I should have put this here instead of on Twitter, but I got into a roll and what the hell.
Here it is, my short essay on obscurity:
1. Putting my book down to tweet a few things I've been thinking about. Always dangerous, I know. I'll try not to be too depressing.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
2. I know some people will laugh at this, but I'm not writing for people's beer money, or for throwaway entertainment. I want more.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
3. I'm hoping that people will still be reading my books 100 years from now. Or 80 years. I want to be read long after I'm dead.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
4. Like Agatha Christie or Raymond Chandler. I want to create books that people return to. And I'm honest w/ myself about it.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
5. It ain't gonna happen. I mean, it might, but the odds are long and everyone is playing this same game. So I'm trying to do my best.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
6. Because, if you go into a thrift store, you'll see used books w/ old-fashioned covers that say "NY TIMES BESTSELLER!" and if you take out
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
7. your phone, you'll see that a lot of those authors–best sellers whose names you don't recognize, are still alive.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
8. They had a career. They were fairly successful. Now its is over. They outlived their own career.
That's a scary thing. The scariest.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
9. The idea that I might still be writing but readers will have moved on is the thing that worries me the most.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
10. Yesterday, I had that Bookbub promotion, and someone was nice enough to mention my book on reddit. I sold nearly a thousand books.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
11. A drop in the buck compared to what some self-publishers do, but if it brings me new readers, I'm glad.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
12. Today, I sold a little over 250. Most of those were the 99c promotion, so they're not bringing in a lot of cash.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
13. Being listed on Bookbub cost over $500. I'm thinking I'll make that money back sometime tomorrow. But it's not really about the money.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
14. I would have done it anyway even if all it did was bring in new, serious readers. Because obscurity is the enemy here.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
15. Obscurity is not patient. It doesn't wait in the wings, lurking at the edge of the pack. It goes right for the throat as quick as it can
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
16. Because it's completely standard for writers to toil in anonymity, to be dumped by their publisher after one book, to be forgotten.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
17. And I don't know any way to prevent that, except to toil away, try to be original, and write honest entertainment well. As well as I can
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
18. Lots of writers struggling today, and I have my own numbers to look at. It's not easy or encouraging.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
19. Okay, stopping there. Goals, I have them. The good thing is they're the kind I'll never know if I truly failed them or not.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
@byharryconnolly I hear you on all this
— Kate Elliott (@KateElliottSFF) January 4, 2016
@KateElliottSFF Normal people feel Death standing at their left shoulder. Writers have Obscurity.
— Round Things (@byharryconnolly) January 4, 2016
I wish I could edit tweets.
Anyway, re: #18, here’s Jaime Lee Moyer talking about her series being cancelled after Tor pulled her first two books just as book 3 was coming out and here’s Patrick Swenson talking about Tor dropping him after one book. Those forgotten bestsellers I mention in tweets #6 & 7? At least they made a little money first. For too many of us, even that’s beyond our grasp.
I have also been thinking about George RR Martin, who recently announced that his next Westeros novel will be delayed. It reminded me of an article I read about JK Rowling, and the pressure she felt while trying to finish the last few Harry Potter books. Those authors have had amazing success, obviously, but they still feel Imposter Syndrome. They still worry that readers will be turned off and turned away. That readers will move on.
Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about lately, as I watch the Bookbub sales bump fade, and wonder if those readers will move past the 99 cent promo novel to my other work.
Hey new readers, if you want to keep up with my future work, why not sign up for my newsletter? I only send it when I have something new out.
Also, it helps keep the specter of Obscurity a few paces behind.