May Newsletter
Fantasy versus Reality
Holy heck, where did that month go!? I feel like I just sat down at my computer a few minutes ago welcoming spring and now I’m planning my kid’s first summer vacation adventure. There are times this life flies by so fast it doesn’t even feel real.
My fourth book (MILF) came out this month, and truth be told my expectations were medium to low. Mother’s Day is such a specific holiday, one that holds some hard feelings for a lot of people, that I wasn’t sure how well it would be received. Plus we’re in the midst of an Amazon boycott which any indie author can tell you is doing hell on our numbers.
Now if talking about things like dollars, or pages read, or number of new followers makes you uncomfy you can skip this part. But for me, these are also the realities of being an indie author. Sometimes it sucks a little…But then last week, two things happened.
A friend of mine let me know that MILF had been featured in a popular smutty newsletter and then subsequently that same day I got the final confirmation I’d be attending my first ever book convention (more on that below). Reader, I have to tell you - I cried! The overwhelming feeling of being seen as a REAL author swept me up in a tempest and I laid my head on my desk at work as tears sprung to my eyes. And as the week went on, the impact of those two separate events caused my sales and exposure to grow. A literal dream come true.
But it’s the fantasy that drives me to keep going. It’s every person who shares their favorite parts in my inbox. It’s my sister screaming “NY Times Best Seller” every time I publish a new book. It’s seeing that number of page reads and orders continue to grow and grow.
Because the reality is, if I want to be successful I need to treat it as a business. But if I want to love it, I need to lean into the fantasy. I need to dream big enough to see my books in stores across the country, but I need to think smart enough to know I still need my day job for health insurance. Fantasy versus reality - two sides of the same coin that makes up this author’s very real world.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
