Anno asked me some questions a few weeks back that I’ve been ruminating on ever since. The one that’s been dominating my thoughts is this one:
Given the challenges of modern publishing, what helps you keep faith with your work?
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Things are fraught* right now in publishing, whether you’re pursuing traditional or indie publishing.
The thing that helps me the most is this:
Despite everything, I still get to tell the stories I want to tell. No one can take that away from me.
A four-book series about catching ghosts with coffee? Why not?
Sentient umbrellas? Absolutely!
Indie publishing is simply how I get my stories into the world. Because, let’s be real, traditional publishing isn’t knocking on the door and making offers for either of those series**.
It’s hard, I’m not going to lie, to keep training your focus on those things you control. I struggle with it all the time. More is more has seeped into every aspect of our culture, especially work and creative endeavors.
But it’s simply not the case. It’s a lie big tech is telling us to keep us online and distracted.
So, I put my focus on those things I control:
- My stories
- My blog
- My mail list
And, this year, I’m adding:
- In-person events
- Local independent bookstores
- A direct-sales store
Yesterday is a perfect example of why I love being indie. It was a rainy, bleak Saturday. I had the sniffles, and while I had a shed-ton of chores to do, I didn’t feel up for any of them***.
So I said to myself: Let’s build an online direct-sales store.
And I did.
It’s not complete, not yet. Once it is, I’ll reveal it here. I want to have it done in time for the Deep Valley Book Festival.
Then, when I was wrapping up for the day, my new table display bookstand arrived:
So, all things considered, I’m feeling fairly hopeful today.
*I used fraught in a text conversation the other day and got the laughing/crying emoji as a response.
**Another use case for the laughing/crying emoji.
***But do I ever? Yet another case for the laughing/crying emoji.
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The laughing/crying emoji is the icon for the times, for sure.
And thanks for addressing this question. I can see how the desire to tell the stories you want to tell, the way you want to tell them could keep a person going… sometimes people need to find a home for the ideas they have, simply because they are a gift they’ve been given. To stow them away, unshared, is a way of failing to appreciate them.
I’m looking forward to seeing this online direct-sales store! What an exciting development!