 |
| Indulge Yourself! |
When I first began studying prolific authors, I
came across an excellent interview with Nora Roberts, which can be found here:
In it she states:
"On
a perfect day, I get up and maybe work out for about 40 minutes or so – because
I’m on my butt the rest of the day. I usually go up to my office by 9:00 and
work for about 6 – 8 hours. And I write…check email…write some more. After
dinner, I either call it a day or go back to work for awhile."
This quote has always captivated me. So you
want to be a prolific author? Write eight hours a day, every day, like Nora
does. Easy, right? Try editing a novel for three weeks and see if you still
have the same level of enthusiasm as when you first started.
But that's what you must do if you hope to
succeed. Work as often as you can and you'll be amazed at the results. Of
course, putting in the hours is only part of the equation.
The discussion soon shifts to:
- What did you do with those hours?
- Were you effective?
- What should you be doing differently?
Personally I like smaller projects because you
complete the entire development cycle every few days. The end is always near,
and once you have a few projects under your belt (as well as a few additional
pounds), you really get into the creative groove. And if you hate the current
project at hand, keep grinding. In a few days, it’ll be in your rearview
mirror.
Every day is exciting because you're making meaningful
progress towards your goals. There’s also a heightened sense of security
knowing that if one project falters, the next will pick up the slack.
That's exactly what happened with Happy
Healthy Hearts. Even though I consider it one of my better picture books,
it failed to do anything in terms of sales. Several customers have been
surprised by it when they got it as part of the collection Four
More Fantastic Bedtime Stories for Children 3-6. It's a great little book
that no one wants to buy. Is it the title? Probably. The cover? I'm on my
second already, but still the same results. I'm not sure what it is, but
eventually it will find an audience.
Thankfully one of my newer releases Bubblegum
Princess has been able to generate a few sales. It's been averaging about 60
copies per month since its initial release (not stellar numbers, but certainly
serviceable). Once I get a few more projects off my plate, I intend to go back
and add some additional content. It’s my way of saying thanks for supporting
me.
Project
Update
As for Adorable
Dogs: Labradors, I slaved away on it for a few hours this morning before
finally getting it up on Amazon. Whew! I also submitted a
mini-collection, which includes the German translations of My
Little Pet Dragon and My
Crazy Pet Frog.
Another day, a couple more titles. Now imagine
if I really applied myself…
My
Little Pet Dragon Update
The final numbers are in! My
Little Pet Dragon did just over 21,000 copies in free giveaways (about
4,000 copies/day). I've already sold about 25 copies this evening with an
additional 25 borrows. It's currently ranked in the low 3,000's and climbing.
I also gave away two other titles, Alphabet
All-Stars: Animal Edition and Aveline,
which did 2,500+ and 500+ copies respectively. While Animal
Edition did great (for an alphabet book, that is), Aveline's
performance was abysmal. That really surprises me because I thought it was one
of my better titles.
Oh well. If at first you don't
succeed, write another book.
No comments:
Post a Comment