Adam Oster's Blog, page 46

Fat Mogul vs. The Infant

all three of my little hoodlums…whom I definitely absolutely adore to pieces

I love my kids, absolutely every single last one of them (you know…out of the three I have).  And many may actually believe that I just love kids in general (although, the truth of the matter is that my love for kids is quite limited, boiled down to my own children, and a handful of others).

But you want to know something incredibly secretive…something that I don’t generally tell many people…something that may only be known by my wife?

I really don’t like infants.  My own children included.  Let me clarify that.  I absolutely love my children, even when they were infants…but infants themselves, you know, the whole crying, not sleeping, not being able to feed them enough, crapping their pants, whole tired stressed out father experience…that’s the part that I’m just not interested in.

When my wife and I were first discussing the idea of adding a third child to our family, I was actually quite excited about the idea of adopting a kid, having them come into our family at the ripe old age of ~2, and bypassing those early months of absolutely no sleep and inconsolable crying and all that other jazz that comes with the territory of newborns.

Because that’s the issue with me and babies: I just don’t know how to help them.  I’m a fixer by nature.  I love to fix things.  If my kids have something going on, behavioral issues, moodiness, tiredness, just can’t stop squirming; I love being able to get down to the bottom of it and help them return to their cheerful selves.  With babies, that’s not always possible…not to mention the fact that half the time they are just wanting to get up close and personal with mom, not me.

Which means that when hanging out with a baby, there’s a fair chance that you will spend a grand portion of your time just trying to figure out what the hell is causing them to scream, only to find out that life itself is what is causing it.

I don’t like babies.

I’ve never really felt the baby need.  I remember when my sister had her first kid, my first time at being an uncle.  It was a pretty exciting moment.  I even had my brother in law set up to call me the moment they went into the hospital so I could rush over there.  I ended up ducking out of work early (because I worked overnights at the time) and sat in the waiting room fighting sleep just so I could be there at the moment the little sea monkey arrived.  It was pretty cool getting to see my niece for the first time.  But when they asked me if I wanted to hold her…well, let’s just say that I’ve never been all that keen on infants.

Now, of course, all that was quite different with the births of my own children.  Me and my daughter, the first of my three, instantly bonded (the boys have always been much more connected to their mother, go figure).  And although I may have tried my best to stay all manly and whatever, it’s quite possible that a tear or two of joy may have escaped my eyes at the arrival of each of the three kids.

But that didn’t really change my feeling toward infants.

Now, give me a kid of six months or so, and I’m quite more different in my feelings, but less than six months…

Okay, so, I’ll admit, it’s pretty cool getting to see them figure out how to smile, and giggle.  Oh, and the first time they notice that they have control over their feet.  Or when they try to actually reach out and grab things.  Or when they attempt to sing. Or…

Yeah, I get it, babies are freaking adorable.  Everything is new for them and all they do is try to figure out how to be more human-like.  I’m being absolutely unfair when I say I don’t like babies.

What I don’t like is that it’s quite easy to feel entirely useless when it comes to babies, especially as a father.  With my other two, I can wrangle them all day and night, keep them in life, provide for all their needs, do what needs to be done.  When its me and the baby, whether there’s three kids or just one, I can’t even keep him happy, much less all of them.

Babies take work.  So do kids in general, but babies…I’ve just never figured them out.

That being said…I do absolutely adore the little guy who currently keeps me up at night.  I just wish I knew how to keep him a little bit happier…or asleep.  I could really use some sleep…

Have fun out there!

Marketing Monday: Reading Marketing Books

Note: Not a real “For Dummies” book…

Way back when I decided that I should start making a true effort toward marketing my books, I realized that I should probably take the plunge and actually attempt reading one of the myriad marketing books out there.

This past week, after having a couple sitting on my Kindle since that fateful day months ago, I finally did.

Now, I’m going to start this piece right here by saying that I have only read a small portion of one single book marketing book, and this should, by no means, be considered a true sample of the whole of what’s out there, especially seeing as I hadn’t read more than 40% of the one I did read…and of that, I honestly skipped a lot…and it was a short one.

