I got up the courage to join the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Yeah, how silly is that? I’ve been thinking about it for a while because it seems like a great group of people. But another commitment? Seriously? I didn’t want to flake out, so I just didn’t join for oh… months. An embarrassingly large number of months.
But here I am, and here’s my first post.
I had a major bout of doubt and frustration a few weeks ago. I spent real money, as in triple digits, on a number of advertising and publicity efforts. Nothing really panned out. Even the one where I advertised that The King’s Sword was temporarily free. There were sales from both efforts, and a few people joined my mailing list, but the overall results were far less than I’d hoped. Despite having decent books and reviews, I couldn’t seem to even give my books away, much less get more reviews.
I’m trying to be philosophical about it. I don’t write for the money or the acclaim (fortunately). I write because I love it. But… I also write for my readers. I write because I hope someone out there will care about my characters and my stories. I write because I hope that the stories that stir my heart will stir someone else’s too. So it’s hard, sometimes, when it seems no one is reading or enjoying what I’ve written.
I don’t want this to be a plea for sympathy… I want it to be more than that. Something productive, rather than just venting. But discouragement is a real thing, and it’s something I’m dealing with a lot now in my “real life” in addition to my writing life. So I’m looking for suggestions, encouragement, ideas, or just commiseration.
How do you deal with the silence?
