They say that numbers don’t lie and I think to a degree that is certainly true but I don’t believe you get the full picture of anything when you are solely looking at the numbers. I released my novel out into the world last Friday (https://www.amazon.com/author/jccarpenter) (yes on the 13th, I know) and I was asked by a couple of different people if I had checked out the numbers yet to see how many people purchased my book on the first weekend of its release. I simply said ‘no, it’s not the most important thing so I’ll look at it later.’
Now I don’t mean that to suggest that I don’t care whether or not people buy my book because I absolutely want people to not only buy the book, but to like or even love the book. When I say that it’s not important I mostly meant that I had to manage my expectations and to do so I had to see the bigger picture of what mattered. What mattered the most to me was getting it out there, for starting to ball rolling on what I intend to be a very lengthy publishing career where I roll out at least two books a year if not more.
What matters is that I can say that I am a published author and people can go and look at what I produced and what I am very proud of. What matters, maybe more than even those things, is the people who may have been afraid to put their work out there, who actually read my blogs or watch my YouTube channel and see that I’ve done it and feel motivated and inspired to do the same. If I can be a light on someone else’ dark journey, that to me matters more than just about anything. There is so much that I want to do with my writing career but above anything else is to be an inspiration to others.
I am not going to lie and say that I don’t want to sell a ton of books and have people love them as much as or even more than I do but my purpose is always to affect someone else’ life in some way, even if it’s just in a tiny, miniscule way. Don’t we all just want to make a difference? Isn’t that what we are all walking this earth for, to make an impact on other people’s lives? Just in releasing my book I have been sent messages on Twitter, through email, and Facebook about how inspired people were that I just didn’t give up, or how proud they were of me. That means more than any analytics report.
In this life we can’t always rely on the numbers to convey the impact we have on one another. The numbers don’t calculate the fire you may light under someone else simply because you didn’t give up on your dreams. The numbers don’t take into consideration that person who reads something you wrote and came acroos just the right words that they needed to get the help they’ve been too proud to ask for. The numbers are just that, numbers. They don’t determine the heart of a person or the impact one leaves behind on another. So don’t focus so much on the numbers that you forget about the purpose of why you’re doing everything that you’re doing in the first place.
Until next time… #BeBold #BeMindful #BeMotivated
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
https://www.amazon.com/author/jccarpenter
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310
https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJCCarpenter
https://www.write2bematters.com
https://twitter.com/write2bemag
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPU35EkFSbuxgekCp4LfI5g
Side note: I have a new Author Newsletter that I would love it if you signed up for http://www.tinyletter.com/Author_JCCarpenter
Another Side Note: If any of you would like to buy me a coffee and donate to my creative endeavors then please feel free to https://ko-fi.com/authorjccarpenter
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