I am frankly beside myself with excitement today, because I've reached the milestone of having sold 500 copies of The Eye of the Beholder. As I've said on my blog before, I had hoped I might be able to sell 100 copies within one calendar year of publication, so to have met that goal five times over in the space of five months obviously exceeds every hope and expectation I may have had. I am so very, very grateful to my readers for investing both their time and their money in me. Every time I look at those sales figures, I'm encouraged to push myself harder, to make the next book even better, and to get it out as quickly as humanly possible. I am loving every minute of my self-publishing journey, and every day makes me more hopeful that I can make a career of writing.
Another big woo hoo goes out to the people who have given me good feedback about my books. Don't mistake me--I also appreciate the negative reviews because they give me an idea of my weak areas. But I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the number of people who have praised my books and complimented me on my writing. It took so long for me to get to a point where I'd even let someone take a peek at something I wrote that it lifts me straight off my feet when people like something I wrote. I'm not sure if this is a common affliction of writers, but I am so close to my work that I end up dealing with a lot of self-doubt. I'll write something that I think is awesome one day, but the next I look at it and want to tear my hair out because it suddenly seems so awful. To have others tell me that they like something I wrote, well, that's a kind of validation that's very hard to describe. I've always wanted to be good at my jobs, but since a piece of my soul goes into everything I write, it's exponentially more meaningful to be complimented on my writing.
Lastly, a big woo hoo for the progress I'm making on Phoning It In. The words have been pouring out of me and, though I know I'll have extensive edits to do of the first 1/3 or so of the book, I feel confident that I can get it out by the end of the year. I'm also excited because the cover is ready, and I think it's fabulous. I can hardly wait to reveal it, but that'll come when I've made further progress on the novel.
I hope you're all having a wonderful Wednesday as well. Be sure to check back on Friday for another sneak peek into Phoning It In!
(I also want to remind everyone that The Eye of the Beholder is no longer available on Barnes & Noble or Kobo. It is still, however, available DRM-free on Amazon, and I will be making it available through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library once again.)
