When you finally finish writing a book, you go through an entire gamut of emotions: Pride, Relief, Fear, Joy, but most of all, the feeling that you accomplished something quite difficult.
The main problem first-time authors encounter is that Pride of Accomplishment quickly morphs into Pride in the Product. What’s that mean? You begin to believe that the book you have written is the best, most well-written, most fascinating story that ever impacted a lucky reader’s imagination.
That feeling is probably the Crazy part. It’s crazy because you can reach a point where you cannot tolerate criticism. That can even extend to close friends and family. That’s the reason why authors are often dreaded guests at parties. They can turn into complete bores, expounding for hours on the beauty of their creation. Yuck!
Sound familiar? If you are an author, I can pretty much guarantee you suffered from this–at least a little. If not, you’re exceptional.
In an ideal world, readers’ responses will confirm the author’s feeling of pride. You know–5-star reviews, lots of sales, speaking tours that sell out, movie offers, lots of money…..Yeah, right:-(
In the real world, sales come slowly. Marketing is difficult, even if you have a great book, there are millions of others all competing for your prospective reader. How do you stand out? You wrote a book, which was hard, but now you have to be a marketer, too? WTH? If you’re like me, you just want to write another book.
I’ve written enough novels to have lost the exhilarating feeling when I type, “The End.” I like good reviews, but when sales come slowly, staying enthusiastic is a challenge.
Sometimes, however, you get another form of confirmation that you are doing a good job. I just got word from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association that my space opera novel, “Pirates of the Asteroids,” is a finalist for the 2020 President’s Award in the adult sci-fi category. Pirates is the first novel in The Belter Series — covering the early settlement of the asteroid belt and the beginning of the Belter society. The Belter Revolution is the follow-up novel that takes the characters farther along their course.
Will there be a third novel? Depends on sales. I like the characters, but I can’t justify writing stories that no one else enjoys. However, I think that anyone who enjoys military-related, dystopian-setting stories set in space, with a little romance, revenge, and great space battles, will enjoy these two.
BTW: They’re for sale on Kindle at $0.99 for the duration of the COVID mess. I lowered the prices of all my books to help self-isolating readers, and that includes my best selling “Heart of Fire Time of Ice” Time Equation Novel.
If you read one of my stories and like it, give me a review — preferably a good one, but be honest and review it as you think it deserves. Remember, you’re fighting author craziness.
Namaste,
Eric
Pirates of the Asteroids: The Belter Series Book 1
The Belter Revolution: The Belter Series Book 2
Heart of Fire Time of Ice: A Time Equation Novel Book 1 (1st of a series with the 4th book to be released in July)
Cyber-Witch: Cyber-Magic Series Book 1 – Previous FAPA President’s Award Winner (2017)
