SAY SOMETHING HONEST
Posted on December 10, 2018
When I post as a writer, the general rule is to keep it positive and inflate my successes in the hopes that my audience will be prompted to sample more of my novels. And, I'm sure I'll do that again.
Today, though, I want to drop my guard and speak openly without the PR shield in place.
I'm a pretty positive person and have a great attitude about my writing. It's a pure joy to sit down and write. The surge of good feelings and accomplishment show up every time I unleash my creativity. That has never been diminished. This post in no way is about me doubting my craft or indicating I'm saddened by writing.
My ambition and motivation are rock solid and never waver. After all, I'm within striking distance of having written two million words. I'm productive. I've written and published twenty-five novels in less than eight years. A more driven work ethic you'd be hard to find. That's not true. Keith Robinson and I are pretty similar in our overall output.
Writing is what I'm supposed to be doing when I'm not teaching fifth grade. I'm good at it. What I write about contains oodles of imagination and something to say about the human condition. I tackle the search for identity, the hero's journey, coming-of-age trials and tribulations, and social satire within my novels. My projects carry meaning. Pathos is squeezed into the chapters. My life experiences, outlook, and humor are evident on every page.
With all that I have going for me, there's one area of my writing career that is lacking – I just don't have many sales, not the amount that I think I should have. I make enough to afford family pizza night once a month based on my current sales.
I've plugged away recently at promoting my books through free giveaways and promos, resulting in over three thousand free downloads of Irving 1 in the last three months. And while that gave my sales a small bump and earned me a few more nice reviews, I found it underwhelming. I expected to see more reviews and more readers opting to grab the other books in the series as well as other novels in my expansive library.
I can only speculate that those who snatched up the freebies have read some of Irving's adventures at the Questing Academy and either didn't find it to their liking, haven't gotten around to it yet because they download a plethora of freebies, or have read and liked it but haven't pulled the trigger on reading more of my work or posting a very appreciated review. Another thing I tell myself, and many writers do this as well, is that the abundance of indy writers out there creates an ocean of books, so many that it's hard to get noticed. And other media in general is working against me. There are so many options out there.
I'm eager to have a fanbase and feel my work has plenty of merit to put me in the realm of a solid-selling mid-list author with ample reviews. What I mean by that is I see my career leading to a part-time income of $10,000-30,000 a year. I'm not so egotistical as to say that I see myself as a world-class bestseller but freely admit that I play around with that lofty notion in my head, imagining myself appearing on morning news shows to promote my latest and having dinner with Spielberg to work out plot details of the movie version of Irving Wishbutton or The Powers That Flee.
To be clear, writing and publishing two to three books a year will continue. I get too much out of the writing experience to stop. It gives me life fuel, and I grow intellectually and spiritually with each new release.
I would just love to see some more movement on the sales and fan front.
If you are reading this and appreciate my work, please consider snatching up other books I've penned. Take the time to post a review on Amazon or any other outlets would be infinitely appreciated. Direct a friend or family member to trying one of my books. Heck, send out my books as gifts, and I've heard from a few of you who have done just that.
Basically, I'm asking for you to show my inventive creations some love. And, in case you haven't checked my novels out in a while, you have quite a few to choose from.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and oh one more thing. Read The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes. It does work!