For The Writers: It's Just Books

The idea for this post has been knocking around in my head for several weeks now. I've wondered if I'm brave enough to write it. I've wondered if it's something anyone wants to hear.

After much internal debate, I've decided that what I want to write about was important for me to learn. If it might help someone else to read about my experience, I decided to give the post a whirl, and see what happens.

Now, as we know, some writers have (what appears to be) lucky success. I'm not saying they don't work hard, or aren't talented. But, how many hard-working, talented writers do you know? That's right. Quite a few, huh? And what makes any one writer who has that crazy-good success better than any of the others that you know? See what I mean? For every one lucky hard-working, talented writer there are many hard-working, talented authors who just didn't have the stars align in quite the same way.


Photo Couresy: Free Digital PhotosHere's a secret about me. I'm a very competitive person. I'm so competitive that I don't compete. I hate losing that much. Plunk me down in the middle of a competitive field like writing, and I'm sure to have some mental ticks.

Using this post by Leslie Ramey as a guide (Redefining Success for Self-Publishing), Finding Meara has actually done quite well when compared with the many other self-published books out there. But! I'm competitive. And each disappoint has the potential to cut me to the very depths of my writer's ego.

And the truth of writing is the majority of authors are going to be disappointed over something, sometime. Maybe even frequently disappointed. Heck, even those with crazy-good success blog and post on Facebook about how disappointed they are with something that would make 99% of other writers drool. (Can I just say how irritating that is...)

My point is that there are bound to be disappointments. Maybe forever.

Sometime this summer, I finally realized all of this. And then I realized something very important.

It's just books.

All of it is not life or death. Whether I sell a zillion copies or two copies, it really won't change the important things in my life. I'll still be a wife to my dearest husband, I'll be mother to two of the quirkiest, most-lovable kids in the world. I'll still have a job as a social worker if I want it. I'll still be a daughter and an aunt, and a friend. I'll still write and create the fantastical and magical.

It's just books.

I don't know if I'll ever have crazy-good success. There's lots of people who think so - and God bless them for being hopeful and carrying me through my dark times. But the truth is, I may not. And it doesn't mean anything more than the time didn't come. It doesn't mean that I was untalented. It doesn't mean that I didn't work hard enough. It doesn't mean I failed. It means nothing at all, because...

It's just books.