When I first published my novel in kindle format on Amazon
it did mostly out of frustration. I was
tired of the continuous stream of rejection letters flowing into both my
mailbox and inbox. Publishers refused to
look at my work because I didn’t have an agent and agents refused to look at my
work because I had never been published.
I felt like a dog chasing my tail.
How could I force someone to look at me when it seemed apparent that no
one cared to bother with an unknown.
I didn’t
tell anyone my plans to publish, afraid that if I did so, whoever I told would
talk me out of it. As fragile as my ego
is, I knew it wouldn’t take much to convince me that self publishing would be a
foolish mistake. Living in this world of
social media, I was able to announce the publication of my book in such a way
that all my friends could have access to the information at once. I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that I
first declared myself an author on facebook.
I expected my friend to like my new page just because they were being
polite, ignore me altogether or criticize my inability to find a traditional
publisher. Yes, I’m sure some people
liked my page out of reflex because they got a notification telling them to do
so. Others have ignored me. And I am sure that somewhere someone is
talking about me where I can’t hear them and saying things that would make me
feel about the size of an insect. But
those are the things I refuse to focus on.
What has truly touched me is how many of my friends have shared my link
on their own timelines, inviting their friends to like my page and buy my
book. I am even more blown away by how
many of my friends have not only purchased the novel but have taken the time to
read it.
The great
thing about having such low expectations is that it is nearly impossible to be
disappointed by the end result. I didn’t
think anyone would buy my book but people have.
I’m not even close to being able to think of myself as a career author
but I’ve made a step in the right direction.
I feared that my book would be hated, but instead I have received some
very favorable reviews. So I just want
to take a moment to say thank you to the people out there who are supporting
me. I greatly appreciate it.
No comments:
Post a Comment