I swallowed a bite of warm breadstick. "Yeah, maybe."
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"What's bugging you?"
I took a drink of Labatts and set the glass down. "I read about this dude who made a hundred thousand dollars selling his books on Kindle."
"A hundred thousand? Last year?"
"In the last three weeks."
Cheryl coughed, a fine mist of coke sprayed my face. "Three weeks?"
"That's what he claims."
"How much have your books made on Kindle?"
"Let's not talk about that."
"So, are you saying someone else's success makes you depressed?"
I pushed the spaghetti around my plate. "No, I don't begrudge his success ... more power to him ... I just wish I had little more."
"You judge your success as a writer on your sales?"
"No ... but you know what I mean ... I'd just like to have a little reward for my efforts."
"Did lack of sales stop Van Gogh from painting?"
"Oh, come on now ... don't go gettin' all philosophical on me ... the guy sells a gazzilion books and I sell five ... and it's a little frustrating ... that's all I'm saying."
"I understand ... really." Cheryl signaled the waitress for the check.
I started to reach for my wallet.
She held up her hand. "Don't worry, honey, I've got this."
I hate to admit it, but we all feel a little that way. It's difficult to work so hard for little success. Hang in there. Loved the last line. LOL
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ciara. It would be nice to earn a little monetary reward for our hard work. Besides, Van Gogh is known as much for cutting off his ear as he is for his talent. I don't want to go his route. ;)
ReplyDeleteCiara: Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteLaura: I may suffer a little angst now and then, but I ain't cuttin' off nothin'.
Her reaching for her money did me in!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to compare, but if selling books was the reason we wrote, then we'd all need to be confined to the looney bin.
Alex: It's a little embarrassing ... but I've learned to live with it ... in the looney bin.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it Chris, folks who work hard and persevere are more often successful that not. Oh, and hang on to that girl with the heavy purse, she's a keeper.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on having finished work to publish on kindle! I am still struggling to finish at least one of the three projects I have going. Keep at it though, the words have to be written. I enjoyed the preview of Northern Cross and will have to add it to my list!
ReplyDeletePru: I'll keep at it ... after all, 'I got nowhere to go, man' ... and you're right about the 'keeper'.
ReplyDeleteMSB: Thanks (and thanks for stopping by) ... it is a struggle, but keep the faith and 'get 'er done' (I seem to be into quotes today ... what's up with that?)
I left you an explanation for my blog background over on my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteLaura: Thanks ... I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteHey, you didn't have to pay for dinner. Woo-woo! That's ten bucks in your pocket. On the serious side, tracking sales is depressing. I wonder if Stephen King ever sits at the table and moans that last week's sales dropped by a thousand.
ReplyDeleteHelen: Well, it was ten bucks that didn't have to go on my credit card ... but cool anyway. RE the tracking ... I actually don't, ordinarily, but I had to fiddle with the settings on CreateSpace, and sneaked a peak at sales ... it was depressing. King's sales could drop a thousand and he wouldn't even notice.
ReplyDelete