Let's Hear it for Vicky Ball!

12/17/2024 6:19 PM CST

Dear Reader,

I blew you off on Sunday. You probably haven’t caught on just yet, but I made an unspoken promise to you that I would write a blog post every Sunday, and I failed you.

I am a goddamned disgrace, I tell you.

But, if I’m being honest with myself, it was for a good reason. Inspiration possessed me as I hammered out the second draft of a story I am working on. The story that I am going to be turning in for that big anthology I wrote about last week. (See last blog, “In the Eyes of the IDOLS”)

In relation to another blog I wrote, “Re-writes, The Horror I Must Face,” I must tell you that writing a focused and well-informed second draft of that story was exhilarating. I know that sounds cheesy, but it wasn’t until I had let a couple of people read the story and I had gotten detailed feedback from a person with a different perspective that I really started to see my story for what it was. More on that in a future blog.

I know I have promised several future blogs. I KNOW. At least I know what I am going to be writing about for the next several weeks. But, it’s funny, because in the time since we last palavered, I realized I never introduced myself to anyone here. I just acted like I knew y’all already. So, there is ANOTHER promised blog topic.

Let us share that here.

Matthew Jon Smith’s list of current promised blog subjects:

• Street Fight 6 as it pertains to persistence, craft, and writing.
• Vicky Ball
• An Intro. Who I am and why you obviously love me.
• Writing tips (This will be ongoing)
• Show, Don’t Tell (A paradox in writing)
• Too Many Adverbs (You could never violently pry my preciously beloved adverbs from my diligently gripping fists.)
• Querying and Submission Tips (Mostly Don’ts)
• More on rewrites, now that I have rewritten something.
• Trying to exist in the new age as a writer. (I don’t want to be an influencer.)
• The dos and don’ts of beginner’s necromancy (fluency in bloodletting is a requirement)
• How to install your face onto your butt.

 

Today, I think I want to talk about the success of Vicky Ball. If you don’t know who Vicky Ball is, let me tell you a nice little tale of someone keeping at it diligently and it finally paying off for them. I don’t claim to be a Vicky Ball expert, but I will give the gist of it.

I beli—

 

12/22/2024 10:13 AM CST

Let’s be honest. I tried to write a blog in the middle of the week to make up for the fact that I missed you last Sunday. It didn’t work. I have been too obsessed with two things.

1. My first-ever published story, “Traditions Tangled in Tinsel,” featured in Last Christmas: A Holiday Horror Anthology from Dark Moon Rising Publications, was released on 12/18/2024, and I have been monitoring the Amazon page like a crackhead watches the carpet in a flop house. Get your copy here.
2. I am still writing, editing, and revising that second draft so that I feel I am putting my best possible foot forward. I really like the story published item 1 above; I think it has a lot of heart, but when I read it in print now, I see a few hiccups and hurdles in the prose that were not stylistic choices; they are just mistakes. So, I am starting to be even more critical of my work. In a good way. I promise.

Back to Vicky Ball.

Earlier I was going to pretend like I was an expert and try to tell you her story, but I don’t know much at all.

Here are the basics.

Vicky Ball was a relatively unknown author who had written two books, Abandoned and Powerless, both of which are thrillers for teens.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a post going around of a sweet older lady at an empty book signing event. The post said, “Yay! Sold two books!” (Don’t quote me.) I liked the post. I remember thinking, this is my fate, right? I will be sitting at a table someday, at an empty venue, just grateful to have sold two books. I was glad she sold those books. I was proud of her. Two books more than I have ever sold. But there was this lingering malaise. A voice was saying, “You will never make a living off your writing. You’ll be lucky if you don’t go broke trying to do it.”

The next day, I open the apps, and what do I see? Vicky Ball has gone viral. Others had shared Vicky’s post so much so that millions of people saw it. Everyone had latched on to her simple message about being grateful to have sold two books. I believe a lot of people felt something like what I had. They wished the best for someone earnestly pursuing a passion.

Each day that I opened the apps, I would see good news for Vicky, and I loved every second of it. They were doing news segments in different countries, in languages that Vicky admitted to being unable to speak. She was becoming a global sensation. All the while she was posting these news segments and asking if anyone could translate for her.

The next day, her book Powerless had reached the number one spot on one of the charts.

As a quick disclaimer: I haven’t read any of Ball’s work yet, but I plan on snatching up an e-book copy of Powerless and taking it for a spin.

I wanted to talk about Vicky Ball because I think there are a couple lessons to be learned.

1. Keep going. When Vicky Ball broke through, it was because she was still trying. It wasn’t because she was sitting at home ruing the fact that she hadn’t written anything.
2. Have work out there. Vicky Ball had work published already. When she broke through, one of those pieces of work could take off with her. It looks like Ball self-published. (I am not saying to rush a piece of work to market; see past and future advice to write a second draft, but self-publishing or indie-publishing is a perfectly good method to create a catalogue before attempting to wrestle the Big 5.)
3. Stay on your social media game. I hate that this is true, but Vicky Ball blew up because she was active on social media and something finally caught. I don’t want to be an influencer, but this is a pill I am learning to swallow. I gotsta' get on that grind.
4. This is a lottery. I am not saying Vicky Ball hasn’t worked for what she got, but I bet you she would be the first to admit that luck played some part in it. I think maybe it’s a lottery that rewards hard work and perseverance. Those things up your chances, but I am still not sure they guarantee anything like commercial success. I think sometimes the lightning strikes and sometimes it doesn’t. So, even though I know my chances are slim, I will say this: “You can’t win the lottery if you don’t play.”

I believe I have reached my contractual obligation with you here by producing a blog on a Sunday. So… Bye. Get out of my house.