But, with that being said, there’s a lot I’ve seen in the marketing for book marketing books (that sentence seems a little extra meta than most) which causes me to believe that this really is a fairly good standard by which to measure them.

 

Okay, enough confusing disclaimers already…here’s my thoughts.

There are probably some great books out there on how to market your books.  Considering the wealth of books out there on the subject, I just have to assume (pray, believe, hope upon hope) that there are.  The problem here is just like with any other book on the market…there’s just so damned many of them that you’re going to have a pretty darn hard time finding them.

But here’s the second piece of the puzzle…I’m not certain that these books are going to be able to offer much that you wouldn’t be able to find just by going around and reading all the tons of marketing advice available for free on the internet.  I know that some of my author friends who have been a ton more gung-ho about their marketing efforts (ie. read tons of book marketing books) have come out of their experience with some interesting tips on how they might be able to get more readers.

Of course…some of these tips are ones I consider rather questionable…from the “I’ll give you 5-stars if you give me 5-stars” type of author quid pro quo to the inserting the name of your book as a recommendation at the end of reviews for other books, they all just seem a little too much like dirty pool to me.

And the stuff I’ve seen…well, book marketing books typically seem to be a marketing venture in and of themselves, as they often work as marketing pieces for the other books written by the person who wrote the book you’re reading.  It often goes like this, “When I was marketing my book [INSERT TITLE HERE], I often found myself having lots of trouble finding good ways to do so.  Sure, I might have had [INSERT RELATIVELY FAMOUS NAME HERE] telling me my book was awesome, but I couldn’t get anyone to read it.”  In fact… the marketing book I read (a portion of) was filled with little comments like these.  And, honestly…I didn’t get much for marketing advice out of the part I read outside of “don’t be a jerk to your fans”.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it countless times again in the future (until it’s somehow not true…which I hope actually happens someday): No one today knows how to market a book effectively.  Sure, there are things that might help, there are definitely things you can do to increase your own exposure…but what everyone is looking for out of these book marketing books (perhaps I should start calling them BM books?) is that quick fix, that single thing that will skyrocket them to immediate success…the lottery method.

You need to market your books.  I may be the biggest hater of marketing in general, but I assure you that you absolutely MUST market your books if you ever hope to sell them.  You can’t just expect your friends and family to do all the work for you, even if they still will probably be accountable for a larger portion of your success than anything else.

And in order to market your books effectively, you need to read as much advice as you can to get ideas on methods in which to increase your exposure.  I don’t think anyone reading this would ever assume that they immediately have all the ideas possible on how to get their books in front of readers.

But BM books are a dangerous road.  If you have the time, definitely dig in and read as many of them as you want (hopefully you aren’t pouring too much money into them).  I would assume that a fair number of them regurgitate things you can find for free on the internet, which can be a great thing if you’re somehow having difficulty finding the free ones, or just don’t have the time behind a computer to look for them.

But realize one important fact: Most people writing BM books are really just looking for you to buy their other books.  The advice contained within, for many of these books anyways, is often advice that everyone else is already saying, not anything new that will cause you to suddenly have a new view on how to make your books more market-available.

And no matter how you go about your researching on how to market, you’re going to have to dedicate a ton of time toward it.

Good luck!  And have fun out there!

Flash Fiction Friday: The Interview (no…not THAT The Interview)

It might be possible that I am, at the moment of writing this, mentally preparing for an actual job interview and thinking about all the terrible things that can go along with sitting in a room trying to convince someone that they want you for a job…maybe.

 

“Please have a seat over there, Mr. Smith.  Ms. Johnson will be right out for you shortly.”

Okay, I think to myself as I straighten my tie for the 400th time this morning.  Almost there.  Take a deep breath. Oh crap, what’s the smell?  That’s not my breath is it?

I breathe into my hands, attempting to do so as inconspicuously as possible.

