Hi there, guys and dolls! This week I heard from a talented writer friend that I highly admire who was unfortunately down in the dumps, and quite frankly it made me a little sad. They were doubting their ability as a storyteller, not basing it on a lack of creativity, ideas or responses from readers, but on sales, or the lack thereof. This terrific and prolific author feels that it must be because they are bad at the craft and they are planning to let their hard worked creations go for less than a song, all in the name of self doubt, rooted in numbers. I say, in the warmest way, fiddle faddle to that.

Yours truly (and my writer alter egos) are names and not a number. Writing is about telling a story, not adding up numbers in some skewed popularity contest. Fleeting rankings and sales figures do not…