Tell me you like me....

Really.  I need to hear it.  I’m a romance author with two novels and a short story collection on my resume, but because I’m self-published, I don’t have publicists, marketers and reviewers (or fans…yet) beating down my door.  That’s okay though.  I chose to self-publish, and I’m glad I did.  Let me tell you why.

I can’t live without writing. I’ve been doing it since the third grade. I can still see my dad peering at me over the top of his glasses while reading my story about an old witch who ‘thew’ me into her pot.  My pen name, Amelia James, is one of the many nicknames he gave me.  I appear to be a good girl, but I love writing sex (I’ll explain that in another post).  I’ll share my short stories with you.  If I’m not writing a story, I’m writing in my journal. I’m always writing something.

I can’t live without an audience.  I grew up a shy girl. I had a few good friends, but I was afraid to reach out to new people.  I’ve overcome my shyness somewhat, but there’s still a lonely little girl inside me hoping to be noticed. Writing gives me the attention I crave both from the characters I create, know, and love and from the people who read my stories and enjoy them.  When someone tells me they like one of my stories, I get too excited for words.

I’m self-published because it works for me. I can write at my own pace and get my stories to my audience when I want to. I control what I publish…and I’m responsible for what does or doesn’t sell.  Succeed or fail—it’s all up to me. The one thing I cannot do is give up. (More on that later.)

But more important than selling books is knowing my audience likes them.  So tell me you like me. Tell your favorite author, whether they’re a self-published unknown or a worldwide best-seller, you enjoyed their story.  Believe me, it’s what we live for.