Tag: inspiration

I need to write this. I’ve seen a few posts lately about authors getting despondent, wondering why they keep going. (I guess they’ve just had a royalty statement. My latest one from one of my publishers was crap, but I can at least buy a few cups of coffee and perhaps a bun with it. Maybe even buy a few Kindle books to support those despondent authors.) I hope this post cheers these authors up and makes them feel a little better about the work they do. Because it’s an amazing thing to do, writing and publishing a book. Never forget that.

I feel the same way some of the time. Writing is an insecure business. We authors wonder why we keep publishing books, why we put up with the vagaries of readership, fans, popularity. We sometimes wonder why, when others are rising to the top like cream with thousands of book sales, that while we seem to do okay, most times we’re that soggy ginger biscuit that suddenly fell into our tea, languishing at the bottom of the cup. *Cue pitiful sobbing* We’ve all been there, no doubt. I know I have. I’m a qualified ginger biscuit. That said, I’m thankful for every one of my sales and my readers. The readers make it all worthwhile and I treasure them.

THEY are why we keep doing it. It’s a simple basic truth, nothing profound about it. We do it because we love writing. We do it because creating worlds and characters where we can control them, make sure they get what they deserve, and make the world a better place through reading, is our mission. We do it because for every ONE single sale you make out there, someone is reading the story you wrote. Any sale is a good sale and those loyal readers who support us, wait for our next offering, cajole us, push us, inspire us, berate us, tell us how much they enjoyed our book- they are the reason we do what we do.

I understand for those authors who are fortunate (or unfortunate enough perhaps given the gist of this post) enough to make writing a full time job it’s a scary place. And my heart goes out to them when they fall short of what they expected or things get tough. Believe me, I’ve been there. I tried to be a full time writer for ten months when I lost my job, my house, my self-respect because I struggled to find someone to employ me. And trust me, I struggled. I had to get back into full time work and I was lucky enough someone took me on. So I know what it’s like to try make a living off writing alone.

My hat goes off to anyone doing this and who keeps fighting. You guys are my heroes. I hope to be a hero too some day.

So remember – keep going please, because I’m one of those readers who love your stories. Who joins you on the journey you create for us to enjoy and escape into. And if you decided not to do it anymore, you’d be sorely missed.