Friday, April 11, 2014

One Year Anniversary - My version

This time last year I was in shock. I had just hit the publish button on Promise Me Darkness and people were BUYING it! Buying my book!!! Crazy! I remember telling my husband that if only fifty people read my book, I would be happy. You see, I had never let anyone read anything I wrote. I was too terrified of being ridiculed. Yes, I had written my whole life. I still have notebooks full of stories that I wrote as a little girl and teenager. (My mom just found an elementary school workbook where I wrote a whole conversation between two characters in the margin. Needless to say, I didn't pay attention in class very much. I was too busy daydreaming.) But to let someone, even a family member, read my stories...uh, no. Over the years I continued to write, but I would hear terrible things about trying to break into the publishing business. I cringed when I heard what others were going through. So I would put my writing aside and focus on raising my babies.

Then one day something happened. I just decided I was going to publish a story. I was watching the rise of the e-books and the self-publishing industry and I thought, "Here's my chance. I could do this." If nobody bought and read my book, at least I could say I did it and had tried. I was too consumed with writing and reading not to.

So I hit the button. Maddie and Ryder's story went live. I never submitted to an agent or a publishing company before. Only ONE person had read Promise Me Darkness before it was published. I did not do one smidgen of marketing. I had exactly one follower on Facebook. But I just threw PMD out there and crossed my fingers. That night, I was a nervous wreck. But within an hour, sixty people had bought the book. My husband and I stared at the computer, in shock. What was going on? Was this for real? That same night I started to receive emails - "I can't find it on Apple." "When will it be on Kobo?" I couldn't believe what was happening. People wanted my book. (Now, I do know that my graphic artist, Sarah Hansen, posted the synopsis a week or so earlier and there was some interest from that, but I was still surprised at the response.) Regardless, I don't think I slept a wink that night.

Fast forward...PMD hit the New York Times and was on USA Today Bestseller List two times. I made the top five on erotica for Amazon U.K. I sat besides people like E.L. James on Amazon's bestseller list for a while. This was all a huge deal for me. HUGE. I went from hoping to sell 50 copies over time to selling 100,000 copies. I think my friends were more excited about it then I was because I was still in a dream state, waiting for someone to shake me awake. I couldn't believe it was happening to me...the girl that had been too scared to let anyone read one sentence of what she wrote. That girl was now selling books seriously.

That day my life changed. THIS was what I was meant to do. All those late nights...all the nights I spent reading or writing as a teenager instead of hanging out with friends...all the hours I spent as a child daydreaming about other worlds and fictional characters...it all came down to this - the moment I hit "publish."

I owe so much to the readers. SOOOO MUCH! They are the heart and soul of this industry. They decide what is good and what isn't. They keep me going when I am tired or motivate me when I am feeling uncertain. I just have to say from the bottom of my heart...

"Thank you for one amazing year."

Paige


6 comments:

  1. Well, I for one, am so happy you "hit the button" and published these books. I LOVED them and have recommended them to many! PLEASE keep writing! PS. Sweet Destruction can't come out any sooner?!?!? :)

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    1. Thank you! And Sweet Destruction will be out in a month - May 27th. Can't wait to share it with everyone!

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  2. Thank you for sharing your talent with us!! I first heard about PMD from Sub Club and they were usually spot on with my taste in books so I purchased it. Since than I have probably read 400 books and PMD is one of a handful that still and always will stand apart. I stayed up all night reading and experienced so many different emotions. I couldn't wait till it was late enough in the morning so I could talk about this book with someone. Mind you my immediate circle of friends aren't readers. I was so excited I think they thought I was a little nuts and needed to get a real life. They don't get it. Anywhoo, I just wanted to take this time to congratulate you on your well deserved success. So happy you took a chance and followed your dream.

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    1. I have to say that I LOVE Sub Club. They were the very first blog to read and review PMD. I've become very close to them and think of them as family.

      And thank you so much! Messages like yours are what makes me keep writing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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  3. Congrats on all of your well-deserved success!
    I'll be one of your many fans that will continue to one-click those amazing books of yours for years to come. xo

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