I confess. Every once in a time I find myself guilty of doing the same things I tell my students not to do.
Like fretting over things you have no control over. You know the feeling: you work your butt off to get your manuscript finished, send it off in the mail to some potential publisher or editor, and then are sorely tempted to just sit each day and watch the mailbox for the inevitable royalty check.
Just stop it. As they say, “therein lies madness.”
Right now, I keep checking Amazon several times a day to see my author ranking, or seeing if anyone else has written a review of one of my books. Or I go to Goodreads and see how many have signed up for the giveaway for Infinity’s Reach. Or I check Facebook to see how many clicks my ads are getting (that’s a mixed bag; the more clicks there are, the more potential buyers there are, but also the more it costs me!). I need to move on, I know. But it’s just as addicting as waiting for that check.
It reminds me of the experience of dating. You fret and fume about whether you will get a phone call, or if that special someone will respond to your note, or if the rumor mill is working in your favor.
Time to move on.
What I advise my students to do–what I know I need to be doing–is concentrating on the next writing project. And even though I have already decided not to have a major writing project this summer, I do plan to launch three new books, my new Christian suspense trilogy: “The Champion,” “The Heretic,” and “Elijah.”
And even though I know that your book is only as good as readers think it is, I think they’re pretty good. I should: I’ve been working on them for six years.
It’s a case of loving your baby so much that you don’t want it to go out into the world until it’s perfect. Well, perfect or not, these babies are coming out.
You’ll be hearing more about the Champion Trilogy in weeks to come. I have officially marked Memorial Day Weekend as the launch date.
So stay tuned.
In the meantime, stop fretting about things you have no control over, and get working on your next project.
After all, a writer is only as good as his–or her–next book.
The Great Adventure 