No, I don’t think that’s it.  All the same, I really wish I had remembered to bring a breath mint.  Wouldn’t have hurt.  Why the hell didn’t I bring a breath mint?

Not that I ever use them or anything.

Jeez…calm down, Marcus.  We’ll get through this.

I look down at my lap and notice my shirt laying funny against my stomach.  Looking around, I see no one appears to be looking my direction, so I lay my resume down on the table beside me and smooth out the shirt against myself, tucking the extra fabric into my pants as I keep an eye at the receptionist to make sure she doesn’t happen to glance my way.

Another deep breath.

“Mr. Smith,” the receptionist says loudly.

I jump in my seat before standing at attention.

“Yes?” I say, then curse myself for sounding a little too eager.

“Ms. Johnson says she’ll be just another minute.  Would you care for a cup of coffee?”

Oh crap, I mutter inwardly.  Coffee would probably be a great way to mask any sort of breath issues, but what do they always say about interview etiquette?  Is it that you should always take something if offered, or NEVER take something when offered?

I can never remember this stuff.  I really should probably actually read one of those Preparing for a Job Interview books sometime, they would probably make it a whole lot easier on me for moments like this.

I mean, what’s the worst that could happen if I take the coffee?  On the bright side, it might wake me up a little.  I’m feeling way too sluggish.

“Mr. Smith?”

“Oh, yeah.  Sorry.  Yeah, I’d love some coffee.  Where would I go to get it?”

“I’ll get it for you, Mr. Smith,” she says as she happily gets up from her chair and goes into an adjoining room.

Crap!  Now I’ve made her do extra work.  It might not mean anything against the interview itself, but I’d hate for the receptionist to have a bad vibe about me right off the bat.  Jeez, I shouldn’t have gotten the coffee.  It was a terrible idea.  What if I spill some on my resume, or on my shirt, or my pants, or–

“Would you like cream or sugar, Mr. Smith?” the receptionist asks as she pokes her head back into the foyer.

“Black is fine, thanks,” I reply, suddenly cursing myself that I completely forgot the name she gave me when she introduced herself.  Actually, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I know her from somewhere.  Wasn’t she a friend of Langdon’s?  Crap, if she remembers me and I didn’t act like I remembered her, that’s probably a strike against me as well, isn’t it?

“Here you go, Mr. Smith,” she says as she strides toward me with a steaming black mug in her hands.  I stand, awkwardly, and retrieve the mug from her.

“Mr. Smith?” a voice says from behind me.  I turn a see a tall brunette looking at me, a curious smirk on her face.

Damn!  I knew I shouldn’t have taken the coffee.

“Ms. Johnson?” I ask, knowing the answer already from the research I had done on her earlier in the week.  I hastily retrieve my resume off the table before realizing she’s got her hand out to shake mine.

I shove the resume under an arm and shuffle the coffee mug into my left hand to accept the gesture.

Her smile grows wider.

“I hope you don’t mind that we’re going to have a few other people join us in the interview today.  We’ve got three different supervisors looking for someone and we thought this might work easier.”

“Not a problem at all,” I gulp.  Three supervisors for the same interview?  I mean, I guess that means I’ve got a better chance of getting the job, but, I’m just not prepared for that.

I’ll be fine, I mentally remind myself as I take a quiet deep breath.  I’ll be fine.

“Right this way, Mr. Smith.  I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

Crap, she noticed that I’m nervous.

I hate job interviews!

 

Fat Mogul vs. Tidbit Thursday

Turns out that I may already be considering the death of one of our weekly features here on the new and improved Adam Oster blog.  Tidbit Thursday…Honestly, even when I came up with the feature, I really had no clue of what it entailed.  Sure, I had thought that it might be a great opportunity to reveal some of the countless pieces of information that rattles around inside my head…but even writing that stuff has felt boring…can’t imagine it’s all that much fun to read.

This week, I’m taking off on the Tidbits to allow my brain to think about whether or not I actually want to come back to it.

