One year ago today my debut novel Bunco Babes Tell All hit the shelves. It's been a whirlwind year, full of ups and downs and lots of in-betweens. As cliched as it sounds, I wish I knew then what I know now. Ah, well. If I could go back in time I would tell myself the following things:
1. The sales numbers at Amazon.com change hourly. And daily (somewhere around 6:30 am) for Barnes and Noble (although the sales number at B&N do occasionally fluctuate through out the day- not sure why it does this sometimes). No amount of mental telepathy can lower your figures. Trust me, The Great Maria has tried this and failed.
2. Learn to take compliments well and ignore the snide remarks. You have no idea how hard it is for me to take a compliment but I'm learning.
Reader/fan/friend: "I loved your book!"
Old Maria of a year ago (and of course you know I don't mean old literally): "Really? I think the scene on page 242 could have been a little tighter, though. Don't you think?"
Reader/fan/friend: Blank stare.
New and Improved Maria: "Thank you! I love my book too!"
Reader/fan/"friend": "Wow, there sure is a lot of sex in your book!"
Old Maria: cringe
New and Improved Maria: "I know, isn't it great?"
3. Don't sweat the small stuff (I didn't make this one up). I repeat: Don't sweat the small stuff.
And there you have it. I can only hope this time next year I'll be even smarter.
An Eye on the Prize
4 hours ago
4 comments:
Happy Anniversary! Look how far you've come!
Happy Anniversary! Congrats!
Congrats, Maria!! Well done on surviving and thriving one whole year (no small feat in this industry :) and for being so kind as to share your hard-earned wisdom with us. Thank you! xo
Thanks for the well wishes!
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