Escape Velocity
By ice rivers
- 162 reads
In my erstwhile and futile pursuit of physics, I have managed to retain only one formula.....FORCE EQUALS MASS TIMES VELOCITY.
I was better at alegbra than I was in physics which doesn't say much about my algebraic skills but allows me to take a fling at this conclusion.....VELOCITY EQUALS FORCE DIVIDED BY MASS.
I'm particularly interested in velocity this week. My new book Fill Fuller has become available for sale. One of the ways to "evaluate" the "success" of a book is in its number of sales. Those of us who publish our own work are at a massive disadvantage compared to those of us who have the support of a publishing company. Let me give you one example; a friend of mine has published three books with a publishing outfit and three books on his own. The books that he has published on his own have sold about a hundred copies apiece. The books that he has sold with the support of a publishing company have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. He tells me that there was no discernable difference in the "qualtiy' of the writing. The main difference was in the sales and promotion which made a thousand fold difference.
I'm sure you've guesssed where I'm going with this.
My first book did comparatively well in the self-published self-promoted market. Full Filler sold approximately 150 copies (although it is still available on Amazon hint hint). Fill Fuller which was released last week is off to a typical start. Last week about 40 copies sold.
I asked for and am grateful for the support of ABC tales in supporting Fill Fuller. As you can see, ABC came through with a generous push on our main page. That push has already been viewed by over three thousand readers.
In other words, my second book is in orbit and most likely will reach the same orbit as the first book unless somehow it picks up enough velocity to escape the usual orbit. This speed is referred to in physics as as escape velocity and is usually provided by booster engines or rockets which increase the speed of an orbiting object enabling it to break free.
Over the course of my life, I've applied these basic laws of physics many times. When I played football and had to collide with a bigger player, I had to increase my speed going into the collision to overcome with force our difference in size.
More often than not, the force was with me.
As a parent, when I observed my kids beginning to become enmeshed in the wrong crowd, I explained to them that they were in an orbit and unless they accelerated a change they would remain in that undesirable orbit much longer than they intended to be. The same is/was true of their pursuit of academic and artistic goals. If they wanted to get out of their musical orbit, they had to practice more. When they demonstrated that they had ability to play, they were now responsible in choosing what they would play now that they could play. It was clear that they coluld play but what the heck were they going TO play with the ability that they had. How self-satisified were they within their orbit?
In my publishing orbit, my main two rockets are Facebook and ABC tales. I was hoping that the main page endorsement on ABC tales would be the rocket that would enable Fill Fuller to escape the orbit of Full Filler. As noted the ABC "push" has been read by three thousand people and my other essays on ABC have been read by an additional 400,000. Dang, that sounds like an awful ot of velocity to me, yet I am unaware of a single copy of either Full Filler or Fill Fuller being purchased by anyone "Over there". If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll be glad to prop.
So I remain in the orbit of obscure artists everywhere and that's not a bad place to be. When I choose to write I write what I want. It's the writing, stupid. It's the gift. It's the habit. It's the joy and freedom that matters. The earth is in orbit and we should be as thankful for that every day as I am for the orbit that I occupy.
And grateful for your miraculous attention and affection.
Still I could use a boost.
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