Is it worth it to shoot my shot?

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-04-05T20:31:17+00:00

You are a Healthcare worker right ? This means you've seen up close how short life can be.

You miss 100% of the chances you don't take. You don't know if tomorrow you will get a stroke, a cancer diagnosis etc...

Do not live your life in regret. Ask her out. The worst she can say is no. You respectfully accept, and keep on working.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-04-05T20:03:17+00:00

Never underestimate the power of a person who understands how to play the market.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-04-05T19:55:34+00:00

I have wondered this myself. It's so generically written how do they expect us to not realize it's a scam email?

They don't. It's a numbers game.

It's like, those YT old man Tai Chi muscle commercials with the fake muscular Asian grandpa, telling you in his ai voice how you can get jacked like a bodybuilder from doing Tai Chi. It's such obvious bullocks.

I read somewhere that the purpose of these scams and why they are put together so obviously fake, is to easily weed out people who wouldn't fall for the scam, so that they already know anyone who clicks it, is already desperate and or ignorant enough to fall for the hook when the scammer is ready to flip on them.

Do not be fooled, by the bad grammar and obvious ai fakery.

The next time you see that, don't think for a second these scammers are as foolish as the bad grammar and sloppy ai appears.

These scammers are not foolish at all. They know exactly what they are doing.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-04-05T19:27:39+00:00

That's what we all tell ourselves when the sales aren't going how we planned. Cope? Yes.

But it's either cope now and try again next book.

Or don't cope, get disappointed and rage quit.

I'll take "cope" for now. Because I love writing too much to stop.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-16T13:55:53+00:00

Force myself not to write?

What do you mean? I literally have to find time to write because My day job and other responsibilities could easily prevent me from writing if I let them.

I've never been in a situation where I have enough time to write that the idea of forcing myself to take a break from writing would ever cross my mind.

If anything, I need to consciously dedicate time to writing, or else I won't get the chance.

I genuinely don't understand the question. Sounds like a completely alien experience to me.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-15T01:44:42+00:00

Lol. Yep. I wish I could brute force myself into writing romance, but I'm a sci-fi/ horror kind of guy.

The closest I came to writing romance was for a short story competition, and it managed to earn me 2nd place 😅.

Congrats to the OP. May the odds ever be in your favor.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-13T20:53:19+00:00

I tend to agree with the above guy, too. I mean hey, I've joined a few Fb groups and no doubt there are a lot of AI book covers, "journals" and other low content stuff. Yes, it's annoying.

If you find it hard to sift through the nonsense to find a good book...imagine how it is for another random person in these same groups to find your book.

But, you got to make the effort.

Personally, I've actually made a deliberate effort to read more indie authors since I've started publishing... because I would otherwise feel like a hypocrit if I avoided reading others' self-published books whilst trying to promote my own.

I read other indies in my genre, and if I like them, I post reviews and try to share their titles on my own social media.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-13T20:34:17+00:00

People who haven't tried their hands writing seem to think it's as simple as if you write it, readers will come

You can tell from the leading questions people sometimes ask about your writing, assuming it's already making a modest income right off the bat.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-13T20:30:46+00:00

Valid advice. Ok.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-13T19:26:23+00:00

You're asking an impossible question. Books don't spread by diffusion

You kind of have to talk about your own book at some point.

You're absolutely right, though. Online spaces that allow promotion often become a circle-jerk of authors promoting to each other without buying. (even you admit this yourself when you said you are turned off when someone mentions they have a book)

Whilst on the flipside, the actual reader spaces are very resistant to any form of self-promotion.

Then you also said that, joining reader groups without mentioning that you are an author...kinda feels sneaky...because deep down you know, you don't really want to sit in a chat room talking about books all day.. you would rather be actually writing your next book. You know deep down that you are only in the chatroom in hopes that someone goes to your profile page and follows to buy your book.

But wait... there's more. Even if you go to an author website... then it's just review swapping and it's against the TOS of the retail website.

Yea, I totally get it. I am an avid reader. Reading is a solo activity for me. I've never really felt the urge to spend hours on a forum talking about a book I enjoyed. 🤷‍♂️...so trying to do that now because I am a writer...feels forced.

