Are You a Dismayed Writer?

 

Does writing have you down? We writers tend to be a feely bunch, and it’s not uncommon to lose that lovin’ feeling for our craft.

Are you trying to make a living with your words? What we have to remember is that we’re building a business. It takes time, hard work, and patience.

Keep the end in mind

When I first started, I heard that it often takes two years to really get going. So, I kept that in mind. I didn’t expect to earn anything for two years after publishing my first novel in Nov 2012. My first goal was for my royalties to pay for book stuff so that it didn’t come out of my pocket. Then I wanted to earn enough to pay for good promotions.

Do what they say

My main focus was on building my back list. I heard so many successful indies saying: when you do get discovered, you want to have a large back list for your new readers. That was my goal for this year. I wanted to publish 12 titles, and with 11 for the year so far I might just make that. I should, in fact. Barring another family emergency. I didn’t publish a novel every month. Most are novels, yes. In the 60-80k word range. But I also published a couple of shorts, a novella, and a box set.

Do the work

All of this while working a very time consuming job. I’ve been getting up at about 4am six days a week for about two years. I learned how to make the most of my time and how to write more in the same amount of time. It hasn’t been glorious, and neither were my sales for the majority of the time.

Experience the joy

In late October this year, I hit the top 100 free list for the first time with Deception. My sales took a nice jump and stayed there. I was thrilled. Then last Friday I set Gone free and Pixel of Ink picked it up. All I can say is: Oh-my-goodness! I am SO GLAD I have a full back list for all these new readers.

My advice

Know what you’re working toward, listen to the successful indies, set reasonable goals, and dream big.  (Tweet this.)

Make sacrifices and take risks. (Tweet this.)

Appreciate your fans and help other authors. (Tweet this.)

Avoid silly debates and spend your time listening to writing/publishing podcasts. (Tweet this.)

Keep writing, and keep improving. (Tweet this.)

Relish every victory – no matter how small. (Tweet this.)

Take tons of screenshots. (Tweet this.)

Have fun. (Tweet this.)

When you’re not having fun, re-evaluate your goals and keep posts like this bookmarked so you can go back to them when you need them most. (Tweet this.)

This post was inspired by a thread at Kboards. For more inspiration, check out the original thread.