Stop the Presses! I've Been Paid!

I'd promised you the first in a series of posts on the subject of manifestation. I'd planned to write the first entry today. But I'll get to it tomorrow because something exciting's just happened. As a matter of fact, it relates to that topic that's been on my mind for so long...but one thing at a time, eh?

Today I received an email from Amazon's Remittance Department. And for a horrible moment I thought that, with long days until pay day, somehow I owed them money. How this could be, I couldn't say...but I began to wonder if they'd take an IOU or at least wait a couple of days. Then I calmed down and read the email carefully.

No, I didn't owe them money. They'd sent me a royalties payment via EFT. The amount was small, but the sense of vindication was both huge and thrilling. I published my first ebook in April 2012, followed by four others. My first giveaway event netted about fifty downloads. Subsequent free days resulted in more downloads every time--with no impact on sales as far as I could see. Though I never lost hope, I did begin to wonder...

Well, the snowball has begun, I hope, to gather weight and speed. But whether our first payment is $20 or $200, we taste something like blood when it happens. And, after a long drought, our great thirst feels quenched. A few readers cared enough to buy. And now, by God, our job's to keep those precious few in mind--and to keep delivering the goods over and over again. Incomparably. Indomitably.

For when hundreds of thousands of ebooks are published every year, all howling for attention, we have a huge obligation if we've attracted attention: we'd bloody well better be grateful--and show it in our work. Cheers!