If you have feelings one way or the other, definitely hit me up in the comments here or on facebook, or wherever.  I’d definitely be interested to know if folks are getting any enjoyment out of this feature before I ax it.

Fat Mogul vs. eCalibre

Today I want to let you in on a little secret…a secret that, for whatever reason, it appears that almost no authors know about.  eCalibre.

It’s a real tragedy that so many authors appear unaware of this little piece of software, because if they knew about it, it would quickly become their second most important tool in their editing arsenal (after their Kindle of course).

And, even more crazy:  It’s Free!

So, now that I’ve done a terrible job of introducing it (good thing I’m not actually being asked to pimp this product by anyone and am just doing it to save you all a whole lot of trouble), maybe I should give you a little info about eCalibre…most specifically, what the heck it is.

It’s simple.  It’s a program that converts one type of document into another.  Of course, those “others” are all of the possible different ebook formats you could possibly want.  Want to ship your book out to your beta readers, but they keep complaining about how PDFs work on their ereaders?  Well, eCalibre allows you to easily create the best file format for their device to keep the reading experience as easy as possible, so they can focus more on finding plotholes than trying to read tiny print.

Even better….this program is so incredibly simple to use.  You simply add a book to your ‘library’ and then choose the convert button, and then tell it what file format you want.  Within a minute of having the program downloaded, you should be able to have an ePUB, MOBI, or even an AZW3 of your work in progress available to load onto any reading device you might desire.

You know why I love this program so much?  I mean, I love making things easier for my beta readers…but really, at my heart, I’m pretty selfish.  And when I start the official editing process, I like to just give the book a full read through.  I click a few buttons (including the send to kindle button, courtesy of amazon), and I’ve got my book up on my kindle and ready to read.  No formatting needed.

Seriously…if you haven’t added this free and easy tool to your arsenal yet, you’re missing out.  Especially if you ever try to get folks to read early editions of your books.  It’s almost like you’re trying to get them to not actually read them

That’s it for today.  Have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. The Vacation (A Retrospective)

I’ve been back from vacation for a couple weeks now (well, you know, as I sit down to write this anyways), and although I had my comments previously (which were written before I even left) about how I might feel coming back from vacation, I haven’t really taken the time to, you know, say anything for real about it here.

And, I ran out of things to talk about…

I’ve been in severe burn out mode over the past few months (years?).  A job that I really should get out of, a work-in-progress that I just can’t seem to complete, months without sun, house repairs that just never seem to end, constant attempts at marketing (I hate marketing), and the list could really go on.  These aren’t all terrible by any means, but have really just completely burned me out.  I needed a break.  And seeing as it had been about 2 years since the last time the Osters got out of the house as a family for anything more than a couple days…well..it was very much needed.

In fact, if you had seen my kids during the couple weeks leading up to our vacation, it would have been VERY apparent how much we all just needed to get a break from the routine.

Did the break work?  Maybe…I’m still on the fence about that…mostly because we’re all still exhausted.  Partially from the vacation itself, partially from the infant who doesn’t sleep through the night yet (not that he’s expected to), and partially from the illnesses that seem to be plowing through the Midwest right now…and keep hitting our house.

I think once rest finally hits the Oster house fully, we’ll actually be a lot better for everything.

And here’s why:

You see…one of the bigger issues about our routine, at least for me, is that we too often get stuck in our own daily lives.  Between work, housecleaning, cooking, preparing the kids to go out of the house or to sleep or whatever, running errands and the whole host of other things that are involved in being an adult human today…me and my wife sometimes have very little time to focus on the little ones.  This has been even more true with the arrival of the newest little one…who, you know, still likes to be held a majority of the time.

My kids, also, have their own things going on, between day care/school, homework, after school activities, sleeping, and whatever else.

I mean, seriously, although we’re still one of those families who eat our meals together and have our evenings together and go out and do all sorts of activities together, it’s really felt like we haven’t had much for family time together in the recent months (years?).

