Royalties!

It’s a big day for me, I’ve just received my very first quarterly royalty statement from The Book Dragon and, wait for it… I’ve sold some books!

Now, I know what you’re thinking: you’re an author, you’re meant to sell books. Yeah, I know, I know. Thing is, when you’re sitting up in bed (as I am right now), and you’re typing away or scribbling in your notebook, you have no idea who, if anyone, will ever read those words. Doubts are never far away – is this any good? Will anyone find it interesting apart from me? What if no one like it?

Authors have to battle a small but persistent army of demons and that’s why (nice) reviews are so important to us. It may mean little to someone who’s read a book to jot down a few lines on Goodreads or Amazon but authors check that stuff out and you might, with a few kind words, just tip the balance and encourage them to write the next page, the next chapter or even just the next paragraph.

Anyway, back to the Royalty Statement, it’s a small amount of money but it means the world to me. Here’s why… now that I’ve earned money from writing, in my own head, I can class this as officially one of my part-time jobs, not just a hobby, and it makes me feel just a little bit more like a proper author. A proper, book selling, real author. And that feels nice, it feels good. So if you’re one of the lovely people who has popped into the Book Dragon and picked up a copy of The Key of Ornoss or The Rod of Xerus, or bought a copy online from Amazon then THANK YOU! I really mean it, thank you.