Oh, nice, Kim, that's much more professional. sigh
Well, we already established who I am in real life, haven't we? Big Girl Panties is a phrase I would totally use at work, so I'm using it here. I had a rough week. I had a rough couple of weeks. I took a dive.
I haven't written much of anything since my last blog post, in part because my head still wasn't in the right place. I needed to get this marketing/publicity/promotion stress dealt with first. I'm still working on that part, but at least I found my Big Girl Panties and started doing it!
I bought the eBook, Write It Forward by Bob Mayer. I've given myself a goal. I want 1000 people to read my novel in a year. That's a pretty low goal, but I intend on repeating that next year with a new novel, hopefully for several years. Also, as he points out, we need to revise our goals. Once I reach this one, I can make the next one bigger if I want.
Knowing that I'm ONLY trying to reach 1000 people drops my stress level. I'm hoping to reach a number of people in Medicine Hat with my signing (I have 18 copies to sell from the first batch of 50!). I'm hoping to get visit my old high school this fall and reach students there. I'm planning to beg and plead with my cousins to share my book with their friends, getting more readers that way.
If my tight core, my friends and close family, can each share the book with three people, I'll be thrilled. That'll take my 20-30 copies and reach 60-90 people. I don't know how my online sales are going (I should find out soon with quarterly numbers), but I'm hoping those readers will share my story with others as well.
Note: my goal isn't to sell 1000 copies. If I donate a copy to the library and it is checked out by 5 people, that's 5 reads toward my 1000! My goal isn't money, my goal is sharing my story, finding people who enjoy it. My goal is to make people think, give them a world and characters to escape with, and leave a very tiny stamp on their lives. My big goal, my big reason, I remembered while reading yesterday, is to be a blessing to others. That's what I want. That's why I write, to give those characters a voice and let them be an example or an escape for someone else.
I'm starting small. I'm not trying to make a living at this, I have a day job for that. I'm not trying to be famous, I think I'd hate it. I'm trying to be a blessing, one tiny ray of sunshine in someone's life, even if only for a few hours.
And what do I need to do to be that? My Big Girl Panties! yanks them up Urkel-style, giving herself a wedgie.
I've hated the word profesional probably since I was sixteen when I got my first paying acting gig. True artists need to create, to share their gifts. It's only those who don't understand this who make art about commerce.
ReplyDeleteI think your goals are admirable. There's nothing more meaningful than touching another person's life.
Bravo for facing forward bravely. I'm still stumbling in the dark, uncertain of what to do next. There is only so much one can do to promote an e-book. I'm glad you have acquired a goal and I do believe you'll achieve it.
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