My Writing Journey

It's been some time since I blogged about anything. I've been so in to writing. Sometimes I feel so inadequate at what I'm doing. I read what other's say on Facebook, and how many books they've written and I admit I feel jealousy. I wonder, how in the hell did they get such a following? How do you get people to read your books?
This is something that isn't taught to you, or anything you ever worry about when you sit down to write your first book. I know for me, I wasn't thinking about gaining a following. I just knew that it felt good to get those words, those stories out of my head.
It was a relief in a way. But then I FINALLY sent a book in. Glory! Glory! They wanted to publish it! But then what? I didn't know what I was suppose to do after that. Do people--readers automatically verge into the lane of new authors and start reading your work? No, they do not. It's quite the opposite it seems. To me it's almost as though readers are careening around to avoid a new author. the unknown debris in the street they've been driving down for years.
They tell you to promote your book. I might as well go around with a giant, red, question mark over my head at hearing that. Promote? How? Get business cards. Okay. Get a blog. Done. Get a website. Got it. Join this site! Join that site! Join this association and that one, and, and, and, and!!!!!!!! STOP! I just wanted to write. But now I feel as though I should have taken a business course at the local college. Writing makes me happy. I like being happy. Trying to navigate the difficult nuances of promotion does not make me happy. I want to be one of those authors that have readers waiting with bated breath for that next book by their favorite author.
And speaking of that. What sells? I get advice from all angles. Write a series. Write what other erotica authors write, ménage books, or supernatural, or BDSM. I like to write what comes out of my head. But then comes that feeling of inadequacy. Should I fall in line and churn out books to sell them?
Or should I write what makes me happy and wait. I suppose it's kind of like the saying, "If you build it, they will come," or "If I write it, they will read", right? It hasn't been a year yet since my first was published. I'm thankful to have had it published, and my second, and my third. I guess I should just stop the belly-aching and be patient. And if I have envy of other authors with their many followers, I should thank them. I am thankful, because to be in the company of such accomplished authors is something I never thought I would experience. Oh yeah, and get that Twitter account too!