Good Monday, everyone! For those of you who celebrated Easter yesterday, my best wishes. I spent the weekend breaking fingernails and pinching skin on my hands as I assembled a desk and dresser from Ikea. Our youngest is no longer a little girl, and the time had come to revamp her bedroom. The bunk beds will be donated sometime this week, I think. She’s loving her new space, so the sore muscles were worth it.
In some ways, spending a couple hours figuring out the furniture was a welcome break from checking sales and seeing them go nowhere. One of the most frustrating things about being an author is knowing you put so much work into a story and no one wants to read it. I take that back. People do want to read it. Sometimes. But they don’t always want to pay for it. I’ve lost count of the number of people who thought I should give them a copy of one of my books over buying them. That’s not being supportive of the author. That’s being a cheapskate who thinks the time the author spent writing it, the artist spent on the cover, the editor and proofreader spent making it as perfect as possible isn’t worth $0.99.
Going a few days, or longer, without a sale is never fun. Every author encounters this at some point, especially those of us early in our careers. It’s depressing, discouraging and generally peeves us to no end. Then the doubt sets in. What’s wrong with my book? Is it the title? Is the blurb putting them off? What about the people I met at the con/grocery store/hair salon? They said it looked interesting and they’d look into getting a copy. So, why haven’t I seen a single sale?
It’s almost enough some days to give up writing entirely. And some authors do.
The thing is, you can’t force anyone to buy your books any more than a shoe company can force someone to buy their shoes or a t.v. station can compel you to watch their shows. You have to find that inner strength, the one you relied on so much when you submitted your first m/s. You remember the thrill of seeing even a single sale, and hope that your stats will change in an hour/day/week. And you keep writing. Keep promoting. Keep hoping.
Have I got a following? I think so, at least the basis of one. I’ve got about 150 followers to this blog, over 2k on Twitter, and over 800 on FB. I also know fewer than 10% of them have ever bought one of my titles. That’s just part of the business. Maybe one day one of you will decide my ramblings here have interested you enough that you’ll pick up one of my books. Or someone on Twitter will retweet one of my book links and ten new people will see it and check it out. It’s the great unknown.
Every day, every hour, your sales can change. Sure, some days it feels like I’m preaching to the choir or pushing the boulder the size of my minivan up a really steep hill. But I won’t give up. I worked too hard to get here. I can work some more.
BB
(P.s. Here’s all the links in case you missed them earlier!)
Amazon – Kindle/Daughter of Hauk: http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Raven-Chronicles-KateMarie-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HG15SBM/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373492&sr=8-2&keywords=katemarie+collins
Amazon – Kindle/Son of Corse: http://www.amazon.com/Corse-Raven-Chronicles-KateMarie-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HFF3MUS/ref=sr_1_5_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373492&sr=8-5&keywords=katemarie+collins
Amazon – Kindle/Mark of the Successor: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Successor-KateMarie-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HFF3SH0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1389373492
Amazon – Kindle/Kick the Can: http://www.amazon.com/Kick-Can-KateMarie-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HG15R36/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373492&sr=8-3&keywords=katemarie+collins
Amazon – Kindle/The Strength Within: http://www.amazon.com/Strength-Within-P-Estelle-ebook/dp/B00H2SVIS6/ref=sr_1_8_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373492&sr=8-8&keywords=katemarie+collins
Amazon – Kindle/Looking At The Light: http://www.amazon.com/Looking-The-Light-KateMarie-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HJY0GRM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373492&sr=8-6&keywords=katemarie+collins
Amazon – Kindle/A Stab at the Dark: http://www.amazon.com/A-Stab-At-The-Dark-ebook/dp/B00HJYZAXM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1389373492&sr=8-7&keywords=katemarie+collins
Amazon – Paperback/Daughter of Hauk: http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Of-Hauk-KateMarie-Collins/dp/1475230338/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335468615&sr=8-1
Amazon – Paperback/Mark of the Successor: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Successor-KateMarie-Collins/dp/1491298162/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377528453&sr=1-1&keywords=mark+of+the+successor
Amazon – Paperback/Son of Corse: http://www.amazon.com/Son-Corse-Raven-Chronicles-Volume/dp/1492837970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382546541&sr=8-1&keywords=Son+of+Corse
Amazon – Kindle/Fin’s Magic: http://www.amazon.com/Fins-Magic-Amari-KateMarie-Collins-ebook/dp/B00J7X1DQG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1396230750&sr=1-1&keywords=fin%27s+magic
Barnes & Noble – Nook/Fin’s Magic: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fins-magic-katemarie-collins/1118958910?ean=2940149453931
Smashwords – Fin’s Magic (multiple platforms): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/420044
Twitter: @DaughterHauk
FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/KateMarie-Collins/217255151699492
K. M. Warfield 
This was the “shot in the arm” that I needed today, Kate. Thanks much for the great post!
Glad to help, Penny! I’ve been fighting the feeling for almost a week now and the distraction of furniture assembly helped me regain my perspective.
Amazing to see others feel the same frustrations that I do. Thanks for the uplift.
Hi, Kate. Thanks for the boost. I definitely know where you’re at. Let’s keep supporting each other as authors. No one else gets the ups and downs of the industry like we do. I hope that one day I can quite my side job/jobs (LOL) and write full time. That’s my goal. Until then, keep plugging away, right? 🙂
By the way, I’ve nominated your blog for the Liebster award. I sent an email as well. Here is my post that mentions your blog: http://marielavender.blogspot.com/2014/04/liebster-award-nomination.html
Please follow the instructions so you can claim your award.