The truth about being a self published author

my current book rankings. Warded Mage rank 11 in epic fantasy, Branded Mage rank 77 in epic fantasy, Inexperienced mage rank 79 in epic fantasy, Broken mage rank 81 in epic fantasy
all four of my reawakening saga books are in the top 100 of epic fantasy. For how long I don't know, but in the end it doesn't matter because right now they are. To many of you on here you don't understand what I mean about the rankings to others who know they think its amazing. to me it's........indescribable.
In my youth I was all over the place. I just could not get myself to stay in one spot. I have traveled all over the country on a spur of the moment decision. In fact most my choices in life have been done that way. I never was one to give much thought to anything I did. My writing is much the same way. Most the time I don't even reread what I wrote I just keep pushing forward and trust in my instinct. I don't do first second and third drafts I just go with the flow and more or less let the story write itself. it seems to work well for me.
If I was ever asked what the key to my success was I would have very little to say. write what you enjoy, don't over analyze everything, love your characters as much as you do your family and in the end pray for a lot of luck. hundreds of books are uploaded everyday both traditional and indie and getting noticed is nearly impossible for a starting author. every time you put out a new book you hope that it will be the one to catch attention , to rise to the top. 
in the past you used to have to send in your manuscripts to big publishers and hope an editor found it interesting, then you had to wait for it to go through all the editorial boards and in the end only a select few were chose to be published. Now with self publishing you can simply put your book up but its not as easy as it sounds. Now, instead of editors choosing to see if your book will live or die its the readers who chose. In the end you have 30 days to grab attention and say "here I am!" So to all my fellow authors and the ones aspiring I say keep trying and may lady luck be on your side. to my family friends and readers I say thank you for your support, without it I wouldn't be where I am right now.