Everything Eventual

The world is full of annoyances. Long lines at the supermarket, workers who don't take their job seriously, people who text and drive, cars not allowing you to cross the street while you are riding a bike in 103 degree heat, Rick Riordan trolling us. Yes, there are many things that piss us off. But I think that most important thing that we all can realize is that, we can't do anything about it.

Think about it, really. Can you help that there are practically a billion cars in your city, and you're only one out of thousands who ride bikes on a day-to-day basis? Can we really help that everyone buys things in bulk when they go to the store, whereas you only have one item--for me, that would be a book--and can we really help that Rick Riordan always manages to leave us with a cliffhanger of some kind? Well, maybe, we could always go down the Misery route and break his feet...but I am getting off topic.

The thing that I want to talk about today is patience. If you don't have it, then you are going to fail in life. I'm serious. Even though we live in an always moving world that is going the speed of light, we're still going as slow as that old lady in your lane who can't see through her headlight sized spectacles. The reason I chose this topic today, is because recently I have been sending off several emails to self-published book bloggers, and bloggers who review books in general. I have been trying advertise and promote my book which is nearing 3,000,000 on the Amazon sellers listing. I know that 2,600,000 isn't that great either, but I have been keeping in the 2,000,000 and up range for nearly a month now, so that has to mean something. In fact, one time I was as high up as the low hundred thousands, so that really has to mean something. But, I don't think I have done enough to build an audience outside of my family members, who are pretty much obligated to come no matter what.

Anyhow, because I have been sending off all these emails, they always tell you that they will get back to you in a matter of a week because of all the other billion emails they receive. Then on the advertising, you never knew who or when someone is going to see that advertisement, so only Apollo knows when you're going to get your book going off, like, really going off. Basically, if you're self-publishing, unless you have some really good connections with real publishers and some all-stars--which begs the question of why are you self-publishing in the first place--chances are, your book won't be the next Harry Potter, Eragon, The Hunger Games, or Divergent. And speaking of Divergent, it has come to my attention that a lot more young authors are publishing books, which is actually adding to the competition in the world of Self-Publishing. 1 in 100 people are probably going to actually get a nice fat royalty check from their book, 1 in 1,000 are going to see their book get some media attention, 1 in 1,000,000 of us will be the next Veronica Roth, making a steady enough paycheck to pay off student loans, rent, and still have enough to vaycay in Romania. So, just be prepared to keep that job you got at the corner store, the mall, and that internship at your parents job.

The only way your book is going to become known and popular is through the classic advice. You better work hard, sometimes you have to put off a whole host of other things including friends, other hobbies, and that Galaga game you were playing. If you actually care about this book, you are going to be willing to receive a few bad paychecks, and you are going to be willing to face the horrid music of the one star review. You are going to have be prepared to read other peoples books, who may be better than yours, spend a hefty amount of money, and you'd better be ready to get carpel tunnel syndrome. Because you're going to be writing more words than your whole book combined. I'm actually pretty lucky I don't have any friends to pester me, pets to love--bad as I wish I did--any real responsibility or pressure to write the next book, and I don't have a whole pack of summer homework. I have a book to read, and that's pretty much it.

No one is asking me to do this blog.
No one is asking me to write the sequel to this book.
No one is asking me to spend hours at a time trying to promote it.
No one is asking me to do any of this.
I'm doing it because I want my book to go somewhere. I'm doing this because I have a passion, and I want my story to be read. I'm doing this because this is what I was born to do, this is what I have to do. It's not optional for me, this is what I gotta do if I ever want to go anywhere, if I ever want to fulfill my dreams, I have to be willing to spend x amount of nights laboring over my computer blasting emails, working on my seemingly endless tome of fiction, and being the only kid in the store consulting grammar and writing books. If you're not willing to do those things without being asked or told, you aren't meant to be a writer. Plain and simple. But if you are, if you are willing to give up reality, spend several months--years even--without a good check, good reviews, or be the odd one out, then I applaud you, welcome you to the family of writers all around you, and I say--you keep on going on.

The last thing I want to say, though, is that, nothing is going to come fast. Nothing is just going to come to you unless you've just got it like that, which 90% of us don't. You'd better be ready to wait week after week for an email to be returned, or for that phone call to come. Don't expect a reply in a few minutes, it will come eventually. Everything eventual. Everything eventual, my friends. Because in the end, when all that time that it seems like you wasted is over, it's going to pay off. And it's going to pay off big time. Just make good use of that time, every second counts. Life is only so short.