As a former police officer, I’ve been in countless situations where my heart beat out of my chest whether it was from fear, excitement, or adrenaline. When I chose to retire, I kind of thought those days were behind me. In fact, I looked forward to spending my days writing my books and trying to snare the one agent and publisher who would make my dreams of being a published author come true. About the same time as my retirement, I also began to hear tales of self-publishing and how some writers were making a go of it. I investigated the process and for various reasons (mostly due to having control of the process) I chose to self-publish my book, a romantic suspense, A Dozen Deadly Roses. In fact, having control of the whole publishing process was very appealing to me. So, in June 2011, I made my book available on Smashwords, Kindle, and Nook. Then I let my friends, family, and all my blog followers, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers know that I was now a published author. Every morning I went to my account sections of my various retailers to see how my sales were doing. I was quite pleased to discover that it seemed my sales were going better than average. Of course it was impossible to know for sure, but I felt I was doing pretty good. I can remember saying to my husband, ‘I just hope I can maintain ten sales a day’. Then something wild happened. This past week my Nook numbers spiked. I sold double-digits in one day on Nook – where I’d previously been selling one or two books a week. I was thrilled and had no idea what caused the jump. I knew something was up, so I searched the Barnes and Noble site and found that I was on the list of the Top 100 Barnes and Noble Nookbook (e-book) Police Stories. I was giddy with excitement! This was like winning the lottery. My heart was beating like a machine gun. Immediately I got online and spread the word about this stroke of luck. Each day I’d get up and check my numbers; and while the other retailers remained static, my Nook numbers were soaring. A day or two later, I then discovered I was in the Top 100 Barnes and Noble Nookbooks! I was beside myself. I couldn’t believe it. I got online and put out that announcement too. I think for two days I was really really happy. But then pressure began to mount. First of all, I had no idea what had caused my rapid assent to the tops of these lists. I certainly wasn’t controlling my sales. I was beside myself with worry that I didn’t have a follow-up book for readers to buy. I was afraid that I’d reached the pinnacle of my writing career after just a month and a half of being published. I wasn’t reveling in the fact I was up on the shelf next to James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Michael Connelly, or Tom Clancy…to name a few. But today, I finally realized something. I can’t control how many books I sell. I can’t control if I make it on one list or another. All I can control is writing the best books I can. Writing as many books as I can, and nurturing the relationship I have with my friends, family and readers. So this is my promise to you. I will do everything I can to write a book that entertains you, makes your heart beat with excitement, and gives you characters to root for and care about. I will be there for you as family, friends and readers. I hope you’ll come visit me at my website, or on Facebook or on Twitter. www.KathyBennett.com, www.Facebook.com/Kathywriteslapd, www.Twitter.com/Kathywriteslapd That’s all I can control. Where I land in my sales is out of my hands…and in yours. Until next time,
