From one of my FAVORITE movies ever (Dumb and Dumber):
Lloyd: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me ending up together?
Mary: Well, that’s pretty difficult to say.
Lloyd: Hit me with it! I’ve come a long way to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean not good like 1 out of a 100?
Marry: I’d say more like 1 out of a million.
Lloyd: So you’re telling me there’s a chance. YEEah!
So this pretty much sums up how I feel about self-publishing. In the vast sea of books, my book is like throwing a pebble into that sea. I should be worried about how I’ll get my book seen among so many, yet, I feel just like Lloyd right now.
YEEah!
Why? Because I’m optimistic.
- I’ve reached all my pre-launch goals.
- I had a great launch day where I made some sales that weren’t actually friends or family (love you whoever you are!).
- My early reviewers left fantastic reviews (thank you all so much!).
- My crit partner, Bethany Yeager, wrote this truly amazing blog review (you have my undying gratitude).
- I received my first professional review and she said some pretty great things (4 stars!) http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2011/11/review-infinite-sacrifice-by-l-e-waters/.
- I sent out like fifty ebooks to reviewers and already ten have promised me reviews within a few months.
- Plus, I’ve got some promotional tools up my sleeve that I’ll use in the next few months.
So, I’m trying to think of sales like a swine flu…you infect one person who goes spreading it around to others and you have an outbreak. I’m happy to take this one reader at a time. I’m going to continue with Lloyd’s optimism for now, because I think it’s much better than looking back and saying,
“I could’ve been a contender.”
(PS remember to join the $20 Amazon gift card giveaway if you haven’t already!)
love that analogy. lol. good luck and congrats!