I knew it had been a while, but I was taken aback when I saw the date stamp: May 13th, 2018. Mother's Day. That was the last time I had published a blog. Titled Seeking Refuge in an Unlikely Place: Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, the post was a recap on the previous few months of my new life. A life that had shifted from international travel blogger to a man who plays games with toddlers while writing a book.
Had it really been eighteen months?!?
Yes it had, and I likely knew the culprit for creating such a long hiatus from my casual blogging forum, a platform on which I mostly detailed a few weeks of travel adventures, uploaded a few photos, and then proceeded to embark on something new. However, in the six months leading up to Mother's Day 2018, the types of adventures I had been having for a year and a half had come to an end. Or, at least how I described them above, shifted.
Although I was no longer country-hopping or cruising around the USA on mymotorcycle, I was embarking on a new venture, one that could be done from practically anywhere, but also one that involved a financial investment and more focus than my previous lifestyle. I had decided to write and publish a book. Sounds simple, right? My journey to having a published story on bookshelves was nothing that I would have expected and likely doesn't sound like anything you thought writing a book would (unless, of course, you've done it).
Hollywood doesn't do it's story-telling cousin (the publishing industry) any favors. Most movies or television shows about authors are, for the most part, horribly inaccurate. In short, we've all been sold that once you finally write a manuscript you're only a few short weeks away from a glamorous lifestyle of traveling the world, book signings, public readings, and the royalty checks are just pouring into our bank accounts like a coffee cup filled to the brim. In short, at least statistically, that's just not the case. In fact, just recently I had a laughable experience with this very misconception.
While
discussing work-life balances with a potential romantic interest who will
remain nameless, I was admonished for saying that "When managing schedules, no one's job is more
important than another's." To which she replied, "Yeah, but
it's easy to just sit around all day writing than to take care of sick
people." She was, on the surface of the statement, absolutely correct. Caring for sick people is more important than hitting an editor's deadline, but the more
glaring part of her response was that she apparently didn't know that I'm actually a Geologist. Perhaps I should do a better job of telling stories on dates more inline with the profession that keeps a roof over my head? Or perhaps she'll just continue to remain nameless . . .
I'll save you more of the details of what it took to form a publishing label, the profit margins, the design decisions, choosing the best distribution model, and, most importantly, finding a way to maintain my sanity while creating a very personal and life-changing legacy. If you did want all those nitty-gritty details, all it takes is buying me a cup of coffee and asking "What have you been up to lately?" I will, however, share with you a story that I feel pretty much sums up what it's like to be a new author without any pre-existing star power or a famous last name. I call this story The Easiest Sale that Never Happened.
~~
I recently walked into a local bookstore where my book External was available for purchase, and later in the week I was taking part in what the business described as a "local author happy hour." I was dropping off more copies of the book for a larger display they intended to make for the event. It was fairly quiet when I walked inside and asked where they wanted the additional stock. My voice filled the empty space enough to likely make any of the six or seven people in the front room aware of my presence and my reason for entering the store (that I was an author and I had books for sale).
I struck up a conversation with the
barista which included the usual banter one would expect for a
middle-of-the-day occurrence. I learned how long she had been working there,
she inquired about the book and what it was about. Again, it was not a large
space and anyone not wearing their air pods would have had a good chance of
overhearing some of the major bullet points (most importantly, that I was
an author and I had books for sale).
After a few minutes of chatting the barista peeled off to help a customer waiting at the register and I opened my laptop to start working. As I consumed my cup of drip coffee (this place does not offer any pour-over options) and a few more minutes passed, a woman patron who had been sitting two seats down from me (and who wasn't wearing any air pods), got off her bar stool, packed up her bag, and went to the register to pay for her one cup of coffee. Feeling ashamed that she was only purchasing such a small item for having spent her entire morning there (although it wasn't as if the store was booming with customers clamoring for a seat) she practically pleaded with the barista, “Let me buy a book!!!” In this scenario, any author, or capitalist for that matter, is likely thinking here comes another sale! What actually happened, though, and what every author is likely not thinking at that moment, is that the barista (at a bookstore, mind you) responded with "you don't have to."
Wait, what?
