It is one thing to make yourself cry and it is another to write about it. But I simply cannot help myself this morning. After adding another 30 some hours of reformatting, posting, and creating an Author page on Amazon I have lowered my pay rate as a wannabe author to probably about $0.0000000000000002 per hour.
So, I am asking myself again, (to you who know whom I am talking to, forgive me for repeating myself) why do I keep at this writing thing?
After all the checks were done and I was notified that all my books when live on Kindle I rushed over to the store to see for myself. Sure enough if you put in Susan Todd and Kindle Books, there I am. https://www.amazon.com/author/toddsusan-storyweaver - to save you time.
Because I have had the hard copies on Amazon for a while and opted into the “Look Inside” program it followed suit with my e-books. So as I opened them one by one and read them, the same thing hit me yet again. I wrote them and even I wanted to keep turning the pages! Having not read them in a long time, they were new to me.
I could not help but be thankful to some skillful Amazon employee who added just the right amount of teasing chapters that hopefully would leave the would-be-reader hanging and wanting more.
Then the tears come spontaneously. I simply cannot help it. Every bone in my body feels for these books. Especially since joining a couple of writing Facebook groups where I post occasionally. I regress, again, but when I post on these sites I am instantly reminded of an ant bed or bee hive. When one author-Ant comes in with a leaf of possibility all the other ants run to that newfound site and strip it clean.
If a worker bee-author stumbled onto a site of flowering smorgasbord where they can sprinkle their wordy-pollen . . . whoosh! Off the bees fly. Post after post of how this and how that comes up. And you have to be quick. Once you post it goes down the Facebook tube in a hurry. I have gone back sometimes within minutes and my post isn’t even showing any longer.
Please, dear fellow writer, if you are reading this, don’t think me ungrateful or mean-spirited. I truly am not. I am simply asking the question . . . "WHAT ARE WE ALL DOING THIS FOR?"
But I can only answer that for myself. I wrote these books over the years, and I mean years. I tried to stop writing once and it literally made me sick. So I thought, why do this to myself? Who cares?
And, I know, I know dear Christian reader, that everything I do I do unto the Lord and it isn’t a life lesson in trust that I am seeking an answer to today. I know all too well and believe me this isn’t the first day of prayer that has gone into this endeavor between God and myself. I have asked, I have prayed and I have trusted. Do I not know that God gave me this desire? Of course I do. Do I not know that the creator of the Universe can and could at any moment decide that it is time for my humble writings to skyrocket to the top? Absolutely, I believe this.
I have done again everything I know to do to put my books in line to be found at the moment. I am sure there are probably other things I will do lowering the above mentioned pay rate yet again.
For today, right now as I write, I am going to let it be enough. I have to. Writing gives me something to fill my hours. It takes me places I cannot physically go any more, if ever. It brings the type of people into my life that I understand and like. It helps me diet. (I eat less when I am writing all day.) So there are many upsides.
One day when I stand before the Lord I will not care at all about books, sales, sites or the such. Only being with Him and seeing the Father’s face will matter to this woman then. And perhaps my mansion will overlook an arena of cushy cloud seats with a podium where He will announce, “And now heavenly guests I am pleased and proud to give you, my child, Susan, reading from her latest book for your enjoyment.”
Hmm, maybe I just stumbled upon a writing prompt! I will leave this post on a positive note, “I am going to keep on writing, believing and trusting and I hope you all do the same.”
"Is that what I think it is?
"I'll catch up with you later, Susan's books have gone Kindle!"
2 comments:
Sue,
I see authors posting non-stop links to their books online. After a while, all the links look the same to me. (shhh. don't tell anyone!)
I think it's important to create an author-page, and make it as interesting as you know how.
Invite your friends and friends of friends to like your author page. If you invite me, then I will drop by! I promise! :D
Then--in addition to posts with links to your books, be sure to share other interesting things, such as images that remind you of places in your books (and tell us why and how this image is relevant); or thoughts that your characters would particularly appreciate, maybe even thought-provoking or humorous quotes from your books; fan art; contests, book trailers, your tour schedule linked to Google Maps, etc... ;-) You can also try to start discussions on the group pages and on your author page, so that people engage, not just with your books, but with you as an author. If they find you interesting, they'll be more interested in your books too.
It's all a big experiment, but if you keep at it, eventually it will become much more worthwhile that it may seem at the present.
Oh--and before I go, I've gotta say that I'd love to have you drop by http://facebook.com/ms.contraryartist and say hi! ;-)
Congrats Suz on building your Amazon author page up, and for publishing your print works in Kindle format! This may not mean immediate sales, but every additional venue will help.
I notice that the print book and e-book for God said, "Tell them I Am" has two separate listing, and that the titles are different in the two listings. Are these the same book or two different books? To have them consolidated into one listing, you will need to contact Amazon help and have them do it. I had to do that for mine.
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