S. McPherson's Blog: On my way to being a writer - Posts Tagged "try"

I came...I saw...I deluded myself. With illustrations so pixel-ated it was like trying to see through shattered glass and with alluring curvy text that was actually impractical for reading, I set about promoting my book to anyone who would listen.

My blind belief paid off (temporarily) leading to book signings, readings and appearances in magazines. It seemed like the pieces of this self-publishing puzzle were finally slotting into place and working in a nursery was the last little bit. It granted me access to a vast audience to sell to and word naturally spread from there.

It was great!

And I lived happily ever after...

on my own island...

in Tahiti!!

Oops! Did I call this post, 'Book Fails'? Of course I meant 'Book Sales'. All ten of them in a fifteen hour day; sat outside, squinting in the sun, baring my teeth and trying to wipe away the sweat, smothering myself in perfume disguised as sunblock.

Obviously, I was thankful for every book sold and when combined with the internet sales, I was doing quite well. But to me, "well" is never well enough.

I stuck it out for as long as I could but eventually my enthusiasm to have a numb backside at yet another book fair waned thin. The rose-coloured glasses came off and some much needed clarity came into view. Something had to change...

My first self-published book was about perseverance and after it's mini success, persevere I did. I accepted that it wasn't as good as it could be; no, should be, and I began working on the next books in the series; 'Thomas Clay wanted to Play' and 'Emma Creet wanted a sweet'. For Thomas, I hired an illustrator and for Emma, I decided to draw them myself.

Meanwhile I was also getting my own illustrations for the first book revamped so I could remove the work of "The Tool" once and for all. I didn't know my plan for these books or if I'd follow the same routes I previously had, but I knew I wasn't going to stop.

So to quote my favourite animated fish since Little Mermaid, I just kept swimming, further and further out into uncharted waters.