Hello my Freaky Darlings,

I think the post-publication blues is something that all writers go through. It hits about a week or so after the book lands on the virtual or actual store shelves. It creeps up on you once the publication high starts to dwindle and you start to obsessively check your sales numbers on Amazon and Draft2Digital. It smacks you right in the gut when the sales aren’t what you hoped they would be and the reviews you were hoping for don’t come in as quick as you thought they would. It scratches on your brain-stem when everything seems to drag and you feel like the publishing quagmire is sucking you in and your words will be lost forever and there’s no hope insight.

But then some kind soul buys your book or one of those reviews you’ve been waiting for come out and it’s a really good one. You know one of those reviews that make you cry because someone really really loved the words you painstakingly put together. Or you write a really good sentence for your new book and a smile twitches at the corner of your mouth and you start to think there may be hope after all.

But then you’re back to obsessively checking those non-existent sales figures and the downward spiral starts all over again. It’s a vicious cycle, one which I haven’t found a cure for yet. The only thing I can do while I’m in the grips of the post-publication blues is try not to check my non-existent sales figures everyday. Every time I do I know I’m just going to slide further down that hole. And yet I still check them hoping that by some miracle someone bought a copy of one of my books.

I need to focus on the few things in this industry that I can control, like working on the new book and trying to focus on doing some publicity for my existing books. Whether or not people buy my books or write a review is beyond my control. Which sucks hairy arse, but that’s life as a writer.

So while I battle through my blues I’m going to grab my mug of coffee, try to ignore that nagging impulse to check my latest sales figures, write a few words even if they’re crap, and focus on my upcoming blog tour starting on the 12th of October. Wish me luck!