A Writer's Week #55: The Road Less Traveled

One of the harsh realities of being an independent author (aka Indie) is that it's tough to make a go of it on your own. When I set out on this journey over a year ago, I knew this full well. I chose the path I have taken and I accept it. I could have gone the regular route, tried to get an agent to look at my work, waited to hear from them, then once I've secured said agent, waited for them to cast about for a publisher.

Photo by Jody S. Cipot. Check out all his photos
 at  Photography By Jody

Unfortunately, that's not me. For better or for worse, I'm just not patient enough. I'd rather be moving forward than standing around waiting, even if I wind up getting no further in the end. My favorite analogy is I'd rather drive the back roads than be sitting around waiting in traffic, even if I wind up getting there later. It feels like I'm doing something.

I also can't sit back and trust that things will work out in the end, leaving things in someone else's hands. I've got to be in control. Control freak and impatient--bad combination. Still, I think in the long run, I'll be happy with the choice I've made.

I've learned a lot along the road, and met many fantastic people. I think I'm better able to multi-task. Before, I would have stopped at one book and worked to get published. I needed that closure before starting another project. Now, I've published one book, have an audio book that was just released, a second book in final editing and production, and a third book that's almost a quarter done. Wow, tires me out just typing that!

The fact is, I never would have grown so much if I'd decided to take the traditional route. I may have been more successful monetarily, but then again, maybe not. All I know is I am enjoying the ride, although sometimes I still doubt myself. After all, it's hard to do any kind of marketing with little or no money, but I do the best I can. Sometimes when sales are slow (i.e. after Christmas) it bothers me that I don't have the marketing power of a publisher behind me, but thanks to the support of people like you, I know that the next sales run is just around the corner.

I wonder if there's a door in this drainpipe...photo by Jody S. Cipot

In the meantime, I'll keep moving forward with all my projects. Let me tell you, it's never dull. That's the reason why I love it so much. Thanks again for all your support. I can't begin to express how much it means to me.

Now, on to the weekly writing update. I hit my goal of 2,000 words this week. The Deliverers 3: The Golden Dragon of Ang, now stands at 12,000 words, 55 pages, and 11 chapters. The Deliverers 2: Order of the Crystal Lion is still waiting for a cover. I'm also waiting for the last of my test readers to give me their opinions/suggestions. I was gratified to hear from one this week that said book 2 is "amazing", and that it kept her guessing all the way through, and all of her guesses turned out to be wrong! I love that.

Sales of the audio book in its first week of release have been a little slower than anticipated. I had hoped that the audio book listening community at Audible and Amazon would have checked it out. I think it suffered a little due to the fact that the category Audible originally placed it in was Teens 11-13  scifi/fantasy. I've had a word with them, and just yesterday they moved it to Kids 8-10 scifi/fantasy, which I think is more appropriate both from a story and a performance standpoint. We'll see how that works out. I'll update you again next week!