On the third anniversary of publishing my first book
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| Foggy outlook. Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash |
"So, how are book sales going?"
Not one but two people asked me this at my not-remotely-book-related networking happy hour tonight. As friends who enthusiastically circled the periphery of my writing, contracting, and publishing journey for AMEN?; QUESTIONS FOR A GOD I HOPE EXIST, they meant well with their questions and had no way of knowing that today, almost three years to the day when AMEN? launched, I have moved the goal posts entirely.
For all the non-writers reading this reflection right now, first let me say: Book publishing is a tough business. Assuming you manage to complete a manuscript, pitch it, land an editor or agent, have a publisher acquire the book, or publish it yourself—where each step is a herculean task involving creativity, time, dedication, endurance, and an unshakeable sense of self—then you face this statistic as presented by Michael Castleman in the Spring-Summer 2025 issue of The Authors Guild Bulletin:
Only 20 percent of new titles sell 100 copies. On the other hand, if your book sells 100, it's in the top 20 percent. Sell 1,000, you're in in the top 6 percent.
For reference, my indie published book—the work of 15 years of creating, with a concerted three-year push toward editing and publishing and now another three-year push in steady marketing—has sold close to 500 copies. I have earned enough royalties for a nice takeout dinner. I have never once considered quitting my day job.
And yet ... I feel reassured.
Were you expecting me to say that? Even so close as a year ago, I wasn't expecting to say that to myself, let alone anyone else. I was sorely disappointed and dejected that I had not hit my initial goal of 2,000 sales by the end of year 2. The related workshop I'd lovingly crafted wasn't generating widespread interest. I was keeping up my monthly reflections and email newsletter, but I wasn't getting to write much new stuff beyond that, and I felt strongly that writing (and selling) another book was likely my best marketing tactic for promoting the first.
So what changed in the past 12 months? Mainly, the way I defined success:
- I chose to look upon AMEN? as the "book that started it all"—my learning ground, my testing ground, my loving foray into a world of craft and business I'd long dreamed about joining.
- I sought out and deepened my relationships with other writers, authors, readers, and seekers asking thoughtful questions about the way faith and spirituality intersects with their daily lives.
- I relinquished the internal pressure to be splashy on social media, as it wasn't the highest and best use of my time, interest, or energy.
- I remain committed to offering my "What's Your Biggest Question for God?" workshop when and where it's called upon, knowing that whoever participates that day is exactly who is meant to be there.
- I relish the emails and comments I receive from folks who encounter my work, buoyed by the notion that with everything I write, I am "guiding readers toward transformation" (in Chad R. Allen's words).
- I activated a new habit—leaving the house for two hours each week to write—to reconnect me with the joy of creation. I am proud to say my habit is still going strong 9 months in, and I have achieved what once felt insurmountable: I have put some new words on a page.
- I continue to strive to be Kintsugi in a broken world.
All this, of course, was too much to say in quick reply in a loud bar to interested but distracted listeners. So I simply smiled, said "Fine!", and saved the words for the page—the place I go first, the place I love best, the place I will always have—my home in myself.
Prayer #414: Goal Posts
grass left to grow hides
even the tallest goal posts
let them disappear
Amen.
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Looking to expand your own creative imagination? Check out the chapter titled "What If?" in my book, Amen? Questions for a God I Hope Exists, for prayerful and poetic inspiration.