My Book About the Vietnam War is Getting Delayed

I'm putting together a book about stories of individuals during the Vietnam War.  The original focus of the book was supposed to be South Vietnamese soldiers.  I then started learning the stories of some American soldiers and went those have to be reported.  And more recently I've learned of stories of civilians, in particular the boat people who tried to escape after the North Vietnamese took over.

As I've been learning these stories I've begun feeling a responsibility as an American and as a human being to put together this book.  It's not a book about the politics or whether or not the war was right or wrong, it's about the lives involved in the conflict, what they experienced, and how it affected them.  I really think people need to read about these things.

It's been hard for me to continue sometimes, however.  While I had great hopes for writing nonfiction and getting it out there to the public, after Two Gun's poor sales, my confidence has waned considerably.  It's not the story or the writing; everyone who talks about it loves it.  But despite their enthusiasm for the book, it's barely made any money.  I literally have to go out to Rotary Clubs and tell everyone the story before people buy it.

Added to this is the fact that I've learned over the past year or so that series are what bring in readers to independent books.  You give them the first one for free, get them on a mailing list, then sell them the rest.  You also get it into a niche audience toward which you can direct all your energy.

So I just don't have a huge amount of hope for the success of this book, or any other book that isn't part of a series.  I feel like I need to put more of my time and energy into Relic Worlds.  But this one is too important.

The reason for the Vietnam book's delay is not because of this discouragement.  I am doing it.  However, while I was in Lincoln, I made a bunch more connections, and I want to make sure to collect as many stories and do as much research as I can before putting it together.  When I do, I'll be going through InkShares.  I'll be very interested to see how that goes.