My laptop needs a repair. I dropped it (this morning, as I was blogging on this site) and it needs a new screen, which will take 4 weeks and $250. Considering my royalties for the 1st three months of book sales was less than $35, this definitely hurts.
The ironic thing is...I was blogging about how depressing it was to sell only three books at my last book-signing event (1/27/10). It didn't make me feel any better to know that they sold eight books that month and it's considered "brisk" for an unknown, self-published author. These are the numbers I'm working with....
1. I need to sell at least 1,000 to get any kind of article written or book reviewed by a local paper.
2. I need to sell at least 2,000 to 5,000 books to get any kind of attention from a publisher or an agent.
Considering the best book signing I've ever had was for 14 books at a single event, this seems like an impossible challenge. Yet...I believe in miracles. I need to find some way to generate a buzz online. Tomorrow, I'll be spending most of my day at a library or a bookstore researching.
The thing is...as stupid as this sound, I'm glad that my laptop screen broke this morning. It taught me so much about what's important in life. My 3 year old daughter has been pushing my buttons for a while and yesterday, I cautioned her about being careful around my laptop (she was watching a netflix movie). If she had dropped it, I would have gotten so angry with her. After being really mad at my stupidity, I realized that it's just money. My computer is still OK. It'll take some work, but I can access my files. I can replace everything. Is it really important? No. Just irritating.
So, I go back to my favorite quote - The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fall (Chinese proverb).
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