I've spent most of my adult life working in high stress positions. Long hours. Long days. Long on responsibility. As I prepared to retire, I wanted to something for me. Check off a box on that bucket list we all have. Release a book, so I would never regret having not tried. I like to call me in the camp of older authors "Playing make a wish before they can't play anything." There are no words to describe how it felt when I hit release on The Girl on the Half Shell, or the awareness that sales meant someone was finally reading my work when I'd never permitted anyone to read any of it. Dozens of books dozens of years alone writing for me.
Then the unthinkable happened, I learned how the business worked. If I wanted people to read the work--and yes, that was the drug driving me, not dollars. Hell, I'm old. What the heck am I going to do with money?--so I learned the business of Indie publishing when this was never supposed to be work.
My typical day for the last two years has gone something like this:
1.First thing start the daily tweet.
2. Start the Facebook blog posting
3. answer reader and other emails.
4. Say hello to husband and start my first pot of coffee of the day.
5. Write from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. every day but Sunday or days I travel. Usually on average 5K words in a half dozen open works in progress.
6. The dreaded check for reviews Amazon/Goodreads, to see what books have changed status in where I can advertise them.
Roll into the mix- having a marriage, having daughters, having a grandson, trying to expand my market presence, trying, trying, trying...yep, that's where I am. Trying Trying Trying phase after 2 years.
Don't get me wrong. I've loved every minute of it and am so grateful to those of you who share your precious time with my work. I just didn't think it would be work or that I'd spend more days looking like swamp thing than getting dress.
It is expensive to release a book--outside of the time an author dedicates to the work, there's dollars, and it makes me sad that so many people criticize a book's cost even at 99cents or like to put in a jab that an author is greedy for creating series and seriels when the rewards of writing have nothing to do with money--so there in lines the rub I face every day.
Do I change what I do and how I do it, my fictional universe, because people think that's "Lazy". You read my books. Are they the project of a lazy writer?
What to charge, what to put a book into, KU or all sales channels, and budgeting what I can release based on the obligations for my sales dollars. And there are many: taxes, and the anywhere for 2-6 people I employee every month. Yep, I run my book business like a jobs program. Zero profit maximum employment. Remember, I'm old what am I going to do with money. And lets face it, I'm a type A. Hard-work and responsibility are in my DNA, and heck, my little social causes are there as well. I am forever proud that my meager talent is such that I can afford to provide jobs to amazing young people who hustle and work every day chasing their dreams.
It's nice to know I lived my dreams: I've met, loved, married and shared my life with the love of my life, my amazing husband Randy. I have wonderful daughters. I got to have a grandchild. I've gotten to travel. I have good people in my life.
I wake up every feeling I still have purpose. It would be easy to lose that in the hard work and the unkind things people sometimes say. But do what you love, do it how you love it, and let everything else go. My motto. It's been working OK thus far in my life. It brought me here to a new phase where I've met so many wonderful people.
There is nothing left to do after a lifetime of work than to give back. So among the many things I feel when someone purchases from me one of my book, it's enormous pleasure that I can pay it forward so someone else might have their dream. I wish people could remember that when they are critical that an author charges for their work. Or worse, when readers put you on a pirate site becaue they've decided to give your work away for free.
As ever I wish you Peace.
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