Inkshares Community discussion

I've hit that point where, after riding on the high of decent sales, and mostly-positive feedback, coupled with my improvements in general writing and work-ethic, I've begun to hit a wall. Sales are slow, and much of my time is being eaten away by editing, and attempting to build a larger social-network through Twitter, Fb, and other similar sites, which feels like work that isn't translating to anything tangible.

The experience is obviously a huge part of this entire endeavor, and I know it's unrealistic to expect to see huge success right out the door. That being said, I do feel somewhat frustrated. I doubt this is something only I have experienced, burn-out is a pretty common occurrence to every field of work.

What do others do to get over these kinds of hurdles, and how do you persevere when you find yourself beginning to doubt your talent/story/etc. ?

Cry a bit in the tub. Do something else. Play a game, sing a song, work on something else. Come back. Keep writing.

Yep. Right there with you. Here's what I do.

1. Contemplate giving up.
2. Threaten giving up to someone who loves me. (They inevitably convince me not to.)
3. Commiserate with other writers in one of several ways. Most recently, I went to a reading at a local bookstore, and was deeply relieved to hear that published, successful artists go through exactly the same stuff as we do.
4. Cautiously dip a toe back in.
5. Get fully into it, enthralled with the glory of the written word.
6. Repeat.

First ask yourself this: Is your book completely done?

Were you REALLY ready to launch a crowdfunding campaign? Are you still ACTUALLY writing? Editing? Drafting.

If you are, to any of those. Don't sweat it. Think of this contest as prep work to get your work organized for when you are ready to submit.

When you hit that "I have nobody left to sell" wall. I broke it by driving to a store and at least trying something. It didn't work, but I felt better for trying.

The Wall is real though. When it comes. You hit it hard. You can push a little more past it. But eventually... that's it.

There will come a point where there is NOTHING you can do anymore.

That's when you need OTHER people to reach out for you. I hit my absolute wall a while ago. I don't think there is a soul left in a blast radius around me that I haven't reached out to already. I myself. Can't do anything anymore. I've done every thing, and I'm just out of opportunities. So I got other people reaching out to their places instead.

Which... opened up a few more avenues to go. But even that will hit a wall. Eventually, we can all only go so far without ACTUAL media campaigns in our favor. But it's good to push yourself up to that wall.

The burnout is real, and it can be frustrating when it feels like you are screaming, "Help me with my dream," and no one can be bothered to lift a finger. It is important to prepare yourself mentally for the long haul. If you let it consume you as many of us did in the first contest, you will do yourself legitimate harm.

It is important to take the long view of your work. You are building relationships now that will continue to grow, but it takes time and some days will be better than others. See the previous winners, JF's and Paul's new books sitting outside of the top five, their publication not guaranteed. Building that support base is a marathon.

Stepping away for a moment can be a great way to rebuild yourself, as long as you don't step away completely. Give your mind some wins so you can come back refreshed. As far as I am aware there is no magic path to the success, aside from pushing yourself, building a following, faltering for a way, and eventually persisting until you succeed.

Oh, I forgot.

Drink.

A scotch or five couldn't hurt.

Yeah I hear ya. I regret a lot about this contest. I regret jumping into things without being prepared for the popularity contest aspect of it. I keep assuming it's all about the writing, but that's just not the case.

I am glad I did it because of the writers I've met and the one or two early adopters I've managed to attract, but I admit, I looked into pulling out of Inkshares last week. It turns out you can't really step out of the process without completely cutting ties with the company (there isn't an easy way to remove a book from funding without deleting your account).

So as I see it I'm just going to ride it out and then self-publish like I was originally planning. Inkshares is making us do all our own promotion anyway, and the distribution for ebooks is fairly straight forward. I'm buying the ISBNs tonight and will be ready to get going on the publishing as soon as the funding window for Inkshares ends.

G. Derek wrote: "Oh, I forgot.

Drink."

Ohhhhh right, yes. That.

To clarify, I don't want to sound like I'm sore or anything, just because I'm not selling like hot-cakes (mmm). Mostly, I got a bit burned out by the fact that the contest and e-publishing in general require so much work beyond just writing.

The social-aspect is the most frustrating, as it can leave you feeling drained, and result in absolutely nothing. I never had a twitter, finally created one about 3-4 days ago, and managed to hit almost 700 followers in that short time, yet my data from Inkshares implies less than 30 people total have come to look at my page from that.

I still really love writing, I believe in my book, and the contest has given me a lot of help, both in my craft, and in opening up the wider community. I wouldn't take that back for anything.

I guess in the end, I just felt like I needed to vent some pent-up frustration regarding the process.

Wait.... wait wait...

How did you get 700 followers in 3-5 days?

Tell me these arcane secrets!?

G. Derek wrote: "Oh, I forgot.

Drink."

KEEP IT TIGHT

@Richard

Cats man, loads and loads of cats. I'm starting to believe the secret to my book taking off is just slapping my cat's faces on the cover, and calling it day.

