Last week, I tried a little experiment. I wanted to test out how many eBooks I could sell on a $0.99 promotion week with a different eBook Advertising site every day. The goals were simple–make back the cost of the ad–and it was a chance to see if I could make a paid bestseller list and get that little flag of approval from Amazon.

Yep, you read that right, I’ve never made the paid bestseller list of Amazon. Nor have I ever broken 100 eBooks sold in a month (well, now I did, but more on that later). To boot, last month was the first time I a) gave myself a paycheck and b) made over $100 in eBook sales (though those sales won’t get paid for another 45 days).

And when I go to celebrate these milestones, I find myself thinking “Oh lord, what will people think?”

Like they’ll say, “Why hasn’t she done this already?”

“She said she’s writing full-time, so why isn’t she making more?”

The Ugly Truth

The truth of the matter is, I’m writing full time because I have a lot of savings + very little monthly expenses. For me, it was more important to get out from under the stress of consulting and take a few months off. And despite all the evidence to the contrary, I’ve actually been taking it easy. I also wanted to try my hand a freelancing and have discovered that I do not like it.

As well, I kind of also thought that things would take off a little more than they have. Don’t get me wrong, there’s been a marked improvement in ebook sales since Conviction came out, and then Fusion, but these numbers aren’t enough to support even my low requirements.

eBook Sales trends

#consulting

BUT STILL – last month was the first time I ever broke $100 for eBook sales. And this month…

Screen Shot 2016-03-16 at 9.57.01 AM

 

Celebrate, Even if I Don’t Want To

So that’s two major milestones hit in two months. I kind of hit the top 100 in the wrong genre (in what universe is Empath a kid’s book?), but it never got higher than the high 60’s. But hey, that’s higher than it’s ever been before, so I’m going to take that win.

20150316_Feasible in reality

I’ve always suffered from too-high expectations of myself and of what is feasible in reality. Publishing is a marathon, not a sprint. And I have to accept that I’m still at mile 10 and I’m running just as fast as my body and the universe will allow. The race isn’t over, and it doesn’t matter if I finish it in 4:40 or 5:37:40 (my fastest marathon pace). It doesn’t matter how quickly I meet the milestones, as long as I’m meeting them. The only person I’m competing with is the person I was yesterday.

I need to hang that on my wall…

EDIT: I hung it on my wall: