Eva Pasco's Blog - Posts Tagged "determination"
More Guts than Glory!
“More Guts than Glory”—the Indie Author Story!
Will I become a best seller?
Will I get rich?
Que será, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not mine to see
(My spoof of “Que Sera Sera,” a song first published in 1956, written by the songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans; sung by Doris Day)
With electronic self-publishing, it’s become easier to be an author. This has made it harder than ever to sell a book. While it takes guts to write and publish a novel, it takes even more guts to strategize a marketing plan in the hope of enticing potential readers to purchase an eBook generally retailing from $.99 - $4.99. For the time being, a sporadic sale here and there may feel glorious, but I aspire to more. So, I pound the cyber pavement on social media every single day in my quest for glory.
While there’s no substitute for determination and guts to gain a foothold in this vast arena, opposing forces place obstacles along an Indie’s untrodden path to glory:
Facebook changes in displaying content mean that fewer people are seeing organic posts. As pay-per-click ads become more expensive, most Indies won’t have the means to compete. Therefore, it behooves Indies to rethink 2018: author groups and genre co-ops.
Despite setbacks, I’ve got the guts to persevere. Besides my inner drive, I credit my close-knit, author support group—the Indie Fabs, for their unwavering support and encouragement (Aliya DalRae, R.M. Gauthier, JB Richards, Lyra Shanti, and Joanne VanLeerdam).
I also take to heart stories of former struggling authors whose guts helped them attain glory (“The Writer’s Odds of Success” by William Dietrich, published by 'The Huffington Post' and updated May 4, 2013):
Stephen King’s first big novel, 'Carrie,' was rejected 30 times. He tossed it in the wastebasket, but his wife fished it out.
John Grisham’s first novel, 'A Time to Kill,' was rejected 12 times, and he unsuccessfully tried to sell copies from the trunk of his car.
Judy Blume, who has sold 80 million books, got nothing but rejections for two straight years.
J.K. Rowling, the first author billionaire, had 'Harry Potter' rejected by a dozen British publishing houses, and reportedly got into print, for a £1,500 advance, only after the eight-year-old daughter of a publisher pleaded for it.
“No guts, no glory!”
What would you title your life story?
Determined!
In retrospective review, I’m proud to share that by the end of 2018:
My Contemporary, 'An Enlightening Quiche' (2016), merited the following awards:
2018 Golden Book Award - 3rd Place Winner
2017 New Apple Annual Book Award: “Official Selection”
2017 SIBA 1st Place - Best Contemporary
2017 ATAI (Authors Talk About It) 5
-Star Badge
2016 Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Seal
*1st for Books Set in Rhode Island (Goodreads Listopia)
My Nonfiction Memoir, '100 Wild Mushrooms: Memoirs of the ‘60s' (2017), merited the following awards:
2018 New Apple Summer eBookAwards for Excellence in Independent Publishing: Solo Medalist Winner
2018 TopShelf Award Finalist in the Category of Memoirs (Other)
In 2019, I’m determined to further my WIP, resuming from chapter 16. By nature, writing is a slow process for me, often further exacerbated by life’s hairpin turns over which I have no control. Que sera sera!
No one from any walk of life is exempt from strife and setbacks which hinder our goals.
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” (Vince Lombardi)
Therein lies my determination to roll with the punches on my terms and timeframe.
Best wishes for a prosperous and productive year ahead!
Eva’s Byte #304 – You Get What You Need
Recently, as of last Sunday and Monday, I experienced the short-lived anxiety, frustration, and disappointment of registering for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. The song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” from the Rolling Stones’ 1969 album, Let it Bleed, came to mind:
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
You might say I got my “fair share of abuse” going nowhere fast from 12:01 – 1:00 a.m., and again, from 5:30 – 6:30 a.m. on the 22nd. Locations lagged behind in the rollout, and websites had not been updated to accommodate my age group tier. Trying again, I got what I needed at 9:30 a.m.
Ironically, I can vividly recall a similar frenzy in registering for what I wanted in the spring of 1970 during the second semester of my freshman year at college:
The mad-dash, free-for-all acquisition of getting the classes you wanted started with lining up as a preface to bursting inside Whipple Gym at Rhode Island College. As soon as the proctor allowed a quota of students to enter, you broke rank and scrambled to find the queue that matched up with the sign designating the required course you needed for graduation. With any luck, the section hadn’t filled up yet by the time it was your turn.
Mind you, the process repeated itself for every single course in your load. With so many students left out in the cold, myself included, other sections opened up at a later date. A year that will live in infamy, I didn’t get everything I wanted, but got what I needed in the long run.
In my capacity of writer, I did what was needed for pulling off Chapter 66 of my Contemporary Work in Progress. I’m wending my way through what needs to be done in drafting Chapter 67.
*If you can’t get what you want, may getting what you need be enough.
My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
You might say I got my “fair share of abuse” going nowhere fast from 12:01 – 1:00 a.m., and again, from 5:30 – 6:30 a.m. on the 22nd. Locations lagged behind in the rollout, and websites had not been updated to accommodate my age group tier. Trying again, I got what I needed at 9:30 a.m.
Ironically, I can vividly recall a similar frenzy in registering for what I wanted in the spring of 1970 during the second semester of my freshman year at college:
The mad-dash, free-for-all acquisition of getting the classes you wanted started with lining up as a preface to bursting inside Whipple Gym at Rhode Island College. As soon as the proctor allowed a quota of students to enter, you broke rank and scrambled to find the queue that matched up with the sign designating the required course you needed for graduation. With any luck, the section hadn’t filled up yet by the time it was your turn.
Mind you, the process repeated itself for every single course in your load. With so many students left out in the cold, myself included, other sections opened up at a later date. A year that will live in infamy, I didn’t get everything I wanted, but got what I needed in the long run.
In my capacity of writer, I did what was needed for pulling off Chapter 66 of my Contemporary Work in Progress. I’m wending my way through what needs to be done in drafting Chapter 67.
*If you can’t get what you want, may getting what you need be enough.
My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
