Resolutions, humbug.
I don’t think Scrooge said that, but he probably would. The man was all about a busy, moneymaking life, but he was also a real case of the pessimizers. I just made up that word. Love it or hate it, it’s on the page. Also, more about Dickens later.
Recently, I wrote an article about my journey toward earning 20,000 a month as an author.
How is it going? You might ask. It’s going…I think.
2 Different Roads, Same Readers
My book is a 122,000 word sci-fi epic and love letter to my favorite mythologies, my pride and joy up to this point in life. I wouldn’t say I’ve peaked with this book, just that I believe in it.
But no agents have asked to see more of it….so far anyway. There’s that thread of optimism my lonely writer heart clings to that says something will happen and it’ll get on the traditional bookshelf. It’ll smile down at me among other works of our day that have made the swim out of slush piles around America. But there’s another part of me that wonders how much more of that fight might be worth my time.
So that’s the first road: The One Long Traveled. It’s exclusive, but proven under multigenerational feet.
Second Road: Self-Published. It’s where many of us end up after we’ve failed the climb. If publishers don’t want our books, does that mean our readers don’t either?
That’s a legitimate question, one I can’t have an answer to. But I do know of a few examples that give me hope that perhaps one of these roads can still lead back around to the kind of success my writer’s drive uses for fuel.
Author’s who did it their own way
I’ll start off with the famous example, the one not from the warm days of Amazon, rather the cold nights of foggy, old school London. Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol.
I didn’t know this until I watched The Man Who Invented Christmas this last holiday season. Looking up the history later, I found out that Dickens’s publishers didn’t like the idea of a Christmas book. The bottom line was, they didn’t think it was interesting enough to the general public to sell. Back then, Christmas wasn’t a big deal.
But Dickens wasn’t just in the writing game for money. He had a story to tell that he believed in. That story, as we all know, became something of a grandfather to a holiday that, even if you don’t believe in it, you have to acknowledge absolutely explodes the book industry’s reach. I’m a witness to how delicious quarter four (December time) can be for the bank account. Thank you Charles Dickens for your self published masterpiece.
Yep, he returned his advance from the publisher to publish old Ebenezer’s life story himself. Without his bold move, Western culture wouldn’t be the same.
That’s the goal of writing, isn’t it? To move people. To tell stories that paint a mental scape of humanity in its varying degrees. Weather a cozy tale, a war epic, or a grizzly thriller, you’re appealing to the humanity of readers. You take them where they want to go. I’m a believer that if you’re not writing for that, you’re not going to get the readership you might otherwise. Quality attracts dollars.
Andy Weir and The Martian
I could list examples all day, but we’ll save just the best two for this article. This is my journey, so you get to hear my inspirations for now.
Weir found success in gaining an audience on his original website where he published stories. His readers loved The Martian, which he released serially and for free. One of his stories blew up, so to speak. It’s called “The Egg”, and his readership grew from there, fan to fan. Word of mouth really has always been the best advertising.
I won’t share the whole story of his success, because that’s been done over and over again. Rather, I’m going to muse for just a second and go back to my former point, the sort of thesis of this freeze frame in my own writing venture. Andy created something he cared about, put it in a place where people could find it, and believed in his work enough to keep going, keep interacting with his readership. Eventually, people asked for The Martian in kindle format. He put it up for sale for 99 cents a copy, and the rest is history. Soon enough, he got the big checks, a publisher, and a movie deal.
Finding my humility
I’ve got a website. It’s a humble one and I’ve got a lot to learn, but I have stories to tell. Does it really matter which road I take? Even if I published all 450 or so pages of my newest book for here for free, I’ve done the world a favor, because I gave it something I care about. The readership will follow, be it 5 years or 50. And if it doesn’t, well, I don’t think art is ever a waste of time.
So in conclusion, here at 1:38 in the morning. If I self publish, it won’t be because a publisher didn’t want my book. Nah, it’ll just be for the optimism inside me that wants even just a few people to explore a joint adventure of the mind.
Alright, enough reflection. Time to pound out a couple thousand words of a novel, baby.
Subscribe for more!
Hey! Did you like this content? Keep up with more from me by typing your email below. Sometimes we’ll talk about writing, sometimes I’ll share new fiction content. Enhance your creativity with me on this journey into the publishing world.
Subscribe!
