Writing is scary... sometimes... at least, for me. It's also fun all of the time... again... for me. And it's the most unknown thing I do with my time. I never know if my work is going to be liked. That scares the heck out of me. Every single freakin' time.
I work my fanny off. Writing until the wee hours, spending months on a project only to start the next one right afterward, knowing it'll take months too. And I do it all under the hope, under the crossed fingers, under the spoken-out-loud prayers that this book finds its people.
I think most of us authors have that same aim. This aim, which I'll speak for me, because with this, I can't speak for every writer...
Now, I want to be an author who releases a book, any book, and knows it's going to reach enough readers that I never have to question whether this career is sustainable. That I never have to think about a backup plan, not that I do, really, because I burned all bridges leading to any island except the one I'm on, baby!
The Author Island.
Anyway, that's the dream. I'm not there yet, but I will be. Well, heck, I'm almost there.
What I mean is this.
I'll release a book, knowing this many people will read it, and this many people will love it, and this person sitting right here, right now, typing this post, will never have to think about jumping ship to another career, ever again.
Unless I want to.
Right now, I'm gambling. Again. But I guess you do that with every book, regardless of who you are. Stephen King doesn't have that problem. Neither does J.K. Rowling or James Patterson. Those three could publish their grocery list and it'd chart.
So here's what I've been swinging at. I've had this idea I've been mulling over for about a year now. I write in a very specific niche, forbidden archaeology sci-fi thrillers, and I finished a reader magnet novella a while back. It's been gaining subscribers to my newsletter daily, which is great, and it told me something, and I get some emails once in a while about this particular reader magnet.
"Is there a sequel? If so, how can I get my hands on it?"
There's an audience for this. They're out there. They want more. That's what I think, at least, and it's yet another "cross my fingers" idea.
So the plan is to write four more novellas in that same series and sell them only on my website. The reader magnet pulls people in for free, they land on my newsletter, and when the next novellas drop, I sell directly to those readers. It ain't gonna cost 'em much at all, but hopefully this thing catches on.
And it's terrifying. Because when do I write these? I'll find an hour here, two hours there, and I'll squeeze them in. I always do. I'm always in projects. Always writing. Always have just one more thing I need to finish. I've got projects where I wrote two, three books and then sat on them for years because I didn't have the confidence to put them out. Then one day I finally felt ready, went back and edited them, and released them. And, one of those did really well recently. International bestseller. So I got lucky with that one.
But that's a lot of writing time to spend on novellas on an I-don't-know. A lot of late nights poured into something that might not land. And I'm not complaining. I'm just amazed at how much I love this. How deep into it I am. How much I want this career to work, and it is, as it pays the bills, and allows vacations, but again, every launch is like... "Umm... please buy!"
I think most of you know that feeling, though. That you're willing to just throw yourself out there, put the work into the world, and hope. I guess that's all you ever really have. Hope for most, knowing for some.
And I write in such a niche genre that the hope has to carry even more so. Forbidden archaeology sci-fi thrillers isn't exactly the biggest genre. So I hope it sticks. I hope people love it. I hope the readers who find me stay.
Anyway. That's where I'm at. Just a guy writing novellas at midnight and believing what I have to say actually matters to some. If you're doing the same thing in your own corner of this career, I see you and acknowledge you and commend you and give you a big, big hug. I also want to say...
...KEEP GOING! We've got this.
