OK With Not Recovering Costs

Money. Money. Money. That’s what some potential novelists think about when they enter into the decision on trying to get their book next to a BUY button.

The first thing an author does is to research how to get their books published. And the first thing that they see are these someones. Then, they make a chart of: “them” versus “me“.

They hear all about how much someone else is making; how someone else was able to leave their day jobs; how someone else’s novels are soooo popular; how someone else is getting hundred and thousands of hits on their blog sites a day…. But then when they get into the arena, they’re bombarded with disappointment because their books aren’t selling, or not selling as well as the someone else’s, and they’re not as popular, and no one sees them. They then sulk in a corner, degrade themselves for being failures or tell themselves that they weren’t good at writing anyway, and they disappear from the scene, never to achieve their dreams at all.

I’ve talked about this before, and I wanted to talk about it again. I wish there was an entire blog on the How To Be Successful…Actual Answers. In fact, I wish every single author would write the honesty of being a success. And at every online site there should be a statement as follows:

Their numbers will NOT predict MY success

That statement should be branded into every new author’s mind and have temporary tatooes stamped on the back of both of their typing hands for one week of every quarterly period of the year.

And, again, if you hear writers stating that they don’t write for the money and they don’t care who reads their work and that they’re writing for THEMSELVES, then they are NOT authors…they’re writing DIARIES. An author has something they want to say and they want to say it to someone, a group of someones, or to the entire world. That is what an author is. That is what defines a novelist.

And Money Is Just The Icing On The Cake.

Yes, I spend a lot of money getting my books together and putting this business (and yes, it’s a business) together. I spent a lot more money than I will get back in sells. However, as I stated before as to the WHY I decided self-publishing, I feel that putting money into something you LOVE to do is not a waste at all. Heck, I spent more on my wedding day, for ONE day, than I have on my novels, and my wedding day was in 2008! Also, grant it, I’m not the type of woman who shops, or get my hair “did”, or get my nails done, or wear make-up. I only shop for clothes maybe once a year, and I wear the same pair of shoes to work daily until I have to replace them. So, for me, spending all this money on my novels and not recovery costs is okay. I put my money into buying something I enjoy just like everyone else who spends money shopping. It equals about the same anyway.

So, in the end, one has to think about the WHY they are putting an effort, and your money, into a novel. Think about a realistic goal, and remember that the J.K. Rowling’s and the Amanda Hocking’s are really Lotto winners…and we know how much of a chance it is to win the Lotto, right?

Remember those statement that you made to want to reach just one, just ONE reader, “…and I will be happy!” And when you reach that goal, then what you need to do is try for one more….just ONE.

Currently, I’m up to three buys a month. Yep, just three. For two years I had no buys. But now, somehow, ONE more person has found me. And then another. And then another.

When I have more items on my virtual book store to sell, I’m hoping that will increase. Until then, I will travel the road of the Lone Self-Publisher and be Happy!