And that’s what’s so great about vacations.  Sure, we might have gone to Disney World, but I think that was probably more of a hindrance to our vacation enjoyment than it was assisting.  Vacations allow for those summer-like moments where all you have to do is have fun.  There’s no mental notes about the need to get out to Target to pick up coffee and toilet paper before dinner (although, with Disney World, there is the rather similar thoughts about how you need to get to Space Mountain before dinner so you can use your fastpass, and maybe hit up the people mover before hand just to keep the kids from breaking down…).

Vacation allows those multitudes of tasks to melt away so your focus can be directly on what it should be on all the time anyways…the family.

Yes, there were some pretty big stressors that came about during our time outside in the sun.  There were more than a number of break downs for each and every person on this vacation with us.  No, I didn’t get to drink around the World Showcase at Epcot.  But I did get to watch my son dance with Mrs. Incredible, my daughter squeal as she worked as a secret agent, and my infant son have a pacifier-spitting-out-moment-in-awe as Frozone came over to give him special attention.  I got to kick back and rush through World Showcase with my wife as we searched for a place to get our drink on before everything closed (pro-tip: Germany) before ultimately heading back to the hotel and tipping back a bottle of wine.  I even got to see my niece and nephew, who have traditionally had a less-than-easy time with new experiences, excitedly note their joy about numerous activities that we were about to indulge in.

And my Dad, who has had a live-long ban against rollercoasters, still seems to love Space Mountain…

(Also, so they don’t feel left out, my Mom and sister-in-law appeared to have some fun as well, although I can’t immediately think of any specific moments that aren’t repeats of the above).

Was is the perfect vacation that I was hoping for?  Absolutely not.  The place was busy, our entire traveling group was moody, and we had more than a couple of less-than-great things happen to us.  But did we get the opportunity to focus on us as a family?  Definitely.  And my kids are already telling me about all the things they need to do the next time we head down there.

To which I reply…”let me get a nap in first”.

Alright, I’m outta here.  Have fun out there!

 

Quick Update: It’s been just a little over a month since we got back…and it feels like it was years ago…and I keep wishing I were able to go on vacation again…

Book Release: The Long Chron

In case you have somehow not heard yet, my latest book, The Long Chron, is now available for purchase as an ebook or paperback on all Amazon outlets.  That’s right, folks, you can now get your copy of the greatest young adult novel about time traveling con men.

I’m so incredibly proud of how this book turned out.  It’s a pretty far cry from the original idea I had, but so much better for it.

Check it out, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Buy it now!

Flash Fiction Friday: New Beginnings

Jerry stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the placid water below.  His heart raced as he watched his friend resurface and shot him a thumbs up.

The rest of the group that was with him applauded loudly for the brave soul who had decided to take the first leap down the rock face.  Sure, they had known it was safe to jump, that many had done so before them, but seeing it first hand made things all that much easier.

For everyone except Jerry, that is.  Now he was there, at the precipice, knowing that it was his turn to take the same leap of faith that he had just watched his friend take.  From below, he could hear shouts from Harold, his friend who was now swimming to the shore.

“Come on, Jerry!  It’s fun!” he could make out.  The people around him all shouted at him, pressing him to go next, to make the leap, the one he knew he’d enjoy, but still found his feet plastered to the hard ground.

He looked around, smiling faces all cheered him on, until they finally began chanting his name.

“Jerry.  Jerry.  Jerry!  Jerry! JERRY!” they repeated.

Jerry turned again to look at the option before him.  It wasn’t really that big of a jump, he told himself.  Just twenty feet.  He could do that in his sleep.  And he had just watched Harold do it.  He knew that there was no reason to be afraid.

And there they were, everyone, just waiting for him to make the leap, the leap he had come all the way out here to make in the first place.

He felt tears well up in his eyes as he considered the plunge he was about to take.  There was nothing to be afraid of, yet he was still terrified.  Petrified, even.

Then he felt hands against his back and before he could turn around to look at who had even pushed him, he was airborne.

