Hello everyone!
Now that we’re arriving into the fall season, it’s only three months before Christmas. It occurred to me that I most likely will not be able to have The Legend of Nariko: Hellfire Rising published and ready for Christmas. Truth be told it was a rather depressing realization and something I was really looking forward to. Knowing that I likely won’t hit my major goal for the year is rather demoralizing.
But looking back on this year, I’ve gone through a lot of emotional and physical problems which made it incredibly difficult to sit down and focus just on writing (and drawing to an extent). Instead of beating myself up over it and spiraling into further depression which, admittedly, was my first reaction, I’m trying to plan what to do next. I might not be able to publish my third book this year, but I can still aim for publishing it mid next year. I also have an ambitious goal of publishing book 4 by Christmas 2023 but most likely that is a stretch unless 2023 happens to be an easier year than 2022.
The other thing I’ve come to realize is that the entire Legend of Nariko series that I’m working on hinges on people reading the first book, The Legend of Nariko: The Mark of Silverfrost and that’s something I haven’t given enough attention to. It seems like something has changed in Amazon’s marketing program and I’ve noticed book sales have decreased as a result. It made me realize that I need to devote more time to studying how best to market my books and get it out there for people to read. Relying solely on Amazon advertising isn’t enough. Ignorantly I thought I could just focus on writing but really if I’m putting so much of my time, effort and soul into this, I need to do everything I can to promote it and help it succeed.
While 2022 might have been a difficult year for me so far, I also need to recognize that part of this is on me as well. My inability to sit down and focus, my decreasing attention to my own physical and mental health, and my problem of taking on more projects than I can reasonably handle. There’s a few things I can do to help clear my mind and help to focus on writing and drawing and I really do need to start focusing on improving my work ethic once more.
Bad news I know but I’m hoping that I can make some good progress going forward. I’m also hoping I can stop being too hard on myself when I can’t hit those goals.
Thanks for sticking with me this whole time!
– Raphael
Raph's Cozy Musings 