A Small, Bright Victory to Start the Week
Monday, January 5, 2026 — Orlando, Florida
“Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction, can be a difficult, lonely job; it’s like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub. There’s plenty of opportunity for self-doubt.”
— Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Florida winter—such as it is—showed up this morning wearing its usual threadbare gray shawl, pretending it had any real authority over the sunshine. I woke before the sun even bothered to clock in, blinking at the dimness like a mole startled by its own ambition.
At least my bedroom was warm. Nina, my landlady—and a woman waging a personal crusade against cold fronts—had the heater running full tilt. Duke Energy will no doubt send a bill capable of inducing spiritual reflection, but for the moment, the warmth was welcome.
In that hush, I booted up my trusty Lenovo Idea Center PC for the daily ritual familiar to indie authors everywhere: checking the Kindle Direct Publishing “Reports” page. Would the sales graph leap for joy, or lie there flatter than a pancake abandoned overnight? After the weekend’s minor miracle—a genuine, honest-to-God sale of Reunion: Coda somewhere in the vast U.S.—I allowed myself the tiniest flicker of hope.
Here’s the truth: each morning I approach my KDP dashboard with optimism so small it could pass for a dust mote. I know my writing isn’t half-bad (maybe even three-quarters good on a generous day), and readers do say kind things. But the familiar sigh when the numbers don’t budge is as much a part of my routine as coffee—or resisting the urge to crawl back under the covers.
Still, I entered the New Year on something like a hopeful grace note. A reader in the UK picked up the paperback of Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen, and someone stateside grabbed the Kindle edition of Reunion: Coda. International acclaim, right? If you squint and hold it up to the light.
Bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived, I wandered through Amazon to the Self-Publish With Us link. I wasn’t expecting a windfall—just maybe a nudge. Could I break the $7.49 record from earlier in the week? Stranger things have happened; Stephen King probably has a short story about it.
When I finally focused enough to read the “Reports” page—squinting like I’d woken up in a haunted hotel—I spotted a modest uptick. Not Mount Everest, but not a pothole either.
My projected royalties for January 2026 had climbed from $7.49 to $10.50. Another Kindle copy of Reunion: Coda had found a home. Not Stephen King money—not even Stephen King’s coffee fund—but it beat a poke in the eye or complete reader apathy. A small victory, yes, but it glowed like Florida sunshine after a week of rain.
Later, fortified by three mugs of coffee, I checked yesterday’s post on my WordPress blog and found a comment from fellow blogger and loyal Garratyverse reader Paul Schingle:
To keep you up to date, I’ve started “Coda,” Alex. Don’t think I’ll finish it in one sitting, though. 😉 Good stuff!
Not a bad way to start the working week.
“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.” – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
A Certain Point of View, Too 
Comments
3 responses to “A Small, Bright Victory to Start the Week”
I just finished reading On Writing, so I remember that quote very well. I’m glad that things are improving. Happy New Year!
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On Writing was my go-to guide to writing fiction when I was working on my novel, Reunion: Coda. It was an awesome resource, especially when King explained how to write authentic-sounding dialogue. That advice contradicted another well-meaning but somewhat prudish author’s counsel on the subject. I followed Steve-O’s advice…and it worked out rather well, I think.
I hope, Edward, that you have a Happy New Year…and that someday you’ll add my stories to your annual reading list!
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He offers some great advice, and the examples he added to the book were excellent. I’d do the same if I were an author.
My reading list is about 200 books and growing, so I’m trying to figure out how to tackle it a little at a time each year. I think I’m going to add two to three books from the community each year, and I’m looking at one of yours for next year.
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