A list of all the things working against me
I was thinking about this the other day and I decided to compile a list of all the things that seem to be "working against me" when it comes to sheer sales numbers:
-I write short stories. Let's face it: short stories are making a comeback but the novel is still the dominant animal out there.
-I write in multiple genres. This crime is not so bad. But it will be important for me to make sure that I eventually have a selection of different stories in each genre.
-More importantly, I write in the wrong genres. These days, vampires sell. Vampires and sex. If you can manage to fit both of those in the same book, you're golden.
-I'm independently published. Again, a lesser crime. But I have noticed when looking around for other blogger to review my work, many of them still have a stigma against self-published authors.
-I only have ebooks available, no hard copies.
Ok, so those seem to be all the big things. How to fix them? Here was my big conclusion: I don't really want to fix any of them. The only reasonable change that I would want to make is writing more stories for the genres I have already published (more westerns, more sci-fi, etc.).
Quite frankly, I enjoy writing what I write. I really like being independently/electronically published. I feel like it gives me room to experiment and grow as a writer. And, eventually, the whole indie author/ebook controversy will be less of an issue.
Plus, I refuse to write stories I don't enjoy that are simply designed to make money. On writing forums they always talk about how you need to have a slick cover and good formatting in order to make the sale. This is true. But the fact that there are erotica books out there with covers that look like sh*t, terrible formatting and spelling errors all over the place tells me that the actual content is the most important thing. Sex sells. So since I want to write different genres, I just had to accept the fact the level of appeal will be different.
The hard copy thing could also be remedied. It's really easy these days to get your book printed up on Createspace. But as I mentioned a few blogs ago, this has to be a cost effective move since I write short stories. Several collections will probably have to be put together.
So there you have it. I am working against myself. And yet, I am working with myself at the same time...??
-I write short stories. Let's face it: short stories are making a comeback but the novel is still the dominant animal out there.
-I write in multiple genres. This crime is not so bad. But it will be important for me to make sure that I eventually have a selection of different stories in each genre.
-More importantly, I write in the wrong genres. These days, vampires sell. Vampires and sex. If you can manage to fit both of those in the same book, you're golden.
-I'm independently published. Again, a lesser crime. But I have noticed when looking around for other blogger to review my work, many of them still have a stigma against self-published authors.
-I only have ebooks available, no hard copies.
Ok, so those seem to be all the big things. How to fix them? Here was my big conclusion: I don't really want to fix any of them. The only reasonable change that I would want to make is writing more stories for the genres I have already published (more westerns, more sci-fi, etc.).
Quite frankly, I enjoy writing what I write. I really like being independently/electronically published. I feel like it gives me room to experiment and grow as a writer. And, eventually, the whole indie author/ebook controversy will be less of an issue.
Plus, I refuse to write stories I don't enjoy that are simply designed to make money. On writing forums they always talk about how you need to have a slick cover and good formatting in order to make the sale. This is true. But the fact that there are erotica books out there with covers that look like sh*t, terrible formatting and spelling errors all over the place tells me that the actual content is the most important thing. Sex sells. So since I want to write different genres, I just had to accept the fact the level of appeal will be different.
The hard copy thing could also be remedied. It's really easy these days to get your book printed up on Createspace. But as I mentioned a few blogs ago, this has to be a cost effective move since I write short stories. Several collections will probably have to be put together.
So there you have it. I am working against myself. And yet, I am working with myself at the same time...??
It's easy to think there's one formula for success, or one type of success. There isn't. If writing and publishing short stories makes you happy, then keep at it. Don't worry about sales. Worry about making that next story the best you can make it.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing!
Alain - I understand exactly what you mean.
ReplyDeleteThis (e-publishing) takes a lot of time to bear any kind of fruit, as in sales.
However there are a lot of (formerly) well-known authors with the same issues and frustrations. The difference is they have a number of books and short stories read to go.
IMO - one year isn't long enough to be 'discovered' by readers. I say this, because I first published Aug 4, of last year. Yet it has been long enough for me to add to my body of DIY published work.
I think the worst mistake is to look at the sales daily. If I could get myself to just look at the end of the month, I'm sure I wouldn't feel so crazy.
You're not doing anything wrong unless your goal is simply sales.
ReplyDeleteOf course we ALL want sales. But I have a feeling that what you REALLY want is the satisfaction of writing quality stories. And you can support yourself with your dayjob, so this is all gravy, right?
@Robert and Shana: Oh, I'm totally happy just doing what I'm doing. I just realized the other day perusing through KB that if I really was interested in making the big bucks, I'm doing just about everything wrong lol. But as Shana said, it's all gravy =)
ReplyDelete@Kat- It's interesting that you mention that, because just last night I wrote a blog about the idea of "the year" and writing. It's scheduled to post a few weeks from now.
I totally agree with you though. I think you have to look at each year to really monitor your progress. Day to day really doesn't show anything.
I have most of those working against me as well - no vamps, no sex, self published ebooks etc - though I have written a couple of novels.
ReplyDeletePlus I'm no good at marketing or pushing myself.
We must all be gluttons for publishment.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a word I pretty much just made up on the spot =D
"Gluttons for publishment" love it!
ReplyDeleteMy first year as a DIY published author ended yesterday. I guess it's time to look at the data and figure out the next step.
Ooo! Congratulations. One year under the belt is a really big deal. My anniversary will be in October. Sometimes this kind of shocks me when I think about how much I have learned in the past year about publishing. Feels like I've been doing it for ages =)
ReplyDelete