There was no turning back now…

 

A little metaphor piece for today

Fat Mogul vs. DC vs. Marvel

unfortunately…this was a pretty lame attempt as synergy between the companies

I’ve been rather reticent to discuss superhero items since the release of The Legend of Buddy Hero.  I mean, right after it’s release, I spoke about them quite often, attempting to make myself something of a common element on the topic of supers.  But I didn’t want to make myself into this one trick pony, only seeming to know about things with capes and heat vision.

But here’s the thing.  I love superheroes.  I truly do.  And I could honestly talk about them for forever (it’s true, just ask my wife).  I mean, just with the things coming up in filmed entertainment alone (or already out there), Agent Carter, the new Daredevil series, BATMAN v SUPERMAN!!!…yeah…I could talk about it a lot.

And have.

But throughout all discussions about comic books and the characters contained within, there seems to always be an important starting point that occurs between any group of superfans.  DC or Marvel?

Sure, you could try and pretend that you’re much more of an Image guy, or a Dark Horse enthusiast, or perhaps you’re really just about the old WHAM! books (for the record…if anyone claims this last one, punch them for just trying to be an annoyance), but when it really comes down to it, you’ll have a favorite between the two.

Now, I think when it comes to filmed entertainment, very few people pick DC over Marvel.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe alone has done so much toward placing amazing stories on the screen.  When you include their smaller forays, such as their animated series, Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter, or the upcoming Netflix series…well…yeah, they’re a power house.  Man of Steel and the Chris Nolan Batman films may be awesome, but I think very few people really want to fight that battle…especially when things like Superman Returns and Green Lantern are out there.

But when you’re talking strictly comics, the question of DC vs Marvel is an important starting point.  It tells the other person a whole lot about what you like about comics books, about what story lines you’re more familiar with, about whether Captain Marvel should be referred to as a male or a female…the list can go on and on.

But even more importantly…it gives the possibility for an opening discussion.  Because, if you have differing preferences, you will, undoubtedly, begin the never-ending battle of which is better.

The conversation is generally pretty dumb.  I mean…if you’re a comic book nerd, you’ve probably crossed companies on more than a few occasions.  Each group has their fair share of amazing storylines, and more often than not, their characters began as carbon copies of each other.  Sure, Marvel may spend a ton of their time trying to get on with the emo readers…those who want their characters to spend all their time being moody and sad and like every high schooler in the 90s.  And DC might have a few too many characters in tights that all seem as though they would be best portrayed by Patrick Warburton.  But in the end…there’s a lot between the two that is exactly the same…

I have always been a DC fan…possibly because I spent a lot of time watching the old Superman TV show on Nick at Nite as a kid, only to be brought into comic books through The Death and Return of Superman…an amazing example of how awesome comics really can be.  From there, I wanted to learn more about these characters that I had never heard of before.  These Superboys, Green Lanterns, in fact, the whole Justice League…which lead to finding out about the Legion of Superheroes, the Justice Society of America, and then, finally, learning about DC’s first real crossover event…Crisis on Infinite Earths.  In other words, although I didn’t REALLY get into comic books until I was almost in high school (I had a few before then, but thought that the DC was because I had bought them in Washington), I believe I came into them the same way that many folks today do…by reading through larger story arcs.

I wasn’t introduced to comic book Superman as this can’t-be-defeated boy scout.  No, he was killed off in the first act, brought back in the final with this rock-star hair cut who was ready to tear things apart with a vengeance.

Now, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained a larger appreciation of comic book Superman and what he really is, but I can understand where folks have this limitation on their view of him…mostly brought about by things like the animated series.

I have the same view of Spiderman, to be honest.  If I had been introduced to him through things like the Clone Saga, I might have had a much greater immediate interest, as opposed to most of my original thoughts on him being crafted through his animated series…which spent way too much time with him thinking about quitting.

