I was not blessed with creativity. I was cursed with curiosity.

Three years after its conception The Girlfriend Experience is now available on Amazon.com:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ARXTGN2

Three years–one to talk myself into it and two to write it. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was like birthing a porcupine.

I didn’t even tell my wife about it until the first chapter was done. My lifestyle coach knew before she did. But I wouldn’t have finished it if she hadn’t been cheering me on. She’s my biggest fan and my harshest critic. Once I passed 50,000 words it took on a life of its own. I put it to bed at 105,000.

Now I find out that the heavy lifting is just getting started. The darn thing won’t sell itself. I’ve already gone through all my family and friends and I’m barely into double digits.

Self-publishing means self-promoting. And I thought writing was hard.

The Kindle Direct Publishing Community has been hugely helpful. All my fellow indies who are just as surprised as I am that their books are not flying off the shelves. Or out the bit bucket.

Which takes me back to the opening line. So many indie authors are really committed to their craft. It’s a calling. Typical comment: “I need to write the way I need to breathe.”

Hell, I just wanted to see if I could pull it off.

I hear that real writers write five words for every one they keep. Or ten. I kept more than 50%, probably closer to 75%. Doing the math, that means somewhere between sixty and ninety percent of the book is crap. I’ll be darned if I can sort it out. It all looks good to me. Not being the creative type, I can’t just assume that because I wrote it, it has to be good.

Thanks to all my friends and family who’ve written those five star reviews. The fact that most of you have the same last name as mine I’m sure does not diminish their impact.

Still, I need to know if this work is commercial. So I’ll be sharing my experience with you as I build a following. I’ve already talked myself into it so if past is prologue I can look forward to two years of book review site submissions, search engine optimization and appeals to publishers.

I just have to know. I’m curious.

 

Copyright © [2016] by Charles O’Donnell, All Rights Reserved

Author Website | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter