Alchemy Is Here!

First of all:

Alchemy is a thing. A real, published thing, which is the most surreal, incredible experience you can imagine.

Here are the links:

Goodreads Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18275071-alchemy

Amazon Links:

Paperback:  http://amzn.to/1fnyMww

E-book: http://amzn.to/1bKELuO

Kobo Links:

http://bit.ly/18TxUuo

             

For just a short time, the ebook of Alchemy costs only 99 cents AND there is a giveaway at the bottom of this post, so make sure you sign up. There are several awesome prizes, including prizes donated by Darren Boekweg, Rebecca Ethington and Rick Chiantaretto. Thank you very much for them.

I've had something on my mind for a while now, at least during those odd bits of calm that have been surrounded by much longer moments of sheer panic.

Last year, I discovered Gretchen Rubin. She is many, many things, including a best selling author, but for the purposes of this blog post, I'm going to call her a famous blogger. She blogs about happiness, in all its multi-faceted glory.

She tells a story about her sister, who is a TV writer in Los Angeles, where life can get pretty competitive, to put it mildly. One day, one of her sister's had a major success. Gretchen writes,

"Do you have the funny feeling?” I asked her. The “funny feeling” is the term the Big Man and I use to describe the uncomfortable feeling you get when a friend or peer has a major accomplishment. You feel happy for that person, but also envious, and also insecure and anxious about your own success.
 She answered, “Maybe a little bit, but I remind myself that people succeed in groups. It’s great for him, and it’s also good for me.”

Gretchen quotes that 'people succeed in groups' catchphrase pretty frequently, and it took me awhile before I figured out what she was talking about. I get it now, because it describes what I love about indie publishing.

I've been a published author for exactly 9 hours and 10 minutes now. Wow, it's an incredible feeling. This morning I was interviewed on two popular radio stations, and it has got me thinking about people succeeding in groups. My friend Sharon is the lead singer of a band called Dixon Road, and she is also a DJ at a radio station. When she heard I was publishing a book, she offered to interview me on her radio station, an opportunity I never dreamed I would have on my first day as a published author.  Then I found out she'd also arranged for me to be interviewed on another really popular radio station too. I had this tremendous opportunity because of her. She did it completely to be nice, but if because of her, I'm a little more successful, then she will be pulled up along with me. It is how it works.

That's the heart and soul of "people succeed in groups" and also the heart of indie publishing. The indie world is a big, huge place, and it is easy to feel very, very small. But people are so kind. I know not all of them are, but so far everyone I have met has been. Sheena has some friends who are successful writers, and they have helped to promote our book, giving their time, their names, even their books to help support our cause. It is amazing. The Prosers and a few good friends from Hatrack were our beta readers, which is a time consuming thing, and they did it because that's what this wonderful author community does. Someday we'll pay it forward, or maybe even sideways.

There is no way to succeed in this new world of indie publishing without the help of other people. Every time someone shares a link to a book they enjoyed on facebook, every time someone rates a book on goodreads or amazon, every time they suggest an indie book for their book group or to their library, they are proving that people succeed in groups. Word of mouth is incredibly powerful, and you don't have to be a DJ on a radio station to help your favorite authors succeed. It's like magic, and it is a very humbling thing to be experiencing it from this end. Thank you.

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