When people ask me DC vs. Marvel, I still stick with DC as my answer…but that’s really purely because my knowledge is much more on the DC side.  There’s a ton of stuff about the Marvel side of things that I really really love…I just haven’t spent the time (money) to learn enough about it…perhaps it really is time to get that Marvel Unlimited subscription…which means I’ll have to get that Kindle Fire I’ve been thinking about…

Have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. Sales Goals

the page I got this from won’t actually open…which begs the question…how did I get this picture? minifootballparadise.gr, supposedly…can’t say anything about it though.

I’ve admitted it dozens of times on here before, but I’m going to do it again, right this very second…something that I hope all authors are able to do at least in the privacy of their own homes, if not publicly.  I was an idiot when I first released my first book.  There were, of course, many ways in which I showcased extreme idiocy, but the one of which I’m speaking right now is that for some odd reason, I believed all that was really needed to sell books was to have a book for sale.  Therefore…once you release a book to the wild, the hungry masses of eager readers would obviously latch onto it an voraciously devour every word of it.

Alright…so…I may have outwardly known this wasn’t true, but inwardly, it was kind of what I expected.  I mean…seriously.  Why wouldn’t they?

So…after months and months of sales staying in the single digits per month (if even that)…I had to come to a conclusion.  The real world is no where near as cool as the one that happens in my head.

Here’s something that I think authors do realize quite regularly, and will admit to themselves quite readily…although still possibly not as readily.  Writing sucks.

No, I don’t mean the actual act of crafting a story (although that does definitely have its ups and downs), I’m referring to the whole business.  You know, the pouring your heart and soul into something, finally allowing yourself to pass it out to everyone you can possibly get it to, waiting months and months and months to hear anything back at all, only to feel disheartened because not everyone immediately wants to go out and proclaim the gospel that is your amazing piece of art.  Add into that the whole insurmountable task of selling a book (whether through traditional means, or going the self-service route), and you really have one of the most terrible jobs out there.  Most terrible simply because, you do all of this with really little promise of ever reaping any sort of financial awards…at least not the millions that you find yourself thinking about as you put yourself to sleep.  (Pro-tip: I believe only a little more than a handful of authors have ever made millions off of their books).

I don’t know what it is about art today that gets people so convinced that they will achieve instant great success.  Perhaps it’s due to the great focus we have on celebrities (you know…first we talk about the war overseas, followed by who’s hooking up with who! (side note: if they ever get a female doctor, they should totally have an episode called Who’s Hooking up with Who)).  However, historically speaking, most artists who have ever lived (you really don’t have to look historically for this either, folks) have languished in almost complete obscurity.  Even the ones we know of today.

So, take that to heart when I get to the actual meat of the message…which I’m doing right about now.

Realizing that crazed celebrity status won’t be achieved the second you hit the publish button is the important first step.  The next step is to come up with much more reliable manners of gauging your successes.  By this I mean, take things a step at a time.  If you have a blog, keep an eye on your monthly traffic.  If goes up by a full digit, you’re probably on the right track.  If you have a facebook fan page, there’s always the ability to get as many likes as you can possibly gain.

On the slightly more business side of things, there’s also the concept of sales goals.

That’s right…if you’re trying to sell a book, you’re now legitimately a business, and one thing that many successful businesses do for themselves is actually project and plan out their intended sales numbers for the coming year.  This also just so happens to be a fantastic way to watch your own success.  If you set yourself a goal of selling 30 books in a month, you can see, month after month, how close you get to that number.  If you’re consistently going over that goal, it’s probably time to set the bar higher.

Sales goals are, in my not-entirely-humble opinion, quite possibly the best way to watch your success roll out in front of you, as well as be able to determine if the marketing attempts you are making are actually doing something.

So, here’s your task, right here and now…set yourself a sales goal.  Keep yourself to it.  If you don’t get to it this month, you’re going to have to work harder next month to get to it.  I set one for myself back in August…almost reached it, but still haven’t quite gotten there.  February is the first month since where I actually have a possible chance of making it (due to some changes I’ve made in my methods).  I’m hoping this is the month where I finally get to assign myself a new goal.

I’m pretty excited about it.

Have fun out there!