2200 words today. I also have another confession to make.
These past three days, I’ve been traveling on vacation. I went to Wyoming (no Yellowstone unfortunately).
I didn’t miss a single day of writing and still got a lot done. I also listened to several WMG Workshops by Dean Wesley Smith while on the road, so that was a plus.
As usual, my phone was my best friend. I got a lot done while sitting at rest stops and downtime in the hotel room. Did I write as much as I did on my vacation earlier this year? No, but I’ll take what I can get. We didn’t have as much downtime on this trip.
The trip was fun. We spent most of our time in Cheyenne, and we ended with a trip to the Terry Bison Farm. A lot of fun, and some cool animals there (bison, ostrich, goats, etc.). I didn’t care for driving through Nebraska though………#neveragain
Now that I’m back, I’m back at regular speed and my strategy book is humming along now. My 2,000-word daily minimum begins anew today.
As soon as I got home, I unloaded the car, unpacked, and while my family took a nap, I published a book. (My cover designer finished the book while I was away so it was the first thing I tackled when I got home).
I published the Self-Publishing Advice Compendium today. I should be able to announce tomorrow or Wednesday depending on how long it takes to show up at retailers. Feel free to search for it if you want it ahead of time.
Also, I got the paperback and hardcover designs back for Dead Rat Walking so I’ll probably publish those tomorrow. Someone asked about that, so I’ll announce once it’s available.
SOME THOUGHTS ON THINGS
Someone asked last night how I manage so many projects at the same time. It’s a LOT.
I do it because I love it.
But the short answer is because I have a lot of concentration and a willingness to not be so hard on myself if I miss a few things.
Typos on sales pages might happen…I might miss something on the copyright pages or whatever. It’s fine. All of that can be fixed in time.
I’m pretty fearless when it comes to publishing. I don’t let fear or other people’s opinions enter into my workspace.
I’m willing to put my message into the world even if other people laugh at me. People in the real world have laughed at me my whole life—I’ve become immune to it. It’s a superpower.
Look at how many terrible comments I get on my YouTube channel and in one-stars of my books—people accuse me of all sorts of things. Most often, the attacks are personal.
(I’m not talking about people who criticize my content on the basis of the content or the story. I love those people, even if they disagree with me. The fact that my book drove them to write about it means I did something right. I’m talking about TROLLS in this post.)
God bless all of my readers and God especially bless anyone who pays money for my books, but I don’t let other people’s opinions shape my work, good or bad. I have something to say, I say it, and I publish it regardless of how anyone feels about it.
I’m willing to publish books even if no one buys them.
I’m also willing to publish books even if people will hate them.
The group of books I published this past week? I haven’t even checked the sales. I have no clue how they’re doing, and it’s really not that important to me. I don’t care about the reviews either. Sure, I’m happy if people love my books and leave tons of reviews—don’t get me wrong. But it’s not something I monitor or try to control. All I care about is writing the best book I can and doing the best I can in editing and packaging. Every book teaches me SOMETHING, and that’s enough for me.
That’s supremely difficult to do. It takes a lot of courage and willingness to face criticism.
It takes self-confidence to put yourself out there and express an opinion. Many people can’t do that; instead they revert to the mean, which is tearing other people down in order to make themselves feel better.
So, the people who create content and write books get torn down when the truth is that they’re braver and more courageous than any “critic” will ever be.
Many folks will try to tear you down as a writer. What you may not realize is that that person might be having a bad day, or maybe…your book hit them with a bunch of truth that they simply can’t handle, so they’re lashing out at you in response. It usually has nothing to do with you.
If someone doesn’t like your story or book, it’s no big deal. No one is going to prosecute you. Even if they flame you on Twitter, the flames will die down after a few days when they move on to flaming someone else. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and they’re entitled to express it publicly, just like you are. So what they didn’t like it? There’s someone out there who will, and if you withhold your book from the world, you’ll never get to experience the good side of things either.
Plus, readers are smart. They are adults and can make up their own minds about what they want and don’t want to read. And they can spot reviews where the person was just being a jerk. They ignore those type of reviews. Reviews like that say far more about the person than they ever do about the book in question.
Again, that’s hard to internalize when “critical” reviews are the loudest voices in the room. Writers often end up making decisions based on the loudest voices rather than the ones who matter the most—the readers who love their work. Unfortunately, those readers don’t always talk very much. They also don’t always leave reviews, so it might not seem like they exist. But they’re out there.
If I cared about what the critics said about my books and responded accordingly, I’d have quit writing a long time ago. Some readers are brutal, and they intend to hurt you with their words, but they can’t hurt you if you don’t let them.
While critics are beating up my books, I’m writing MORE BOOKS, and I’m speaking to the people who are fans of my stories and books. A decade from now, those critics will still be tearing other people down…and what will they have to show for it? Me—I’ll have a killer catalogue and a tribe of readers. Maybe even a full-time career from this.
Anyway, that’s enough for one night. I’ve got a chapter to finish.
PROGRESS SO FAR
The Self-Publishing Advice Compendium.: (Pre-Beast Mode book): 98,000 words. Published.
How to Write a Novel without an Outline: 43,100 words. With beta readers.
Cold Hard Magic: 50,200 words. Published.
Indie Author Confidential Vol. 7: 14,200 words.
Rat City (Chicago Rat Shifter Book 2): 76,000 words. Published.
Writing App Book: 16,500 words. Ready for cover design.
Writing App Tool: 100% complete
Indie Author Confidential Vol. 6: Published.
