Last August I stated my intention to write 12 ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.
I completed 6.
And now, after a bit of waffling and see-sawing for several weeks, I’ve decided to abandon that goal.
It’s so difficult to do that even though I know it’s for the best. Do you have a difficult time letting go of a goal? It’s almost like saying good-bye to a little friend isn’t it?
There are several reasons I made this decision.
For one, after learning more about how Amazon’s KDP program works, it was clear that my action plan and end-goal were not going to work.
You see, I intended to re-purpose some of my best content from my other blog into .99 ebooks. I didn’t want to write all the content from scratch, and I also wanted the low priced ebooks to be a traffic generator to that site, which for some inexplicable reason (probably a Google algorithm change?) has experienced a huge drop in traffic over the last couple of years, despite my continuing to post valuable content there.
So what’s the problem?
KDP requires that the content be unique – something I didn’t know until I began publishing books.
It’s really not possible for me to create a new ebook from scratch every month, unless I totally abandon blogging, which I’m not willing to do. I enjoy blogging far more than writing ebooks.
The second big reason I’m abandoning my goal has to do with focus.
My first ebook sold like hotcakes. My second book sold like hotcakes. My 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th? Eh. Not so much!
That’s because I simply didn’t have the time to market those ebooks properly.
My Amazon project is all about the Benjamins, baby. The potential ego boost of having 12 titles on my Amazon author page pale in comparison to the feeling I get when that fat payment from Amazon appears in my checking account each month.
I would rather have a few ebooks that sell well and make me a great income, than more ebooks that… don’t.
I’m not done with Amazon. I still have several ebooks in me. However, I want to write them slowly so that I have plenty of time to sell the heck out of them. I also need to tighten up my focus so that I am not scatter-brained in my marketing.
Sometimes, abandoning a goal is the right thing to do. The main take-away I got from Jon Acuff’s excellent book Quitter is that sometimes quitting is admirable.
If, after further inquiry, you decide that a goal isn’t truly in line with your values, it’s time to quit.
Have you ever abandoned a goal?
I get it. I had to abandon a challenge to do 30 podcasts in 30 days earlier this year. You CAN move to fast and miss out on some important steps if you’re not mindful.
I have abandoned many goals in my lifetime. Some because I got bored of them, some because I got scared, some because they didn’t work with whatever direction I was going in and some because their time had not yet come. I think I have more of a problem with following through rather than giving up now that I think about it….working on attacking that in 2014!
I’m glad you guys get it!
The other day I heard a caller to the Dave Ramsey show say about her 6-figure college loan debt and subsequent low-paying job), “I’m not a quitter.” His quick response? “Oh I quit *stupid stuff* all the time.” Haha love it!
The hardest part was admitting to myself that I needed to regroup.