Hi everyone! I really hope you all had a wonderful Monday.
Since I had a day off today, I had a lot of things to do. Not only did I do some personal stuff, but I also cleaned my place, and prepared for my blog tour. I checked my Facebook page to see what was happening on my timeline, and even posted some stuff in a few groups. While posting about my upcoming release, I noticed that I didn’t get a lot of responses or even likes compared to other authors. Even though that shouldn’t bother me, it does, and honestly, it kind of hurts.
When I first started in this industry, I sort of knew what to expect in terms of whether my books would be a hit or not, but the amount of feedback I did receive exceed my expectations. Each book that I’d released I did get a lot of compliments, and even reviews. I was pretty stoked about it because I really didn’t think I would get that kind of response from people. It made me feel good to know that people actually liked my work.
As I continued releasing books, I continued receiving feedback; that was until I moved into the urban genre. That was when things kind of slipped through the cracks for me. At the time, I was also transitioning with my PA, which I didn’t think anything of. Not only that, but a lot of authors that were supporting me at first quickly stopped. Did I think anything of it? At first no, but as time continued, I have noticed the difference.
When I switched back to writing strictly romance, I thought maybe things would be different. I would get the support of authors again, readers would read my books again, and everything would be back to normal. Instead, it was the complete opposite. Less and less people were actually reading my books, reviews were not coming in, and no one were sharing my links on social media. People basically bypassed my books, claiming they didn’t know it was released, but knew exactly when other authors’ books were released. I did the same promotion as the other authors, so why was mine overlooked? Even though that shouldn’t be an issue, I guess being the sensitive person I am, it sort of bothered me.
Although I have been writing for four years, I still feel as if I’m a newbie who just released her first novel. I still get nervous every time I release a book because I don’t know if anyone will read it. I feel as if sometimes I want to be noticed and be part of the “in crowd” of more recognizable authors. I feel that if I am, that means that I sort of arrived in the literary world.
Even though I’m not where I want to be in my career, I am proud of what I have accomplished in a short time. That I will always be grateful for, because a lot of people are not able to fulfill their dreams. Some are too scared to even jump out there and pursue what they love, so that’s something I would never take for granted.
Now that I’m getting ready to release another novel, I decided that maybe I shouldn’t worry about what the other author is doing; instead, I should focus on myself and producing a story that readers will enjoy. It’s okay if I don’t get a lot of likes or recognition on my social media pages. It’s okay if I don’t get a lot of reviews. As long as I enjoy what I’m doing and giving quality work to the people who actually read my books, then that’s all that matters.
I always give advice to aspiring authors that they should be themselves in this industry because it can be brutal at times. There will be times when you don’t think your writing is good enough, or you want to quit. I have experienced that feeling so often that I really was going to quit. Now, I need to take my own advice and be the best writer that I can be. This industry will try to change you; but no matter what, you shouldn’t change your beliefs or who you are as a person.
For me, I will never give up on my dream. I just have to work a little harder and see where this journey continues to take me.
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