Life Lessons

I had the most interesting conversation with a fellow author the other day. A woman called me, asking for advice about a book signing at the local library that was coming up next month. I’m always willing to help out when I can, and we soon ended up chatting like old friends.

This woman may have never been to a book signing, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know her way around the literary block. In the past year, she’d self-published five books, garnering hundreds of five-star reviews. Not only that, but she had a Reader’s group, an ARC group, a Street Team, and probably a couple more I’ve forgotten. All of them with hundreds of readers actively participating to help promote her books. I was stunned. I was more than a little envious.

She was quick to point out that she didn’t work outside the home. Her children were grown and at college. She spent all her time writing and networking in groups. She’d hired a graphic artist, an editor, a formatter, and someone to promote her works. She even had a PA who worked for free. She was also drowning. Trying to keep up with everything had her working from the early hours of morning till late at night, every single day. Oh, she loved what she was doing, but she was racing against time to keep up with it all.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that her life was not for me. I work full-time. I have a family. While I don’t have any young children, my girls still depend on me. The best I can manage is to publish two books a year. For the most part, book signings are out for me. Either my work schedule works against me, or I can’t afford to go, plain and simple. I’m learning to accept what I can do, and what I cannot. I can’t hold myself up against other authors. I can only do what I can do. That has to be enough.