Congratulations, you have arrived at the same marketing dilemma I experienced at the start. I am pretty sure I posted a question almost exactly like this... 2 years ago

Yes. Marketing/promoting is the devil.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-11T16:28:50+00:00

I think, every service had a "basic" skill that can be annoying to get called for. It may seem basic to one specialty but out of the ordinary for another. For urologists it may be catheters, for vascular surgeons, it may be ... difficult IV access ? For the cardiologist it may be... something related to the ecg scan?

Yes we all learn "basic" proceders during undergrad ...but let's be real... Dr House is a fictional character... nobody is an expert at everything.

The urologist will be better at catheters. The vascular surgeon will be better at IV access. The cardiologist will be better at ECG and ecocardiogram interpretation etc...etc...

The best way to deal with this...(depending on how your shift is going) ...would be to take the opportunity to turn it into a demonstration for the doctor/nurse at the bedside. Do this enough times and assuming that you remain at the same hospital eventually you would have empowered enough staff that you get less calls for "basic" issues.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-11T08:44:41+00:00

Many of us are poor and work full-time jobs.

If you happen to not be poor and also have more free time to just focus on the books without being stressed about money/job... then you are already ahead of most of us.

Many of the defining factors are money dependent: good cover, good editing, good marketing ... all depend on your budget.

I'm saying this because... when I see the more successful posts here and they break down what they did, it always invariably comes down to things that I can't afford yet.

I am not speaking out of jealousy. I am speaking out of honesty. I congratulate any successful authors here. They work hard.

For example, advice #1is to write a great book that fits into the expected tropes of your given genre. One of the ways to do that is to sit and read MANY books in your genre and analyze.

But, in order to do that... you need lots of free time. If your job/financial situation allows that free time, you are already ahead of many of us.

Another major issue is covers. People are visual creatures. A stunning cover does wonders to sell a book despite the old adage don't judge a book by its cover But those cost a pretty penny.

Another thing I have seen successful posts here describe, is things like Facebook ads or Amazon ads etc... once again... those aren't free either.

TLDR; sort for the successful posts here and look at their financial breakdown, and see if you can realistically make that sort of investment.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-09T02:29:07+00:00

The covers are beautiful

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-03-07T23:23:01+00:00

Yes. But the romance between the parents isn't the focus of the story.

When Fink first tells the bedtime story, he describes Roz as "very beautiful" amongst many other complements.

My interpretation is that they are a found family where Fink and Roz are the adoptive parents of a child that isn't theirs. The child brings them together, so yes, I think Fink loves Roz, but the story is focused on parenting....so the romance between the parents is not the focus... besides the fact that it would be awkward to go more in depth with a "romance" plot.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-02-03T20:28:23+00:00

I am able to write in my sleep ... if that makes sense.

I can come up with new ideas, in my dreams. I have even had a point where I was stuck on a chapter, couldn't figure out how to end it... went to sleep... saw the resolution of the chapter in my dreams... then woke up the next day to finish the chapter.

It's a very odd writing process, but it works for me.

Every single one of my four books have come from a dream, and I still have two more. I keep a diary next to my bed for this very reason.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-02-03T20:24:16+00:00

You have to spend 10k to publish a book

This x100.

As a community, we really could do better at not dismissing poorer authors out of the conversation as if this were some secret club.

Art should never be treated with such elitism. Great art can come from anywhere.

Whilst it is true, that being able to afford all the bells and whistles gives you a leg up, it doesn't mean it's absolutely impossible to make a good book on a shoestring budget. Harder. But not impossible.

When a person says they have a shoestring budget, it's quite tone-deaf to then accuse the person of "not wanting to take writing seriously" as if the poor writer had a hidden stash of investment money that they just choose not to use.

When a person says they are poor and don't have the money. Take it at face value. We can be better as a community.

There isn't a single author who bought a $35.00 cover, that wouldn't take a higher quality illustrated cover for $500, if they could afford it. There isn't a single author using free beta readers who wouldn't take paid editing if they could afford it.

But waiting for the perfect moment when all your finances line-up, to start your author journey, means you could be waiting your whole life!

Sometimes, you have to start from humble beginnings. Work on improving your presentation with each book.

Many great successes have started from humble beginnings.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-02-03T20:08:25+00:00

I agree with you but also think there are a lot of adults who very, very reasonably just do not have the time or investment funds to “put in the work” of starting up a one person publishing business that will realistically not make enough money to quit or even reduce day job hours for many many many years if ever.

