I was thinking about milestones today. How excited I was when my books first became available on Amazon.com because it was a milestone — it was a place I could say, hey, find my books here. You couldn’t find them easily in the stores but you could get them online.
When the books started becoming available in brick and mortar stores? Wow. Talk about a milestone. Now not only could people buy my books online they could actually walk into the store and find them on the shelf.
So what’s next? What do I look forward to?
Finding my books in grocery stores and airports. Seeing someone reading one of my titles on a plane or at the beach. Getting a review in a major national magazine. Hitting a bestseller list.
Will my life be complete if I don’t make these milestones? Sure. Of course. It doesn’t mean I’m not successful. It just means I have something to look forward to.
Every step of this journey has led me higher, and when I look back at every step I remember how exciting each one was. I hope I never lose that excitement, no matter how small or vast the leaps. Every step, every milestone, every level I reach — I hope it’s as exciting and breath taking as the one before it.
In other news, go check out www.danehart.com or www.bringmemyhookah.com — Lauren and I have launched a our brand-new, multi-media site for our video blogs, both joint and individual. We’re having a couple contests to celebrate, so stop on by!
M
July 16th, 2008 at 6:03 am
What a great post Megan! I’m at the beginning of my journey, and have had a number of milestones this past year…they started out small and have begun to get larger and more exciting! I’ve just recently signed with the lovely Laura Bradford and hope that she will be able to help me reach the next level…..a real bona fide sale!!! That will make my year!
July 16th, 2008 at 7:49 am
@Juliana Stone:
Hey, Juliana! Congrats on signing with Laura, she’s faaaabu!
I’m amazed when I think of how far I’ve come. And how far I want to go!
M
July 16th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Congrats on all those milestones, small or large, Megan. I think it’s a healthy outlook, to keep that sense of wonder no matter where you are in your career. Best of luck!
And to you too, Juliana.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I love this post. And you’re hitting a lot of milestones lately, Megan. I see your name all over.
I’m trying to enjoy each milestone too…and the little thrills that come with them - getting my first cover flat, seeing my book has an Amazon page (no cover pic yet, but the page is there, LOL), etc. There’s a lot of work in this business, but those little thrills make it all worth it.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Hey, azteclady, thank you! I never want to lose that excitement. If I do, kick me in the head.
Elisabeth — that’s how I spell my middle name.
With an “s” — I forgot about cover flats! Oh, and fan mail. Every time someone takes the time to write to me, I just…wow. I’m humbled and honored.
M
July 16th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I checked out the danehart website yesterday and enjoyed the Vblogs.
Congrats on your milestones!
July 16th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
This is a great post, Megan. Congrats on all the milestones you’ve reached–and the ones you’ll be reaching in the very near future, too!
July 16th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I love this post. It made me smile in that gushy field of daisies and puppies running around way.
My milestones so far have been very small and mostly more personal. Like getting to that internal place where I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing and bringing the discipline to the table to do it.
An agent saying my query was intriguing and asking for a partial. Someone liking a short story a lot even though in the end they couldn’t use it. And having regular blog readers.