move onto a new adventure. I chose to continue on the path of publishing and released a bunch more small books over the course of several months. Some did okay, others horrible, but each one encouraged me to keep going in its own way.

I didn’t start writing fiction until the fall of 2014. Up until that point, I didn’t think writing fiction was an option for me. Ignoring the strong advice of many authors out there, I decided to try out fiction. Chronicles of Kilix was the first one I wrote. It was a young adult sci-fi trilogy. It was an enjoyable experience, but unfortunately they didn’t see much success. My writing was poor and my marketing skills were also. Love Again was the first successful book I had released. It was a Christian Christmas romance and did well enough to help me leave my full time job in January 2015.

Fast forward to May 2015. More mild successes and a majority of failures, I decided to narrow down to Christian Romance. The decision was made after I re-analyzed my fiction titles and saw the success was coming primarily through Christian romances. I was also encouraged to narrow my genre down by the brilliant Dave Chesson of kindlepreneur.com. Once the revamp was done and T.K. Chapin was only Christian romance, that’s when things started heating up. By August of 2015 I was able to land my first BookBub.

I can’t help but laugh a little looking back over the history of writing. I have been a born-again Christian all my life and writing stories that inspire people to set their eyes on God seems like where I should have started out at instead of ended up doing. God wasn’t the reason I started writing books, but He sure is the reason I do now. The books I write illustrate how God can change lives when He is allowed to work in them. It’s by far the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done in my life. Any measurable success I’ve had on this journey is by God’s decision to allow it. Without a formal education or any background in writing, I have no right to be doing this. God’s in control and is blessing my daily in all avenues in my life. He knew when I started where I was going to end up. He knew when I was stuck in the 9-5 job that I’d someday leave the normal job world behind and write stories that lift Him up. He always knew and He always knows. I look forward to what else God has in store for me.






Firefighter Cole Taylor has fought hundreds of fires in his lifetime, but he had never tasted fear until he came to fighting a fire in his own home. Amongst The Flames is a Christian firefighter romance that tackles real-life situations and problems that exist in Christian marriages today. It brings with it passion, love and spiritual depth that will leave you feeling inspired.




T.K. CHAPIN writes Contemporary Christian Romance books designed to inspire and tug on your heart strings. He believes that telling Contemporary Christian Romance stories of faith, love and family help build the faith of Christians and help non-believers see how God can work in the life of believers. He gives all credit for his writing and storytelling ability to God. The majority of the Contemporary Christian Romance novels take place in and around Spokane Washington, his hometown. Chapin makes his home in the beautiful state of Idaho and has the pleasure of raising his step-daughter Emma and two nephews Isaac and Landon with his beautiful wife Crystal. To find out more about T.K. Chapin or his books, visit his website at www.tkchapin.com.

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