The Fourth Worst Day of My Life

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Last post, I told you a secret that was gut wrenching to admit. If you read the post, you’ll understand why the day I’m going to tell you about was so heartbreaking.

I was a blue-collar, everyday workingman who never touched computers. I even thought it was weird when people texted me. I went through a terrible year in 2011 and decided it was time to do something about the train wreck that my life had become.

I got inspired by Amanda Hocking’s story and turned my journal into my first eBook. I thought if I put my book on the “Internet,” people would somehow see it and buy it. This seemed like a slam-dunk.

Leading up to the book’s release, so many people had promised to buy the book. Friends, family members and co-workers had told me how excited they were to purchase it. The day the book came out I was convinced I’d get—at the very least—100 sales.

It took so much of me to beat my doubt and fear. This was new and uncomfortable. I was letting strangers have a peek into my life. It felt so wrong, but I had a dream.

The day I try to forget

I hustled through work on August 11, 2011. This was the day I worked so hard to get to. My hard work would be rewarded with hundreds of book sales, and start me on the path to quitting a job I hated with every fiber of my being.

I got done with work, ran to my bedroom and logged onto Amazon. The number I saw staring back at me was a mirage. I closed my eyes for five seconds. I was convinced the number would be different when I opened my eyes again. It wasn’t.

The number I saw was ZERO…..

As the day went on, I still had zero sales of my book. My book! A blue-collar guy had stepped way out of his comfort zone. This was a story you saw it the movies. There’s supposed to be a happy ending. Right?

I didn’t sell any books that day. I didn’t make any money from my dream, but it went far deeper than money.

I struggled with doubt, fear, self-limiting beliefs, and believing what others had said about my dream. The managers at the bread company joked amongst themselves that I published a coloring book. They were bold enough to laugh in my face knowing I couldn’t do anything about it.

Were they right? Was I a complete failure? Was I destined for a life of grunt work?

I burst into tears that night. I’m tearing up as I write this because the wounds run deep. I was a high school dropout who worked menial jobs his whole life. This epic failure convinced me I was a loser who would stay stuck forever. This confirmed every negative thought I had about myself.

Desperation

My first book, my dream, flopped that first day. It flopped for six months after. I bought two copies, and my close friends each bought a copy of the book, but that was it. No one wanted or cared about my stupid book!!

In my desperation, I paid for some book marketing programs to learn all the “secrets” to selling books. I have to be honest. I spent over $5,000 on different courses and coaches. I worked hard and did everything they said. I still sold no books.

Most of these courses and programs taught theory and strategies that only produced mild success in the past. They talked about making your book free through KDP Select. 27,000 copies downloaded and I ended up with one book review and 126 sales the next month after.

I tried social media ads, Craigslist ads, book review sites and everything in-between. I did everything I was told to do. It took me a while to realize the only way these people were making money was from desperate people like me. They had no success on their own.

This isn’t new

I realize I’m preaching to the choir. Your story may be similar. The Internet can be the Wild West. Too many “Experts,” or “Gurus” promise the moon but only deliver hype. I’m so sick of it. It makes the rest of us look bad.

I wanted to give up on my dream that day. I wanted to forget about this stupid Internet stuff and just grind it out in the bread world. Circumstances forced my hand.

It took months of figuring stuff out on my own, but my two self-published books have sold over 86,000 copies in the last three years. I have one published book and second one on the way later this year. I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through.

I write this blog to teach what works. I have a free Facebook group to share and mastermind ideas and strategies. I started a class and course that teaches strategies that not only work, but also work in today’s crowded book market.

The 29 students in the first class have sold over 4,500 books. They’ve booked paid speaking and landed articles on large websites such as the Huffington Post and Entrepreneur Magazine. They’ve added over 1,200 names to their email list and four have become Amazon #1 best-selling authors. I’m very proud of this class.

If you have, will, or are going through one of your “worst days,” don’t be discouraged. There’s always a rainbow after the storm. You just have to look for it. It takes time. It takes hustle. We have all the information we need to figure out what we need to do. Don’t give up.

This was my fourth worst day. If you stick around for a while, I’m sure you’ll hear about the three before it.

Have you experienced a horrible day while chasing your dream?

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Photo: Flickr/Roy Costello