We all have our ups and downs. Just recently I’ve been a bit more on the down side.
Putting up that Indiegogo campaign certainly did a lot to bring me down. I created the video, wrote the blurb, launched the campaign, and posted to Facebook and Twitter. Every day I excitedly checked to see how much money had been raised, anxious to reach the 100% mark as soon as possible.
Only then could I breathe a sigh of relief. Only then would I have the funds necessary to make Gray Zone visible and noticed. Only then would Gray Zone have a chance among the multitude of newly published books.
One week went by. Two weeks went by. Still it was stuck at 0%.
Really?
0%?
The logical part of me knew I should not to care so much. People are busy living their own lives. They may not have noticed the campaign, or taken the time to find out what the book is really about.
But the emotional part of me cried out “Gray Zone is special! It has a purpose!”
You see, I wrote Gray Zone to educate as it entertains. To make the reader think, really think, about the different aspects of bullying and what it does to our society.
I wrote it to open eyes and loosen tongues.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not naive enough to think that one little book will stop cyberbullying by itself.
It’s the dialog that Gray Zone will inspire that will make the difference. It’s all about the conversations that will happen after the book is read.
So I was very down as the marker remained stuck at 0%. I couldn’t understand, just couldn’t understand, why others didn’t care about the bully/cyberbully problem as much as I do.
But then a miracle happened in the form of contributions. Joy filled my heart as the marker moved away from that horrible 0% and skyrocketed all the way up to 1%.
That may sound like I’m being sarcastic, but I’m not. I truly felt elated. The generosity of the contributors restored my faith in humanity.
The world is once again a good place.