Good Things

The grandmotherly advice to be grateful for the little things is not my natural fallback. I'm not good at living in the moment, instead constantly looking a mile down the road.

It's not as if good things haven't happened this week. Take my number one ranking on Amazon, contrived though it was (by giving my book away--still counts).

I also landed a new newsletter subscriber. This is such an unusual experience for me that I almost forgot to send the person their freebie. Not that I'm going to send out any more newsletters, but it's the principle of the thing.

And I finally wrote that article that I volunteered to write for the book blogger who'll be reviewing my novel next month (probably). I put the task off for far too long, mainly because I had no good ideas. I'd started writing something about how songwriting and fiction writing are similar in some ways, but then I ran out of steam. It was a decent idea that had no follow-through. But with the clock ticking, I knew I had to write something, so back to the original premise I went.

Then I reread the blogger's specifications--300 to 350 words. Really? That's it? I've probably written more than that in this post so far! So I tallied my word count and found that just another sentence or two, then a polishing up and a spell check, and I'd be done! Somehow I'd gotten it into my head that I'd need to practically write a dissertation. 

So, before I overthought things, I dashed it off to the blogger. Here is her response:

Thank you for sending me the article. Well done! This is written very well! It is so good, I was thinking of featuring it in the magazine instead. Would this interest you?

The magazine is in print and digital format. By featuring, you will benefit from the following:

• Your name will be credited in the Amazon description box.
• Your book and name will be advertised, seen, and read by Review Tales fans.
• You can use the platform to talk about your achievement on social media because being in a magazine is prestigious. 
• Your book will be advertised through the magazine's publications such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo /Chapters, Waterstones, and many other places. 
• You will be acknowledged in the contents and contributor to the magazine.
• You will have a page dedicated just to your book. 
• You get to voice your opinion and be heard, something that is hard to achieve as an author.

While I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity, I have to wonder how bad other authors' submitted articles are, because mine is certainly nothing special. In fact, I wouldn't even consider it for inclusion on my website's blog. Nevertheless.

Additionally, I managed to sell three copies of Running From Herself--actually sell three copies; not give them away. This, by the way, is no thanks to my Amazon ad, which continues its streak of zero clicks. I did get an initial invoice for my ad--$0.00 due. Another win! 😉

It's good to take a moment to reflect on the good. I'm a small author with a tiny resume, and my wins, as tiny as they are, reflect a ton of sweat equity on my part. It's nice to have something to show for it.