There’s something inherently human about wanting more, about always looking towards the next goal.
It might just be wired into how we think. It’s the reason why billionaires still want more money, and why many famous people still feel unsatisfied enough to have breakdowns despite what others might see as “achieving success.”
So last week I just got my first Bookbub for HOOD on May 11th. For those of you who don’t know, Bookbub is like the Starship Enterprise of book promotions–and the next closest promotion might be a Hyundai Sonata in comparison.
In short, it’s a very big deal for authors, they’re very hard to get, and it’s been one of the top goals of mine since I launched the book.
When I booked it, I was doing all kinds of shouting and fistpumping and bouncing off the walls of my apartment.
And yet, something funny happens. And it happens to us all.
Mere days later I was looking ahead to what the next steps were. I got the Bookbub I so lustily desired, and now I was booking other promos. I was thinking ahead to when I can have Book 3 done, and maybe having some new covers made, etc.
The point is, we always chase the next thing ahead of us. Even in the face of great success. Make no mistake, booking this Promo was a huge coup for me. And yet so quickly I push on to the next goal. In many ways, this is a positive thing. Stay Hungry, as they say, and drive yourself to do more and find your own greatness.
But there is a problem with this. We need to enjoy, celebrate and revel in our successes. Our wins in life must feel like wins. Because our losses certainly can feel cruel and horrible, sometimes cripplingly so, can’t they?
If we do not take time to appreciate what we have done, what we have overcome, and bask in the sunlight in the positive things we’ve created in our own lives, whatever they may be, then we are driving our one and only car ragged down the empty road of the wastelands until it breaks down.
It is good and noble to strive for more, to better ourselves, to be in search of our better selves.
But we must not strive aimlessly like an addict in the dark. When we find pieces of our better selves, we must stop to appreciate them.
Maybe–I don’t know–but maybe there’s a point where we need not strive anymore at all?
-Evan Pickering
Evan Pickering - Author 
Is Bookbub a self publishing thing or an aspect of the traditional route?
Hi Joel,
It began as an indie publishing promotion, but as it became an advertising juggernaut over the years eventually all of the traditional publishing houses wanted to use it for marketing as well. It’s just as hard to get for tradpub as it is for self-pub these days. Hope that helps!