Blog tour and giveaway, and . . . thinky thoughts!
Today's the official release date of Black Dog, and the official start of my month-long blog tour! I'm kicking it off with a visit to Cup O' Porn, where I talk about what moving house after nineteen years taught me about writing.
Be sure to comment for a chance to win a brand new Kindle Paperwhite!
And while you're out and about on the 'net, check out this thought-provoking post by my esteemed colleague Aleksandr Voinov.
This is one of those posts that came along exactly when I needed it. Black Dog hasn't exactly charged out of the gate guns a-blazin', which has had me in a bit of a funk the last few days. But Aleks' post made me realize I've been looking at my publishing model all wrong.
"Bestseller mode" - aka, selling a fuckton of books at the outset, hitting all the lists and riding that wave for months - has never worked for me, yet I keep clinging to it because it's what we've all been told success looks like.
But, to paraphrase Aleks, for most of us this is a marathon, not a sprint. I would much rather write books that sell slowly at first and build over time. My Courtland series didn't do much when I released the first couple of books last winter, but now they're bringing in two-thirds of my income.
No, I'm not selling thousands of copies, but I'm fine with that. Sure, it'd be nice to have an honest-to-God best seller under my belt, but unless I start writing YA or mainstream fiction, that's probably not going to happen.
How do I define success? Being able to do what I love, and put a roof over my head and food on my table doing it.
By that measure, I'm already there. :)
Be sure to comment for a chance to win a brand new Kindle Paperwhite!
And while you're out and about on the 'net, check out this thought-provoking post by my esteemed colleague Aleksandr Voinov.
This is one of those posts that came along exactly when I needed it. Black Dog hasn't exactly charged out of the gate guns a-blazin', which has had me in a bit of a funk the last few days. But Aleks' post made me realize I've been looking at my publishing model all wrong.
"Bestseller mode" - aka, selling a fuckton of books at the outset, hitting all the lists and riding that wave for months - has never worked for me, yet I keep clinging to it because it's what we've all been told success looks like.
But, to paraphrase Aleks, for most of us this is a marathon, not a sprint. I would much rather write books that sell slowly at first and build over time. My Courtland series didn't do much when I released the first couple of books last winter, but now they're bringing in two-thirds of my income.
No, I'm not selling thousands of copies, but I'm fine with that. Sure, it'd be nice to have an honest-to-God best seller under my belt, but unless I start writing YA or mainstream fiction, that's probably not going to happen.
How do I define success? Being able to do what I love, and put a roof over my head and food on my table doing it.
By that measure, I'm already there. :)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Alexander
(new)
Aug 01, 2013 08:43PM
At least your books are moving and you have the means to continue your craft. Keep giving the world your gift and all will pay off in the end. Good luck on the tour!
reply
|
flag
Alexander wrote: "At least your books are moving and you have the means to continue your craft. Keep giving the world your gift and all will pay off in the end. Good luck on the tour!"Thanks! (And - oops! Just saw that the link to your post didn't come through. Fixed it!) I'm definitely seeing the glass half-full instead of half-empty these days. So glad I finally decided to simplify my life and concentrate on what really matters - staying healthy and continuing to do my best work.
I love your definition of success! So many people think these days to have to be able to go on vacations several times a year, drive the fancy car and have the huge house to be successful. I remember when my husband and I had to figure out what bill we were going to chose not to pay and we did not have internet or cable as those were expenses we did not need.
11 years later our bills get paid on time, we have a roof over our head, pretty descent furniture and food in the house. Our basic needs are met with a little extra and that to me is what I call being successful in life.
