I needed to read that quote today.
If you’re a struggling author of your own book, I bet you needed to read that quote too.
Thing is, writing a book is an amazing feat in and of itself. You’ve just put together a whole entire novel of thoughts, emotions, visions, relationships, trauma, and cleaned it all up into a neat (or messy) resolution. You’ve played God with a bunch of characters who would never have existed if you’d never given them life. You’ve succeeded in creating something that has the ability to take a reader on a journey through the confines of your mind, allowing them a glimpse into what your dreams are made up of. You are one of the great storytellers, sharing a tale that could be told for generations to come.
Do you know how many people are unable to do what you just did?
So even if your 6-digit sales ranking appears to be mocking you, your friends have quietly stopped following you on Facebook to avoid hearing about your book any longer, and you can count on one hand how many eBooks you’ve sold this month, YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE. Stop distracting yourself with numbers, ranking, and dollar signs. It will come, but it just takes time. For now, pick up your pen, or log onto your computer. And then write. Just write. Because that is the gift you have for the world. And if you don’t write it, your story will never be told.
xoxo
Crissi Langwell is the debut author of A Symphony of Cicadas. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.