On completion of my first novel I was over the moon. I was an author, soon I would have a stipend to subsidise my meagre pension in recognition of two years of dedicated hard work, and perhaps a few encouraging comments from grateful readers to boost my fragile ego.
Other authors informed me there was never a better time to be a writer. Traditionally authors needed to find an agent, or a publisher, no mean feat I can assure you, or to rely on what is commonly known as vanity press to see their labour of love in print, an arrangement whereby a handful of books is produced, at the author's expense, with no effort made to market the authors work. I was informed that today's author can publish his, or her, masterpiece at minimal cost, and sell online. The publishing advice was true. I spent £80 for unrestricted access to a great photograph, which I titled myself using Microsoft Word, along with a free download to convert my artwork into a JPEG format. I was advised, and I'm sure it's good advice, to pay for an editing service to make my books as good as they can possibly be, or it would be good advice if it was possible to sell enough books to cover the huge expense of professional editing. Publishing on Amazon is free, providing you agree to use the Amazon ISBN number, so job done for £80 .
The next piece of advice was to build a platform for marketing. I wasn't quite sure what build a platform meant, but I suspect it was a platform from which to hang myself when the reality dawned that I was never going to sell more than a handful of books. The platform consists of social networking websites like Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, Linkedin, and Facebook. I now have followers on Twitter, a Facebook page, a Google+ account, a Linkedin account and thousands of hits on this blog, but with no significant improvement in sales. Nobody on the internet wants to buy a book, only to sell one, so authors try to market to other authors, who have little time to read because of their commitment to social networking, while trying to write that breakthrough novel. Even if they do find the time to read there are so many desperate people giving away free downloads that e-book readers are full to bursting with novels, good and bad, which may never be read due to time restraints. I have more books on my shelves, and in my e-reader, than I could possibly read in a lifetime, while authors constantly offer me their latest novels to read in exchange for a favourable review. In this climate of free downloads, how do authors ever expect to sell anything? Is their work so worthless that they are prepared to give it away? Would they work on the checkout at their local supermarket for free, or repair cars from Monday to Sunday free of charge? I think not. They obviously feel that once read and enjoyed the reader will search out other examples of their work with a view to purchase. With so many free downloads available I'm sceptical.
People go out and buy lottery tickets every week in the mistaken belief that this week they will win the lottery, most of them never will. The same principle applies to writers. One or two novels will inevitably come good; Fifty Shades of Grey is one example, although I am lead to believe that the subject matter and not the quality of writing made it go viral. Most novels, however good they are, never will. One thing is for certain, unless readers get behind their favourite Indie writers and send their message viral, writers will never be able to achieve even modest success in such an overcrowded marketplace.
People have asked me when my third novel is due to be released, unless there is a drastic improvement in the sales of my other novels my answer will remain the same, what third novel?
The next piece of advice was to build a platform for marketing. I wasn't quite sure what build a platform meant, but I suspect it was a platform from which to hang myself when the reality dawned that I was never going to sell more than a handful of books. The platform consists of social networking websites like Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, Linkedin, and Facebook. I now have followers on Twitter, a Facebook page, a Google+ account, a Linkedin account and thousands of hits on this blog, but with no significant improvement in sales. Nobody on the internet wants to buy a book, only to sell one, so authors try to market to other authors, who have little time to read because of their commitment to social networking, while trying to write that breakthrough novel. Even if they do find the time to read there are so many desperate people giving away free downloads that e-book readers are full to bursting with novels, good and bad, which may never be read due to time restraints. I have more books on my shelves, and in my e-reader, than I could possibly read in a lifetime, while authors constantly offer me their latest novels to read in exchange for a favourable review. In this climate of free downloads, how do authors ever expect to sell anything? Is their work so worthless that they are prepared to give it away? Would they work on the checkout at their local supermarket for free, or repair cars from Monday to Sunday free of charge? I think not. They obviously feel that once read and enjoyed the reader will search out other examples of their work with a view to purchase. With so many free downloads available I'm sceptical.
People go out and buy lottery tickets every week in the mistaken belief that this week they will win the lottery, most of them never will. The same principle applies to writers. One or two novels will inevitably come good; Fifty Shades of Grey is one example, although I am lead to believe that the subject matter and not the quality of writing made it go viral. Most novels, however good they are, never will. One thing is for certain, unless readers get behind their favourite Indie writers and send their message viral, writers will never be able to achieve even modest success in such an overcrowded marketplace.
People have asked me when my third novel is due to be released, unless there is a drastic improvement in the sales of my other novels my answer will remain the same, what third novel?
Talk about a home truth: "authors try to market to other authors, who have little time to read because of their commitment to social networking, while trying to write that breakthrough novel at the same time."
ReplyDeleteYou didn't link to your book in the blog post (missed a trick there!), but fortunately you have them listed in the sidebar, so I took a look. The rankings aren't terrible—you're still well in the top half of the million-plus books in the Kindle Store. They're just not great, either. I'm getting similar results with my $2.99 novel, White Pickups.
I did have a different title take off, though. Genre, price, cover art, an appearance on a fairly high-traffic book blog, and luck all played a part. If you're interested, Tom Gillespie interviewed me on his blog about it. (You can ignore the hyperbole about "run away success." :-)
Thanks for the comments Larry. I did read the Tom Gillespie blog interview, you raised some good ponts.
DeleteYou make some very good points. I really like the line about working for free Monday through Sunday. I've actually never listed either of my books for free. I didn't see the point. There are and still so many free books out there and some people download books just because they are free. I didn't see it as a good way to find readers interested in my books. Another reason I didn't worry about free was because I only have two books. That method seemed to work better for authors who had four+ books.
ReplyDeleteJust remember a couple of things. 1)Be proud that you wrote and finished a book. Not everyone can accomplish that. and 2) Over night successes don't happen on the first night. Months and years can pass before luck strikes. You've still succeeded in something amazing.
I am pleased with myself Patricia and don't regret for one moment writing either of my novels. When I began I was unsure if I could write a single chapter let alone two 80.000 + word novels. If I never sell another copy I would not change a single thing, delving into the past and manipulating it to your own ends can be fascinating.
DeleteRoy, what a great call to action on behalf of indie authors. Thanks for introducing me to your blog via Twitter. You may not have a "viral" novel but you are thinking clearly about the process and helping to support your fellow wordsmiths, all of which is much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteThank you Carmen that's very kind of you to say so.
ReplyDelete