Even worse, the customer proceeded to insist that she buy a book, to the point that it got awkward (like when your friend overly insists they pay you back for lunch even after you've ensured them the eight dollar meal was your treat). She uttered questions such as "What do you suggest?", "Anything new?", and repeated "Please let me buy a book!!!" as she continued her diatribe against the baristas wishes to not sell her a book . . . in a bookstore. Yet, the barista persisted. All this was happening as a local author (me) who, only twelve minutes prior dropped off a box of his books, is sitting less than ten feet away staring at both patron and barista wondering when an introduction would happen.
Assuming the loss of one sale wouldn’t bankrupt my small publishing label, I chose not to interject myself to make the sale (of which no doubt I would have), holding out hope the barista would eventually say something like, “We actually have a local author right here and he can tell you all about his recently released book." But she didn't.
**Audible Sigh**
Even worse, as the patron left the bookstore (with no book), the next customer stepped up to the register. This chatty tourist mentioned he was visiting from Maryland. Upon hearing this, the barista, who just moments prior was seemingly at a loss of book suggestions, had all the suggestions for where to find the best Bloody Mary in Baltimore, and proceeded to engage with the customer for at least another five to ten minutes. All the while the former customer was probably three blocks away by now, assuming she couldn’t find a decent parking spot.
At that point I didn't even care if it had been my book the barista would have suggested to the former customer, but literally ANY BOOK would have made me feel better about the situation. As a new unknown author, getting the word out about your newly released book is the most difficult/frustrating component to building a brand, almost impossible in most cases. Yet in the aforementioned scenario, all authors with titles in that bookstore experiencing the same hurdles—whether they had the marketing support of a large publishing company or, like me, at the mercy of whether I picked the correct amount of hashtags for my social media post that day—just missed out on the easiest sale that never happened.
~~
The above story, in my humble opinion, is a fairly accurate depiction of the emotional roller coaster on which a new author finds themselves riding. An intense, crazy journey culminating in a monumental splash down only to realize the photo captured in the gift shop is out of focus, overpriced, surrounded by a horde of similar photos, and they actually just want you to buy their name brand photo frame because it has a higher profit margin. The moral of the story? Enjoy the journey. The endgame might not be what you expect.
By many accounts, my book External, an Appalachian Trail memoir, has been a success from both a personal accomplishment and a financial endeavor perspective. I'm still a far cry from the Ferrari-driving authors as presented in some movies, but sales have helped offset many of the production costs and given me a few tax write-offs in the process. If your expectations of "being a successful author" is that of a financially solvent individual residing in a beach villa while they write, then likely you'll think I'm "not a success." However, having gone through the gauntlet of manuscript rejections and unknown costs of publishing logistics to write, design, print, and market a personal story, I've been able to manage my expectations accordingly. Especially when it comes to writing a second book.
So yes, I absolutely know the culprit for creating such a long hiatus from blogging as mentioned at the beginning of this post. It wasn't because I stopped traveling. It wasn't because I was writing a book. It wasn't because I started a company. The culprit was most definitely, yet again, a re-calibration of my expectations. As opposed to just saying "I'd like to write a book," I took the steps to learn the actual process and, more importantly, how to manage my expectations and emotions regarding such an endeavor. This attitude towards any new challenge has helped shape the eighteen months since my last blog, and can be applied to almost anything.
My adventures have shifted, my job has changed (sadly, I'm no longer getting paid to play games with toddlers), but my expectations have continued to mature which allows me to see the future just a little more clear. As the next year unfolds, a few goals are to continue with regular blogs (perhaps even recap some past stories I may have skipped, such as one terrible first date hiking trip), keep promoting External, develop three new websites, and write a second manuscript.
The Process seems daunting, especially now that I know the back-end hurdles to publishing a book, but so is the process of doing anything new for which we likely had prior misplaced expectations. I'm not perfect. I'm not going to declare that I'm efficient with every second of my free time (for example, I anticipate watching the movie ELF at least three times this holiday season), but I do plan to emphasize as many habits in my life that take me further towards my goals as opposed to habits that take me away from them. Who wants to join me?
-Dustin
 |
| At Drago's in New Orleans on a recent trip with Andy. A belly full of oysters is definitely part of my goals:) |
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more adventures and updates on the new manuscript. Check out externalhikingbook.com for photos and videos from my Appalachian Trail adventures and take advantage of my 3 for 1 Black Friday sale for External. Also, every order until Friday December 13th qualifies you for the Coffee Mug giveaway.
