I usually start my day with a game of FreeCell; the challenge helps get my juices flowing . This morning my first moves were critical to winning the game. Luck drew the cards, but with experience and close observation, I easily overcame the odds. It then occurred to me that this game paralleled what was happening to me with promoting the book, or with any challenge in life.
I have been playing FreeCell since Microsoft started including it in its game set. Having played thousands of games, I can often anticipate the result of moves and choose the ones with the highest probabilities of winning. It is not a matter of “practice makes perfect” as much as observation.
Paying attention is critical. Whether playing a game, driving a car, juggling balls, or struggling to succeed in a business, one has to be observant and not get distracted or fixated on one or two things. Being too focused can mean losing sight of the real objective. Lately, I have been working on developing my webpages and promoting my book by building relationships with other writers, reading and reviewing their books in reciprocation, blogging, and commenting on social networks such as LinkedIn. To do these, I have shelved writing two “how to” books. Even though I am writing, I am not at the moment authoring. I constantly ask myself what is my objective. Is it to write books, to promote books, to help others promote books? As an indie writer, the answer is all three—which makes paying attention so difficult. There is so much to pay attention to.
While playing FreeCell, if I am primarily concerned with my next move, I may not see the ramifications several moves ahead or the limitations resulting from the play. As an indie writer I need to evaluate my moves on a larger scale. What I do now may have an effect several months from now, not several moves from now. Though I may not see the immediate benefits from what I am doing to promote my work, I know that eventually I will feel the consequences. With luck and constant monitoring of what is happening, I trust the outcome will be favorable. If not, I will reevaluate and try an alternate way.
Unlike my playing FreeCell for years, I started writing my book less than a year ago. From that moment, I knew that I was in the indie writer’s game and that my role was to coordinate all the tasks required of the indie writer. From the start, I had uncovered all the aces: I was writing the book, promoting it, creating two webpages, and making valuable contacts with writers and potential readers. Releasing the book was analogous to finishing one row in the game. I still need to shuffle my efforts, pay close attention to the goings-on, and evaluate my moves and the resulting long-range effects, and play the best game I can. As with FreeCell, if I don’t win this game, I can restart. The lessons learned in this game, will help me win the next.
