When grandeur from a novel doesn’t come readily, people give up.
It is hard to carry on when you hear of those shouting their victories of yet another hundred, or thousand, goal has been reached; their dreams of their novel being purchased excelling and…you are not one of them.
I have watched those with novels suddenly vanish from the internet. Sometimes it is life that comes into play, and one must put their dream on hold for awhile, but I see the difference in those authors, because they say a farewell, and let the social network know that they have more pressing things to attend to. Then there are those that seem to disappear in the middle of a sentence, their URL address only giving an “unknown”.
It can be a lone travel when the purchases of your books is only a trickle. Yet it is the trickle that an author should rejoice in. That is one more person in a sea, an ocean, of billions of people who have found your book and chose to go into their personal pockets to purchase. It is one more pair of eyes, which share in the story you gave. So, yes, months may go by before another pair of eyes set upon your novel, but it is yet ANOTHER that has done so.
Each single, solitary book that is purchased is another step closer to receiving that flood of recognition. A trickle of water can still carve canyons. It takes time. And no, you may not be an Amanda Hocking, a Joe Konrath, a John Locke, but your story will be shared to many, which stands the importance of your story…to be shared.
Do not loose sight that you only write for yourself. If so, then you wouldn’t have it on the internet. It would be locked away, with a latch and key, like a diary should be. Do not fool yourself that money is not one of your goals, because the majority wishes to be famed, and what is fame without fortune. And to have fortune doing something you love is a dream in itself. And if it is not for fame and fortune, then it is for payment to stand self-employed, stand with freedom, to work your own hours to continue your art, your creativity, to share with the world.
When you write, you write alone. When you self-publish, you publish alone. But when one pair of eyes read your words, your voice speaks, and you are alone no more…but now sit with an audience.
Bravo! Well said. It certainly can get discouraging when you see your book just sitting there, or as you said, a trickle of sales only. But, I agree with you completely. One sale is one set of eyes. One person who hopefully enjoyed what you struggled over, what you chose to put out into the world and have people either like or dislike.
Self publishing is not only a lone venture, it is also a very brave one. You set yourself up for either good, bad or ugly reviews. And you must take them all because you have put your book on display.
Thank you for this thoughtful post and encouragement to all who are also lone publishers.
I find it encouraging to hear the other side of the story. We mostly hear of the victories, but not much of the struggle. And those who mention their struggles are on a very different stage than those of us who only WISH we had 10+ (or more) books only sold a day to complain about. Those of us who aren’t selling as much as those who do post their numbers, usually are sitting quietly in their corner, wondering, “What’s wrong with me?” I wanted to discuss that lone publisher situation, and though it feels that way, there are a lot of us who are in the same boat. Thanks for coming by.