Obviously, I think that's a good decision, Gregg. We put too much of ourselves into all the parts of our writing to expend it carelessly.
Exposure comes in many different ways, including luck. Work is a big part, and you've been putting that in (well, more than me). But patience is the other one. As just one example, Hugh Howey was 7 books and 2 years* into his publishing** apprenticeship before his success with Wool. From his
website come these words:
Quote:
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This is going to sound strange, but you are MUCH better off with your 10th work exploding than your 1st work. You’ll never have quiet time to crank out quality material ever again. And when your backlist matches the growth of your first breakout, you’ll do very well for yourself. Be patient.
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I've only just found that quote, researched in order to make this post, but it makes me quite happy. I'm two years but only three books into my publishing apprenticeship, only seven books to go!
Of course, it pays to remember that the journey is different for everyone. I read about a lot of different experiences before I published my first book. They kept my expectations from getting too high, and helped me to understand that this was a long-haul thing, not something that would happen the moment I hit the publish button.
* Measured from date of his first published book as given in Wikipedia.
** As opposed to his writing apprenticeship, which has presumably been much longer.