Byron wrote: "I've hit that point where, after riding on the high of decent sales, and mostly-positive feedback, coupled with my improvements in general writing and work-ethic, I've begun to hit a wall. Sales ar..."


Oh, yes. Everyone hits this wall. You're not alone.

I hit it about 4 days in, and I really wanted to quit. (I know, I know. Shut up.) I talk a lot of depressing talk to my husband, whom I'm still teaching how to deal with me in my sad state. We've advanced from him arguing with me about how wrong I am to... backrubs. Those are nice.

A couple key people supported me right at the start, and that made all the difference.

I decided, hell, at least I can encourage other people! So I started pre-ordering and commenting and recommending. It makes a difference to some people, and focusing on others got me through that hard time.

What really helped, though, was just reframing my idea of success. I wanted to win - I really did, but I have no "Team She Is the End" pushing my book on everyone three, four, five times. I have no rich friends. I have no network. I'm not going to win. But I can get to 1000 pre-orders, I think.

You can do it.

You're the Children of the Forest guy, right? I recommend the hell out of your book. You fill a niche and you're going to succeed, somehow. Maybe with Inkshares, maybe not - but you'll do it.

Just take care of yourself while you do, so you don't burn out and quit writing entirely.

(Backrubs.)

I think I'm hitting the burnout now. I had it pretty good earlier in the week, selling like 70 copies in 3 days and making it into the top 15, but now I don't really feel that great about it.

I'm almost a 1/5 of the way done with my funding, which is encouraging, and there's still 3 months left in my campaign, which is plenty of time, but...like others, I have no one left.

When I have cousins saying they won't support me because they 'don't have the patience to read a book', or a father who seems offended any time he's asked to try and get people on board, or the very few friends I have just not even reading the facebook messages I send them..it's...not great.

I got burnt out last contest, but for completely different reasons. This one is exhaustion, and the realisation of how few people there are in my life. Not just that want to support my book or me, but in general.

In the last 10 years the number of people I've had face to face, meaningful conversations with that haven't been an exchange in passing, at a place of business or a family member is 2.

2 people..in a decade.

I don't work, I don't drive. I live with my parents, and just recently had a period where I didn't leave the house for 6 weeks without even noticing.

Sure that sort of situation is great for writing a book, but selling it? It's like pulling teeth by smashing your face into a brick wall.

I think the problem I have is that I'm putting too much into this. I'm relying on this, and part of me feels like I need this more than other people. After so many years of shit, I feel like I just need this to work, for something to go right for once.


---

okay, so i just read over that...talk about despair city...sorry about that...I did think about scrapping the post, but nothing in it is untrue, so it stays. Maybe we need a "writer's therapy" section?

I have one last tactic in mind to bring people in for the comp which I'm hoping to do sometime today, beyond that I think I'm just going to have to hope that my book speaks for itself and that it gets some visibility on the Inkshares site and that people like it enough to buy.

One things for sure, I can't maintain this level of promotion for another 3 months and maintain my sanity, so I will have to taper off for a bit and then come back at it again later.

Paul wrote: "I think I'm hitting the burnout now. I had it pretty good earlier in the week, selling like 70 copies in 3 days and making it into the top 15, but now I don't really feel that great about it.

I'm ..."

I second the writer's therapy idea! I personally think it's a shame more people haven't gotten to know you. They've lost out IMO.

Promotion doesn't not come naturally to most people. That's why there are PR firms. Do what you can, and when you can no longer do that, rope in some pro help on contingency.

It sucks that we can't just do what we're good at and let the readers flock to us because of the writing, like actors getting discovered at lunch counters. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Well, this discussion feels good at least, in that this seems like a good place to vent frustrations and such. I don't want this all to come across as pointless bitching and moaning, I think some of the problems raised are valid criticisms of the current Inkshares model, which rewards popularity/ previous success, and makes no effort to help anyone getting started.

Some marketing advice or something similar might make a nice addition tot he sight, if a book is capable of breaching a certain goal; what that would be, I have no clue, nor do I know what the make-up is at Inkshares, perhaps that concept just isn't feasible for them.

This may be a bit of a pessimistic page, but I think it's good to air these thoughts once in a while, if nothing else than to vent.

Relevant read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Altered Perceptions is an anthology featuring many prominent SF/F authors, which was published as a fundraiser for medical bills/other fees accrued by Robison Wells. Before every short story/deleted scene, each of the writers talks about their experience(s) with mental illness (of many kinds), either their own or a loved one's. It was very illuminating to read about how many authors, like many of us, have these issues. It was humbling, and made me feel even closer to the writing community as a whole.

There are tremendous personal stories in there. If you want some commiseration or perspective, I highly recommend picking it up. The essays alone are worth it.