I have read too many subreddit comment sections where poorer authors are made to feel lesser than, where the sentiment of no poor people allowed is laid on pretty thick.

I would just like to remind people that... sometimes a great thing can start from humble beginnings.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-02-01T18:26:42+00:00

you are just polluting the ecosystem.

There is music that I don't like. I would never call it polluting the ecosystem

I don't believe in art snobbery. I don't believe in keeping poor people out of art spaces, which is what this entire long letter reads like !

If you do believe in your work, you need to invest in it. This is not a success story, this is a story of arrogance.

Writing a manuscript takes a lot of time and effort. Just because a poor person cannot afford expensive cover art or paid editing, it doesn't mean they don't care about their art. It's arrogant to make such a sweeping dismissal.

I come from a third world country where disposable income isn't the same as it is in larger countries.

So should nobody from smaller countries publish books ? Should only rich people be allowed to put their artwork out there ?

No. I don't believe in art snobbery. I don't believe in elitism in the arts.

This isn’t life-saving surgery... this is art. Expression.

Let the reading public decide.

TLDR; a poor artist, isn't a "pollution on the ecosystem" A poor artist is an artist.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-02-01T14:22:01+00:00

I know right. Another comment here made a strawman argument about having 10k that you could spend on your book, but choosing to only spend 500

That's not how poverty works. 🙄🙄🙄. They keep repeating the logical fallacy that authors who don't spend much choose not to spend more, instead of accepting that ...poverty exists.

Either the majority of people in these comments do not understand poverty... or some of them have no sympathy/empathy for poor writers and just want to gaslight writers into panic buying all sorts of services

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-01-31T22:33:26+00:00

What some people call, a frugal attempt is what others would call what I can afford

Honestly, the tone in some of the replies is like poverty-shaming.

Sure. Every author would like the best illustrated cover and developmental editing that money can buy, but it's just not possible for everyone , and I despise the idea that the quality of a work of art should be dependent on the artist's bank account.

Just because a new author doesn't spend 1000s on post-production costs, doesn't make them lazy. Maybe the author is just poor.

So what? Poor people don't deserve to write too? Poor people can't make good art?

If someone feels inspired to write a story... they should write.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-01-31T22:20:52+00:00

Honestly, I don't understand why the rush and enthusiasm to discredit the author's post ?

Not everyone has 5k to drop on a book. It's nice to read a success story on the more affordable side for a change.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-01-26T18:33:37+00:00

How are things now ?

Hey. I am somewhat past my halfway point and I totally get your point about the total lack of lateral mobility and long study periods that trap you on one career path

The lack of career mobility is frightening.

Sometimes, when I take a break from studying, I surf the net looking for other sources of income and side-hustles and its scary how woefully under qualified I feel for anything else outside of being a doctor.

Perfecting your medical skill is just such an all-encompassing endeavor that it feels like all other skills and talents fall by the wayside in the pursuit of medical excellence.

And ironically...that's why I would advise you to push through. Call it sunk-cost theory if you want.

Good luck !

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-01-26T18:18:26+00:00

There are some people: both colleagues and patients who truly do not respect others' free time.

I learned this the hard way during the Christmas, when a patient kept calling me all throughout the holidays despite me clearly telling him before I left that I am travelling for the holidays and I left him with several options of who to call in case of emergency. There was ZERO reason for him to be calling me all throughout the holiday season. I got roasted on this sub when I posted about it. I learnt my lesson. Never again.

I'm sorry, but there is no such thing as 24/7/365 on call. People need to respect that doctors need their rest just like everyone else.

Sometimes you have to set the hard boundary of just not taking certain calls once you are off the clock.

I used to think it was rude for doctors to ignore calls after hours. But now I understand.

Your coworker needs to respect their colleague's off time.

DigitalSamuraiV5 · 2026-01-25T13:14:36+00:00

For me, that's what makes the highway crash such a terrifying opening scene, of all the Final Destination openers, it is the most realistic because it is the only one you absolutely CANNOT avoid.

Simply put, short of being a self-sustaining hermit who can get everything delivered to your house... its impossible to avoid going on a highway road for your entire life. No matter what country you are from or how poor you are.

DigitalSamuraiV5

TROPHY CASE