Setbacks

As an author I’ve faced my share of setbacks.  I have a drawer full of rejection letters from publishers.  I’ve lost work from computer issues or more often from my own mistakes like forgetting to save my work. And I have the knack of underestimating the time it will take to do things, which complicates things further. The list can go on and on, especially for an author who has decided to build his own publishing business.

This week I had a major setback, maybe one of my biggest ever as a writer.

The company I used to host my website folded recently and despite having paid my fees to keep the site up for at least another year, I discovered it is down.  And not only is it down, it’s being parked upon by one of those companies that snap up domain names in the hopes of selling them to interested buyers for a premium. I’ve emailed the former owner of the business and have yet to hear back on if this can be resolved.

The really tough thing about this is that all my public dealings are made through email addresses generated by my website. I’m in the midst of a marketing push and all my contact with forums, magazines, and reviewers is through that email address. Also, all my work, including contact info listed in my latest novel, uses those addresses.

I’m hoping and praying for the best scenario of everything working out with my site back up just like nothing happened. But I’m bracing myself that I might have to start over from scratch, having to pay double for what I had already paid for already. Honestly, I’m pretty discouraged now, and it’s hard to stay optimistic.

Writing and publishing are truly like a marathon, requiring persistence and the ability to fight through writer’s block, disappointments, discouragements, and all the things in life that try to convince you to give up on your dream. It takes courage to pick yourself up and try again and again and again.

I know I’ll get through this, just like every other setback.  I just hate going through it.

EDC