In a few days I'll be restarting my self-publishing efforts. While some kind friends have sent me information about other publishers accepting submissions, I'm convinced I will just be further wasting my time. I just don't have that magic marketing bullet that will make them comfortable giving my books a shot. But then, that's not what I wanted to blog about today.
I've been feeling sort of introspective this week and once again a little nervous about moving one step forward with my plans. I sometimes read about the psyche of an author and how one moment they feel they've created the next literary masterpiece and the next they're convinced they've written complete trash. From experience, I can say it's absolutely true.
I'm currently editing Volume 8 and when I read some pages I will stop and think, "Did I really write that? It's brilliant! It's perfect! I can't believe anyone who likes this genre won't love this chapter." I'm sometimes literally moved to tears by what I wrote...seriously.
And then there are moments I think about the people who have received a copy of my first book. Feedback has ranged from tepid to awesome. But then a number of people have provided no feedback at all, other than to not express interest in reading volume 2. The only conclusions I can draw from lack of feedback is that they haven't taken the time to read it yet, they found it mediocre and not worth wasting more time upon, or they absolutely hated it and believe the only kindness they can extend is to say nothing.
I've summoned the courage to ask a few people who haven't provided any feedback and the replies have fallen into the category of "been really busy, but am planning to get to it." In my mind, they still could be dodging any negativity. In other words, they know my books are important to me and don't want to be the one to tell me my books suck.
My response is...it's ok. I would rather know than not know. By not knowing, I will almost always assume the worst. The cold reality that it may be poorly written is better than investing thousands of dollars into self-marketing only to finally some day have some neutral critic rip it apart. At least if I have some honest feedback from people I trust it will prepare me for the world's response to come.
So that's me, but I think many artists would feel the same way. So here's my pitch for this week. A lot of people out there enjoy expressing themselves through painting, dancing, singing, writing or any number of artistic means. I can't think of anyone who doesn't do that because they enjoy it. Support them. Give them a safety net of friends who show they care. Giving even 5 seconds of your life to show support will bring a smile and fortitude to their positive outlook. If you take even more time to deliver honest feedback, trust me, the fact you even took the time to show interest in what they were doing will mean a lot, even if that feedback isn't all glowing praise.
So there it is. I'm about to go back to editing and I can't express how excited I am to read this story for the 7th or 8th time. IMHO this is an awesome story, but then again I'm impartial on my feelings. Look, I know not everyone is going to feel the same. Some very popular works have been trashed by a lot of people, but that didn't keep even more people from enjoying the story. That's kind of all I'm hoping for, but first I have to convince people to give it a shot...and stick with it. I wish I could say Volume 1 is the best of the series, but it's not. It's not bad, but the story intentionally unfolds in layers and to do it any other way would make it a different story. And I like it just the way it is.