Like I do with everything that piques my interest, I research. Out of all the information that I found online, I dreaded establishing an online presence the most. I prefer to go online to watch movies and videos, read articles of interest and scroll through the MSN news page because it’s the first thing that comes up on my computer. Other than those things, I can be compared to a five-year-old trying to use Twitter and Instagram. Even then, they could easily teach me a few things.
But still, it seemed that I would need that online presence to connect with my audience. Which is understandable. But what if I just want to publish my work for me? What if getting my books in paperback, or digital, or even audio was something I wanted to do because it would make me happy. Not the person reading it.
So many times, I was told to hurry and finish my book so I could make money. Or asked, what if my books weren’t successful. When asked something like that, I always thought, “what does it matter.” Because honestly, none of that matters to me. Not how much money I will make. Not whether people would read it or like it or hate it. The fact that it has always been my dream, literally, to get my books published is more than I can ask for.
Money isn’t my goal, neither is fame and recognition. I have always written for myself. I believe if I continue to do that, I will never lose what is most precious to me. I do not want to be consumed by the standards of society and greed. I do not want to be consumed by large corporations whose interest aren’t solely for my work, but instead, for the money they hope to make from my writing.
So, I will end by saying this. The amount of money you have doesn’t measure your success. Success is what you make it.
