It seems so simple, right? You pour your heart and soul into a writing piece and that one fine day finally comes…it’s PUBLISHED! The excitement is unparalleled to any other feeling of accomplishment. Sales are booming and you wait impatiently for the reviews to start pouring in….

I wait…

And wait…

And wait…

Where the heck is everyone? Your fan base, the people who have emailed you and pledged that YOU will be their favorite author until their dying day. They are going to name their next born child after your character. YOU changed their life. YOU saved their marriage. YOU put the spice back in their boring everyday romantic interactions…

I can’t tell you how much I adore hearing these things. It makes me feel as if everything was worth it. The hard work, the hours of slamming my head into my desk. The tears that would overtake me during the revision process when I began wondering if I had just spent the last three months of my life compiling 80,000 words of pure shit. Hearing those words justified all the late nights.

As much as I adore the support, I would love to see those words in BOTH my email and in an actual review where other people know how you feel–even if it’s bad.

Word of mouth is EVERYTHING to an indie author. Writing is only the beginning. But marketing is what sustains your reputation. ��Sure, I have the option of taking my hard word to a publishing house and letting them take money that I earned. That would take the marketing pressure off me. But no–just NO. I will not sacrifice my hard work and give up my royalties because marketing is too hard. That’s lazy. So I am taking time out of my day to show you all WHY reviews are so important to indies like myself. I am giving you a behind the scenes look at the life of and Indie Author.

Step one: An idea is inspired. NOT necessarily something I am excited about. Because my ideas are based on what I think YOU will love. I mold my ideas around strangers I have never even met and I spend the next 3-6 months of my life trying to build a world YOU would love to live in. I do this for YOU. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Meanwhile, my kids are going crazy and I look around me and this is what I see…

Somewhere in the middle of working my sparkling clean house has fallen victim to a tornado that I was too busy to notice. I gasp, but don’t dare look up because the kids look pretty guilty and I might just see this…

Sure, I could pause and remove the random fellow from my ceiling, but I really NEED to finish this chapter. I have a deadline and I cannot disappoint my fans. They are waiting for me.

I look up from the laptop to find that the sun has gone into hiding. It’s 8 o’clock already. The last time I looked at the clock it was 8 o’clock in the morning. Where has the time gone? Oh right… just one more chapter. Deadline. Fans. No disappointment. No room for failure.

“Mom, were you planning on cooking?”

“Well, kinda. But it’s late. Pizza?”

“Again? Ugh…” they reply.

If a child is tired of pizza, McDonalds, or fast food…you KNOW something is wrong. What kid doesn’t like the treat of fast-food? ��Probably kids who have eaten it ALL week because mommy’s working.

I didn’t even see my wife walk in. Maybe that’s because when she came home this is how she found me…

And ALL because this is how I see my fans…

And it’s worth it.

Please remember that every author puts their heart, soul, time and every bit of energy to see that smile or to hear that praise. All we ever hope for in return is to share our hard work with the world. And how can you do that? DING DING DING….

That’s all we ask. Share the joy of reading with others. Step up for the people who bring entertainment to your life and sacrifice so much to accomplish that.

To MY fans, I adore you all.

You can review my work on Amazon.com, Goodreads or any review site that you love.

Thank you for all your support,

Brooklin Skye