Nobody Succeeds Alone

As I wrap up the marketing efforts for my latest novel, "309," I wanted to take a few moments to acknowledge and thank the folks who've helped me in various ways throughout the process. It would of course be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to do that for every individual but hopefully, the following shout outs will properly convey my gratitude to everyone:

To my Customers and Readers

I have to start with you folks because ultimately, you're the ones who've made "309" a success. Every time one of you buys the book, or reads it, or tells someone about it, you make it that much more "real" and present in the world. I can't thank you enough for that.

To the Book Bloggers and Reviewers

If not for you, a lot of people wouldn't even know that "309" exists. If not for you giving me, a relatively-unknown, independently-published author a chance, and an honest review, "309" would just be another book lost in an ever-expanding sea of releases. I am truly grateful for all the time and effort each of you has graciously provided in support of my work.

To all the Helpful Folks on Social Media

Every like, every share, every comment, indeed every action associated with my efforts to promote "309" on social networks like Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter has helped to increase people's awareness of the book. As I've said in the past, the internet is in many ways a numbers game and everything you have done has pushed "309" closer toward winning that game.

Some Additional Thoughts

When I was a kid, one of the biggest, most pervasive falsehoods perpetuated throughout American culture was the notion of the self-made individual. Actually, back then, the concept was almost exclusively invoked in the masculine, describing the mythical "self-made man," a fella who through his own skill, grit, determination, and will succeeded at a given task, or in a given field, alone, often in spite of an opposing individual, group, or obstacle.

This fable was frequently trod out as a means to motivate folks, particularly young people, to pursue aspirations and ambitions beyond the limitations of their socioeconomic class, with time-tested mantras like "If you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything," or "you've got to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" frequently used as a sort of battle cry by a multitude of individuals seeking a better set of circumstances than those they'd been born into.

The problem with this mindset has proven to be twofold for our society as those who espouse such a philosophy, who happen to achieve a measure of success in life, often wrongfully assume that they are the sole architects of that success, while those who fail in similar efforts often do so because the philosophy prevents them from recognizing the critical element missing from their approach.

Perhaps one of the greatest revelations brought about by the Information Age, and the consequential ubiquity of communication resulting from it, is the irrefutable evidence indicating that literally nobody in this world succeeds at anything of significance without the assistance of others.

A political leader is nothing without their supporters, a celebrity is nothing without their fans, an employer is nothing without their employees, a writer is nothing without readers of their work, and so on. No matter how self-sufficient one might be, or think oneself to be, it is all-but-certain that they rely on somebody for something vital to their existence on a daily basis. In a deliciously-ironic twist, the more successful, prominent, and influential a person becomes, the more that generally proves to be the case.

Thus, I often find myself pleasantly surprised by and deeply appreciative of people who support my creative efforts. There are so many worthy voices in the world, constantly vying for attention and struggling to reach an audience, that content creation can often feel like whispering into a hurricane and hoping to be heard.

I bring all this up not to boast of my limited success in this regard, but to acknowledge just how meaningful every bit of support I've received for this project has been. Hopefully, "309" will continue to flourish and reach an even-wider audience of readers as time passes but if nothing else, I'm very humbled by and grateful for the support and love you all have shown it so far.

Thanks again!

- Michael -