This is so, wow. I thought these posts would be from days ago, maybe weeks, but they are not! We are all feeling this way in the same 24 hours? Woah. I felt so awful yesterday. I for one cannot stand Facebook, and I was depressed that the one day I did not spend time with it...for one day, one--one day, and sales freeze. I almost said goodbye right there, but after talking with my friend, he said no one likes to sell themselves. He told me about how he almost stopped doing stand-up because he felt nauseous asking people to come. Getting people to come, but you have to. His words are a little more his style: whoring your self out...Thank you J. Zuker

Social media is not the only way. I actually helped one of my guests where I work, a regular. He did not have a computer at home and he came up to me with his phone asking for help how to do it. It was a great way to start a mediocre shift, but it was still a great start. Sure that was one of two pre-orders for the day, but it was an awesome human interaction.

We have to keep going. We write because we have to. If we don't we lose ourselves. The pen or keyboard is apart of us.

Anyone still use pen and paper in the writing process?
I like to with notes, or outlines of characters and the world.

The wall is sometimes so massive that it is hard to see over it, but walls can come down; it is often more fun to break through, and watch that thing crumble.

Well, I found this thread at the right time. It's relieving to read that no matter what stage of the game we're in this feeling is pretty universal. I just keep reminding myself that a lot can happen in two months and to be thankful for the support both from inside this group as well as out.
I'm getting more used to pitching in person than I ever thought I would be and it's coming with mixed results. Still it's more worth doing than to not.
I'm looking forward to figuring out how to, as CoRy put it, break through the wall.

It makes me both glad and kind of depressed that we're all on the same page with this. I'm sure part of my crash into the proverbial wall has to do with lack of time. I'm committed to my writing but when work goes crazy and you're moving to another city in a month, it makes it a little hard to spend any extra time advertising myself (which as an introvert, I'm not super keen on anyways).

Elan-I'll have to check out the book you recommend above as all of what I've described is made even more fun by my good friend Mr. Anxiety. :)

Brien wrote: "Well, I found this thread at the right time. It's relieving to read that no matter what stage of the game we're in this feeling is pretty universal. I just keep reminding myself that a lot can ha..."

Not quite there yet, but my spoon is sharp and the digging has begun. See you on the other side Brien, or shall I say, the same side.

CoRy wrote: "Brien wrote: "Well, I found this thread at the right time. It's relieving to read that no matter what stage of the game we're in this feeling is pretty universal. I just keep reminding myself tha..."

I got my Rita Hayworth poster all ready. See you there.

Alex wrote: "It makes me both glad and kind of depressed that we're all on the same page with this. I'm sure part of my crash into the proverbial wall has to do with lack of time. I'm committed to my writing bu..."

Alex, I something occurred to me this morning. Unfortunately it doesn't help with how to find a wider audience (how I've chosen to look at gaining preorders) but it might help with the depressing feeling knowing that we're all finding this now.
This thread is important. By the numbers alone some of us will be getting published. This thread is documenting that this is a natural part of crowdfunding publishing. Future generations of Inksharers, what I call us in my head, will be able to see that this is going to happen and see that it doesn't define the publishing. That thought made me feel better. I don't have any answers yet but I felt like sharing this thought for a more optimistic spin.

I hope this made sense... I'm still half asleep.

Wow, this is really interesting to see that so many other people have been having similar thoughts to me. It's really tough doing all this self-promotion stuff. I'm echoing what other people have said, but it just drains away all the time I would usually have set aside for actually writing. And it feels kind of embarrassing, too.
The conclusion I've come to is that the most useful thing I can do is to try and bring passionate readers into Inkshares. Even if they don't like my book, there's loads of interesting projects to discover and support. And that process can be really fun. I'm trying to work out ways of doing that...maybe it's something we could all try and do. (I'm not sure if that's already being discussed in another thread-sorry if I've posted redundantly and in the wrong place!;))
Also wanted to say to Paul that sharing what you shared was really brave. It sounds like you've been going through a tough time. I think the idea of writer's therapy is a very good one!

Well, I believe I speak for myself when I say that I'm glad everyone responded positively to this post, instead of just calling me a whiny-bitch.

It's nice to see to some thought-provoking responses as well as suggestions for handling problems when they inevitably come up.

I think a big issue I've suffered through would be validation. Writers tend to be an egotistical bunch, and I often feel that, if I don't have constant validation of my work by others, I immediately resort to believing everything I write is utter shite. for big projects with thousands of readers, critics, etc, your work receives feedback, and you can gauge its sccess. With such limited pools of readers, especially for this contest for me, it can be difficult when there's zero activity for days, weeks, months.

Jamie wrote: "Also wanted to say to Paul that sharing what you shared was really brave. It sounds like you've been going through a tough time."

thanks, it hasn't been great..lol. I've been trying my best to not even bring it up because I don't want it to look like I'm going for pity orders, but every now and then some of it slips through the cracks. I could have gone hard in on that angle, but I want this to be something I achieve in spite of all the shit.