I got my first royalty check from Schiffer Publishing today. Finally. I am a paid Author. But before you get excited for me I think I should tell you something.
The check is for $66.28
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t tell anyone but because it is what it is – it’s hysterically funny. At least I can find the humor in it. The humor in having busted my ass for 8 months on a manuscript and research and driving and shipping and photography and printing and let’s not forget the hours of sitting at my desk in the basement of a house full of boys so I could write 12 hours a day uninterrupted. For sixty-six dollars.
IT WAS AWESOME!
Allow me to explain. At the time I accepted the gig from Schiffer, I had just finished with my divorce and was considering the BlissQuest as a way to heal. I think quite honestly that I would not have gone on a search for myself if I hadn’t been offered a “magic feather” so to speak, encouraging me to jump. I’m not sure I would have had the courage to run off and travel if I didn’t think I’d be covered by my royalties or at least be reimbursed for it in the end.
Now, two years later it really doesn’t matter. It was a once in a lifetime experience that brought my soul much closer to my everyday living. Taking the offer for Ghosts of Seattle, gave me the faith to see the Grand Canyon, drive through a lightning storm with the top off my jeep, spend quality time with lost and re-found friends and family, move to a new city (the only city that has ever terrified me), chase ghosts and meet strangers from every spectrum and regain my trust in the human story.
Two years ago I was jumping at my own shadow, crying at the drop of a hat, hiding in my cottage in North Portland -afraid to make eye contact with people. I sat home dreaming of the Pacific Coast Highway, the Sedona desert, and the Redwoods – but it was Ghosts of Seattle that gave me the much needed “reason” to go see them for myself.
I’d always wanted to be a writer, to have my name in print. I’d always wanted to tell stories that entertained and educated and inspired. The publishing world can be tetchy and difficult to break in to so I thought getting a book on my resume would be a great start AND since I was going to chase that dream and I’d have to leave Portland to do it… I might as well travel and see the world some too – and maybe, just maybe I’d be able to forget about how badly my heart was broken.
A lot can happen in two years.
I am independent again. I’m not afraid anymore. I am more determined and inspired than I’ve ever been. I’m free. And for all that, for all the adventure and the learning and the chance to see my name on something in a bookstore, my favorite bookstores. For all that it was priceless.
Which means, $66.28 is icing and I’ve never felt richer in my life.
All that being said, I now understand why my Editor thinks no one can make a living as a writer. With Schiffer royalties, that’s obvious. However, it also has confirmed I can get a check to be a storyteller. It has confirmed that now – I need to focus on the stories I love. Fiction. It also brings to light that I no longer need the magic feather, and I am free to turn down work with a company that doesn’t really pay so I can find a company that does. It has made me ask myself, if one little book of ghost stories can give me the faith to see a few states and drive for a year – what do I need to do to give myself a “reason” to see the whole world?
It’s time to look for an agent. I wonder if I can hire one for sixty-six dollars….
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