Meandering Musing: Breather
Don’t expect anything profound from this blog. I’m just going off the cuff, no real outline or desired point I’m trying to make. I’m just trying to fill content between my last series ending and my next one starting. However, this isn’t just going to be a bunch of nonsense. I do have things to say. Arguably, that’s part of the problem I’m facing.
I’ve been writing for awhile now. I don’t really know how long, just that it’s been longer than a year. I don’t know if I’ve been more productive than most writers in my position, or less. I don’t think measuring those things has much worth, as a masterpiece that takes ten years is worth more than a million poor quality works created in an instant. My stories take the time they take, and the only regret I have is that I don’t always work as hard or as consistently as I should.
But, just for a moment… not a week, month, year, or anything like that… just for a moment, I wanted to take a breather. To step back and look at what I’m working on, to decide where I should be focusing my efforts.
I’m tempted to pursue other things. Writing is just a side project for me, and I will hardly starve if it never makes any substantial returns. But there is the question; if no one really wants to read my stories, are they worth writing? I think they are, but only to a certain extent. I plan on finishing my main five book series, maybe some spinoffs, and maybe a couple other books I have planned. There will be a cutoff point, though, where I will either stop my efforts entirely or simply reduce the intensity greatly to instead pursue other things. Knowing what that point actually is? Hard to say. People have rose to meteoric fame after toiling in obscurity before, and there is no telling how many people may have found success if they had kept at it just one more week.
What I do know is that Amazon ads just aren’t cutting it. While draining a steady amount of money per click, I’ve gotten pretty much nothing in return. It begs the question if my books just have bad artwork(which, maybe they do), or I just can’t get traction as an unknown name. I’m not under the impression my writing is bad, and I will remain that way until I get some actual negative feedback from people who don’t dislike me for other reasons.
Anyways, I plan on taking the money I was using for Amazon adds and funneling it into Minds tokens. If I boost on Free Book Friday by paying that premium price for immediate boosts, maybe I can get some substantial traffic and, in the end, some actual reviews. Even just boosting my channel might be beneficial, as it is the biggest online presence I currently have.
Oh, and there are two stories I have planned that might do the trick of increasing visibility. The Bleeding Heart of Matriarchy, and Re-Roll. Both are planned to have political themes, and in this charged climate, that might be in demand enough to get noticed. They aren’t going to be preachy propaganda pieces, but rather have unapologetic political takes within the actual context of the story. Of course, this could backfire and get my books pulled, but I find that generally unlikely. If that did happen, I feel like my brand would get an even greater boost courtesy of the Streisand effect.
Earlier this week, I was rather down on myself. I wouldn’t say I’ve even fully recovered at the time I’m writing this, to be honest. But it helps to step back and get perspective. Things are bad, but they could be worse. Some things are good, and we can still make them even better. I don’t want to get too personal here for privacy reasons, so let’s leave it at that.
To any other indie authors reading this, or anyone for that matter, I invite you to do the same thing I’m doing here. Take deep breath, look at all you’ve done, think about what you can do, and move forward. We don’t choose where we start, but we definitely get to choose where we end up. Every day, our choices change our destiny. So don’t waste time wallowing in self pity, and instead get out there. People can try to stop you, but only you can actually stop you.
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