When You Hit #1 on Amazon...

It’s difficult out there in publishing.

I’ve seen a lot in my fifteen years writing full-time, but lately? I’m a bit overwhelmed at the squeeze in the industry and what it takes to get a book in front of enough readers to make it move. A lot of the actions regularly used aren’t working as well. Authors are pivoting in various ways, and trust me, this isn’t a gloom and doom post, because amidst the difficult is more freedom for authors than we’ve ever had before.

Plenty are making money. Plenty are successful. Many are quietly successful, churning out books regularly, hitting their sales marks, and building a niche solid community.

The bottom line? I’ve learned to really savor the winning moments nowadays. There is no more expectation of success as I had before. So when I woke up this morning, and found Book of the Month sitting at the #1 spot in the ENTIRE Amazon store, I got a bit teary eyed.

Let me tell you what OLD ME would’ve said:

The book is free. It better hit number one or you’d be a failure.

It’s not a real number one win because no one paid for it.

Well, you couldn’t even make a dent with your last release, it’s about time.

You paid enough and have a nice publisher behind you that made this happen.

Don’t get too attached, it’ll drop in the next hour and disappear completely…

Let me tell you what NEW ME says:

I’m so proud of you! You LOVE this book and now more people get to read it!

Look at what your team accomplished! What a blessing to reach new readers!

Who cares if it’s there for an hour? You did it! You got the number one slot in the entire store!

I’m so damn grateful for this job, this book, this team, this career, my readers….

I always teach writers to celebrate wins. I wrote 3K yesterday and I gave myself a nice pep talk because I’ve been struggling with words recently. And it felt good. I like being nice to myself. I like being kind. My poor Muse and sensitive soul have been through enough self-discipline over the years and needs a softer approach.

I’m writing this post to celebrate this achievement but to also show again the major ups and downs of a long term career author. You never get THERE. You never stay THERE.

It’s a long journey full of wonder and hidden roads and potholes and craters and sunshine and rain.

Just like life.