That's the shirt I am currently wearing--an homage to Arrested Development.
I love a well written TV show or movie, but of course, I prefer a well written book.
That being said, I'm writing again! It's been too long (as you can tell by my lack of blogging, even).
I finally picked up the ol' laptop and have been plunking away for the past few nights, getting my story down. It's amazing what a little motivation can do. I realized something last night--had an epiphany. Before I relay it to you, I'll give you a bit of back story.
I, like every aspiring author, had a dream--a vision, if you will. I could see myself as a full-time writer, no longer having to work an office job to pay the bills, but instead having my bills paid by what I love. The grandest of my dreams was the fame and riches of one J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer--comfortable living with books that everyone was reading.
Recently, I read a blog post by Kevin Kaiser (storysellerpro.com This guy is a genius). He posts about authors: what they're making, how digital changes things, the way the market moves. I read a detailed list of what the author's cut is, and I can tell you it isn't much. Truth be told, it's highly likely that a published author won't make much more than the original advance they receive.
This was followed by details about how those who self-publish their ebooks make their money.
All in all it was interesting stuff, but it got me thinking about how I really want to go about my writing future. When it came down to it, self publishing might give me the opportunity to keep more of "my" money, but it would also mean I rely solely on Amazon as my distribution. People who own Kindles.
There are SO MANY books out there in the Kindle world. I know because I own one. For me to put my book out there, I would only estimate about 100-200 copies being sold, bought by people who know me. These would be the writing gang of Blue Monkeys, my family, and my friends who own Kindles, iPads, and iPhones. My book wouldn't get out there--wouldn't get read. Not only that, but it would hurt my chances of an agent or publisher ever wanting to take that story on. I already would have ruined my chances with more than half of them. And 100-200 people out of the 6.6 Billion in this world...not a very high percentage.
That's when it hit me. The epiphany struck.
I don't care if I make a dime.
The truth and heart of the matter is this: I want my books to be read. I want people to enjoy my story. Sure, I would love to be able to support myself with the checks I earned from writing, but honestly that would just be a bonus--a cherry on top of the sundae.
If I never made one cent off of my book, but a bunch in the world read it, I would be happy. I want to be like Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling in the sense that people enjoy my story. Not the money, and not even the fame. I could write under a ghost name and still be as content.
Just so long as people were reading.
If I had that, I'd never have anything to complain about. All I want is for people to read my stuff.
Now, how do I make that happen? Well, let's just say my life is still "unpublished".
