Thank you for posting the article, Vidya - I've been having one of those "God, I wish I'd started all this in the boom market" days, but this was encouraging:
We’re in a mature market now, and the highs aren’t as high (and the lows aren’t as low).
My personality is such that, had I started back then and seen success but flatlined as the market matured, I would have been one of the authors that vanished. It hurts to admit that, but I know myself. Stability is important to me (though you wouldn't know it from my resume of "server, server, freelancer, indie author"
), and I found so much comfort in that line.
The lows aren't as low. At the end of the day, no matter how much I wish I had a shot at those super-high highs of the boom market, I would much rather have the not-as-low lows of the mature market.
The topic of burnout and not planning for the long haul was great, too. By my one-year "indie-versary" in February, I'll have written 10 or 11 novels - which makes me feel very accomplished, because it's more than I've written in my entire life combined, but it has put me through the wringer in every way imaginable. I've had to reevaluate my production schedule and take serious stock of why I'm doing this.
Most importantly, I've had to ask myself a question I didn't think of once this year: where do I want to be in 3 years, or 5, or 10? Will I still be doing this?
The answer was painful, but obvious: I wouldn't last another year at this output.
The writing schedule itself is doable, and I'm blessed to have...maybe not so much "books of the heart," but a genuine love of my genre (meaning, I would be writing it regardless of sales/demand/popularity). All my books have some of my heart in them. That helps fend off the burnout.
What's really stressful for me is the overall scale. She mentioned the financial aspect of the hamster wheel, "handling cashflow," and that's been the hardest part of a fast production schedule. I haven't been able to devote the promo time and dollars to a book or series I should before it's time to write the next. My head spins with numbers 24/7, and I'm so not a numbers person.
Anyway, long story short, I'm thinking of slowing to 6 books for my second year. Maybe that means my second year won't be as big as it could be with another 10 books, but it gives me a much better shot of lasting long enough to have a third year, a fifth, a tenth, etc.
Thank you again for posting it
