Today is the first Wednesday of September, so it's time for another round of Insecure Writer's Support group. For those of you who are wondering, IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. A whole lot of us have signed up for this bloghop and once a month, we share our insecurities and our encouragements.
If you would like more information or to sign up, click here.
I've been mostly quiet, lately, and you don't need to scroll back far to see why. Things haven't been going well. It's been so bad, in fact, that I've started to think that my dreams of making a living as a writer will never come true.
I've been completely without hope for weeks now, because it just seems that everything I've tried (including finding a job, or doing anything to build up my business again) comes to nothing.
Which means that, all in all, my dreams of turning writing into a day job seemed so far away.
And that just made me sad.
Something's been happening, though. A tiny seed of a thought have been planted by various friends saying various little things. A tiny thought that's been growing more and more every day until a tiny royalty payment put things into perspective for me.
And the thought goes something like this.
Suppose...
Suppose that, for all the hours I'm putting into my business, I just am not able to get to the point where the business stands on its own. Or suppose that it's just a few months away, but nothing I can do now is going to make it happen faster.
Suppose I've done everything I could to find and contact possible clients for my available products and now it's a matter of waiting for them to come back.
Do any of the hours I'm currently wasting waiting for feedback help me? No.
Do I have to sit there staring at nothing while I'm waiting for feedback? No.
Do I have anything else I could be doing that could actually add value?
Well...
Actually...
The fact that I'm getting any income at all from my writing means that it's actually adding more value to my life than hours spent at the office.
In fact, this income, small as it might be, actually could be what pays the Internet so we can keep doing business. It could be a small bit towards trying something that could become something bigger.
It could be a start.
And I've been overlooking all that for the stupid reason that my year just didn't look the way I wanted it to.
I keep griping and moaning about not writing full-time, but if I keep in mind the idea of flexi-hours, I could have worked 40 hour weeks as a writer for WEEKS now.
But I haven't, because somewhere in my head is this idea of all-or-nothing. And also, the idea that I needed to stabilize my business so I could use that to pay for my writing in order to become a full-time writer.
Which is great in theory, but not if my writing income actually out-strips what I'm actually getting out of my business.
Because if that happens, doesn't it make more sense to double down and figure out a way to 1) write more and 2) generate income for writing-related activities and 3) generate income to fund further writing and publishing endeavors?
To me it does.
And to me, it means I'm actually a card-carrying full-time writer as of now.
But.
Since "Staving Artist" is a bad look on me, I need to be more than a writer. I need to be a businesswoman who writes.
And as a business woman who writes, I know I might have some products and services that might interest you:
1) My writing.
If you're a reader, you might be interested in my books. Right now, all of my available writing is speculative fiction of some sort. But I have a wide variety of other genres waiting to be released as well. My books are also available at iTunes, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other places.
Want exclusive sneak-peaks of my writing? Then there's Patreon, where you can find out first if there's any publishing news from me, see any excerpts I post first, and even read stories I post there, all for as little as $1 a month.
2) My knowledge.
As part of my writing and publishing journey, I've gathered about 15 years' worth of experience in what works and what doesn't in a story.
I'm sharing advice on Patreon when asked for (as part of my $1 subscription reward) and will be posting regular vlogs about writing, which you can watch and enjoy while I (eventually) earn revenues from advertising.
Then, I am also offering my services on Fiverr. I am offering critiques of short stories, novellas and novels. I will also help you polish your query or back-of-the-book blurb. Or your synopsis. I can even go through your query package (query, synopsis and up to five chapters) to help you find possible weaknesses in your submission.
Right now, I'm trying to build a track record on Fiverr, so I'm offering Query/Blurb, Synopsis or critiques of up to 10,000 words, all for $5, even if you need one of the premium packages on offer. All you have to do is go to my profile, click on "Contact" and follow the instructions to get in touch with me.
So yeah. I actually have a lot to offer people. Now it's a matter of getting the word out...
How are things going on your end? Have you had a bit of perspective change for one reason or another?