Wednesday Writerly Way ~ The Indie Life Roller Coaster

I've always lived the indie lifestyle so it shouldn't be any surprise that I became a hybrid author. The comparison between being an indie author and traditionally published one.

If you don't not look for challenges in this life...you are just coasting.

I've never had a life a person could coast through. Whether it has been jobs I've had, or family issues, or marriage. Nothing has ever been simple and straight forward. So now I'm approaching another birthday. Yes, I'm a Taurian which accounts for some of my bull headedness, but mostly it's survival and always breaking new ground. I've never stepped away from a challenge.

My daughters on my last birthday threw me a surprise birthday party because in in all my years on this Earth, I've never had one. My youngest gave me as gag gift, a cane. Not just any ordinary cane but a survival cane for an outrageous lady. It's bright purple which includes a hello beautiful mirror, granny hosiery (because we are always losing our knee-highs), dirty old man repellent, a get out of my way horn, and old lady crossing sign. It makes squeaking noise when you press down on cane handle. A good laugh was had by all and my grandchildren had fun playing with it.

I should have taken it as an omen of things to come, but I didn't. A month later when I had my stroke she was kicking herself for her gag gift.

Life is like that. It's a roller coaster of events...some up, some down with twist turns and loop-de-loops thrown in for extra excitement. Why should being a indie author be any different? It isn't.

I'm not a Joe Konrath nor expect to be. I'm me and I don't compare my success or lack of success to anyone except me. I rarely compare my works to any other author because no other author can write a story like me. Indie author stands for an independently published author, but I like to think of it as an individual author. Everyone is unique, although they might have similar qualities.

Of course as an indie author, we envy or try to emulate his success. The fact is most of us can't and won't without twenty plus years of readers following our work. Wait a minute, I've got the years in paying my dues and have multi-million words attempted or in print. Why couldn't I be a Joe Konrath? Why not me? I tout thousands in sales and he touted hundreds of thousands. Excuse me a moment while I flick this little green imp off my shoulder. Even old Joe says there is no formula to success.

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Envy, jealousy, and comparison is wrong and rings the death bells sounding in the chapel. In comparing your book or the sales with another breeds the green eyed monster. Why decide to go it on your own if you are going to do it on your own? Yes, I follow a lot of writer blogs because I can always learn from someone else's trials and errors. What works for me might not necessarily work for you. The world is full of imitators and imposters for that very reason. Why be a copycat when you can be a maverick?

I've watched hundreds of copies of my books fly off the shelves last month. For me, this is a milestone because I haven't published anything new in almost a year and it's double of what I sold last year. It proves I have longevity and I am finding new readers. That's success to me. With as little advertising as I've done the past year, I'm honestly surprised. So I'm tackling new ground once again and working on a new book. With a goal of 75K words, at times, seems daunting but although I did write but 642 new words last month...it's taking a step forward to a goal.

Isn't that what the indie life is all about, reaching goals and measuring success by your standards as a individually published author?

Keep writing and loving the Lord.