What a writer can and cannot do

This may come as a shock to some but a writer cannot control the sales of their books. They cannot guarantee X amount will be sold, even if they go on book tour or give away free stuff or whatever. You may help boost sales for your book but don't kid yourself. It won't be by a huge margin, but every little bit helps, right? Instead of focusing and spending energy on the stuff you don't have control over, such as sales, which bookstore will carry your book, publisher marketing, placement in stores, etc I challenge all of you authors to let go of what you cannot control and focus on what you can control: The story.

I have made the following pact with myself.

I will only write the stories that make me proud, that tell the tale in a way I think it needs to be told and I will make it the best story I can.

I can control these things. I am letting go of the other stuff. I will not stress over print runs and sell thru's and who is carrying what. That doesn't mean I don't care about these things but only in as much as I have control over it. I can visit/call/mail bookstores and ask them to carry my book. I can control my actions to that point. But I can't control their actions to carry or not carry certain books. And that is okay. Say it with me A type personalities. That is O-K. Breath in and let it go.

I find myself a lot less stressed now that I have made this pact with myself. Call it my Mission Statement if you will. Whenever I am in doubt about my career or how I am handling something, I refer back to my Mission Statement and everything just comes back into focus. I am not saying don't promote yourself or market yourself. I am simply saying, don't invest so much energy into thinking about the success or failures of such ventures that you are willing to change your writing into something you are no longer proud of.

So that's my challenge to you. Good luck.