I’ve worked with many first-time self-published authors and all the writers I’ve met, I mean ALL, have stars in their eyes when they get ready to publish their first book.
Everyone has that feeling when they’ve created something special. Creativity is a divine force and we feel it’s destiny. The world has been waiting this book!
We imagine uploading our copy to Amazon and waking up in the morning with 10,000 downloads.
The truth is that, unless we have a large author platform and at least some basic PR skills, no one will even know we have a book out.
If we don’t know how to SEO our book for Amazon’s search engines, the likelihood of anyone stumbling across it are slim.
Do we have an eye-catching book cover?
Did we hire a professional editor?
Or did we just slap up our final draft and expect people to ignore any flaws because it’s The Book of Destiny?
I think every writer must to go through this.
It’s part of the process, and we have to try because, let’s face it, some writers do become overnight successes.
You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy the ticket.
Still, I try to prepare my new author clients for the difficult road ahead. Even if your book is good, even if it’s extraordinary, you have to compete with the hundreds of thousands of other authors who have the exact same dream.
This is hard to explain to the first-time author. In my experience, they completely filter out my warnings and march ahead with a huge smile, ready for the confetti to fall and the champagne to pop.
At this point, I just wait and let them go through it. Once they realize it’s not likely they’ll become famous overnight, then they’re all ears and we can get to work.
So go ahead, choose your dream cast for the movie, visualize what you’re going to wear on Good Morning America, and practice your autograph.
Enjoy it.
Never stop dreaming about it.
Don’t give up!
Just keep in mind that it may not happen with your first book. Years later, you’ll probably be thankful it wasn’t your first book (I know that I don’t want the stuff I wrote years ago to ever surface).
Just trust that each challenge is a stepping-stone on your journey to becoming the writer you were meant to be.
Keep writing.
Get better.
Build your backlist.
Keep growing your author platform.
One day you will hit the tipping point and sell books!
—Christa
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