Great Expectations

A friend recently asked me what my expectations are for publishing my stories. Am I looking for a book deal? Am I hoping for fame and fortune? Do I want to quit my day job, or am I just trying to get more sex? At the time I didn’t have a good answer, but now I think I’ve wrapped my head around the idea.

What I Expect

I want the same thing you want. I want good stories. I want to write something people want to read and talk about. I want to write things you remember. I want to write things that make you think and feel.

The rest of my expectations are more selfish. I expect to;

• Have fun
• Be inspired
• Solve problems
• Learn more about myself
• Learn more about the world around me
• Get better at what I’m doing
• Meet new people
• Find out more about the people I already know
• Become more comfortable with myself
• Have more sex

The last one probably isn’t realistic, but the rest of the list is good enough to start with for now.

What I Don’t Expect

It would be nice to make so much money in royalties that I didn’t have work a day job or to option the rights to one of my stories in to a movie or TV series. I’ll certainly try to do that, but I don’t expect it. There are thousands of writers much better than I am who aren’t financially successful. Writing well isn’t a guarantee. There is no way to know whether a book will sell ten million copies or ten copies. As writers, we can advertise and market all we want. At the end of the day we don’t have any control over what you buy.

 I also don’t expect everyone to like my writing. I write about sex and violence (not always at the same time in the same story). Some people absolutely refuse to read any type of erotica. Other people won’t read anything that makes them scared, sad or otherwise upset. Some people won’t like my style. Some will think it goes too far. Others will see it as too timid and vanilla. I understand all that. Everyone is different and likes different things. All I can do is write the best stories I can write.

So here’s to good stories and (hopefully) more sex.

Have fun.

G