Disclaimer: writing is hard. Writing professionally is harder. Writing as your sole source of income can be nearly impossible.
The world is full of talented, bright authors, all putting forth their best effort and producing brilliant works. For whatever reason, though, they never manage to gain traction, either spending their lives composing epics that will never be read, or else quitting the game altogether, letting their dream job slip through their fingers.
If you fall into either of these camps, I have one word for you: don't. Don't give in. Don't give up. Right now I'm grappling with the first major hurdle in my emerging career as a writer. November marked the first month that saw a downturn in site trafffic, and December is on track to come out about even. Now, I attribute some of this to the holidays, but if anything I would like more traffic and more eyes on my work during the shopping season.
My sales surge from my book launch was nice, and I've had a handful of reviews come in, all positive. I've seen my first external sales (beyond family and friends) and even received my first royalty payment. The problem is I've hit sales wall, and things have gone completely flat over the course of the last month.
I could give up, admit the world is cruel and cold, and walk away.
I won't.
I could scale things back, writing for fun and releasing my books whenever they happen to finish.
I refuse.
I got into this for the long haul. Writing professionally is something I avoided for the longest time because of fear of failure. Now that I'm in it, I'm not going to concede defeat at any point.
So the question stands: what's the problem and how do I fix it?
As the great Hattori Hanzo of Kill Bill fame said, "...like a forest, it's easy to lose your way... To get lost... To forget where you came in." It is of the utmost importance that one finds their way the forest, that they discover what it is that is holding them back and vanquishes it. This involves a plan of attack. I like plans of attack.
Let's go through this together, so others that are in the same boat can follow along, yes?
The first step is to take inventory.
I have a published novel. Good.
I have a professionally done book cover. Excellent.
I have a number of growing book reviews, all positive. This could be improved on.
I have a social networking base that I use to promote my brand. This can be scaled up.
I have a book description that I wrote in haste the night I was pushing to get my book online. Ah, now that's something, isn't it? We'll come back to it.
I have no exposure on major book blogs, websites, or podcasts. This is something I clearly have been deficient in.
So, if we break things down, we find that even though I am getting lots of eyes on my work (despite not having as much exposure as I need), these viewings are not resulting in purchases. Book description, I'm looking at you.
The weak points have been identified; now I can put them in order and knock them down.
First thing is first, I'll be doing research on book descriptions and finding out what makes for a compelling blurb that makes a potential reader into a buyer. What gets people to really sink their teeth in? This is something I can do even with my day job, and so it will get top priority.
Social networking can be rolled into lack of major exposure. This is where things get tricky. Do you need to sell books to get exposure, or do you need to get exposure to sell books? Well, I'm not selling books and I don't have exposure, so it's likely the second option. In this I will need to exercise patience and allocate my resources carefully, those being time and money. As I've said, I can't quit my day job. So we start small scale. Develop a game plan that may involve writing reviews for other new authors and asking them to read and reciprocate. Reach out to smaller blogs and offer to do a guest article. After that, it's merely a matter of scaling up.
Will this work? There is absolutely no way to tell, but it's essential that anyone with a professional mindset take the time to analyze their situation and find the best way to move forward. This is not a one time thing, either. In six months or a year, circumstances will have changed and it will be time to take inventory again. This is a loop, a habit, a methodology that has to become engrained if you are an independent author. You are your agent, you are your publisher. Strap on your boots, put on your gloves, and get out there.
At the end of the day, it'll ask everything of you. All you can do is drive forward with true grit. After you've done absolutely everything in your power to make things work, then you can blame fate. Anything else is just giving up on your dream.
A.C. Harrison
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.
The world is full of talented, bright authors, all putting forth their best effort and producing brilliant works. For whatever reason, though, they never manage to gain traction, either spending their lives composing epics that will never be read, or else quitting the game altogether, letting their dream job slip through their fingers.
If you fall into either of these camps, I have one word for you: don't. Don't give in. Don't give up. Right now I'm grappling with the first major hurdle in my emerging career as a writer. November marked the first month that saw a downturn in site trafffic, and December is on track to come out about even. Now, I attribute some of this to the holidays, but if anything I would like more traffic and more eyes on my work during the shopping season.
My sales surge from my book launch was nice, and I've had a handful of reviews come in, all positive. I've seen my first external sales (beyond family and friends) and even received my first royalty payment. The problem is I've hit sales wall, and things have gone completely flat over the course of the last month.
I could give up, admit the world is cruel and cold, and walk away.
I won't.
I could scale things back, writing for fun and releasing my books whenever they happen to finish.
I refuse.
I got into this for the long haul. Writing professionally is something I avoided for the longest time because of fear of failure. Now that I'm in it, I'm not going to concede defeat at any point.
So the question stands: what's the problem and how do I fix it?
As the great Hattori Hanzo of Kill Bill fame said, "...like a forest, it's easy to lose your way... To get lost... To forget where you came in." It is of the utmost importance that one finds their way the forest, that they discover what it is that is holding them back and vanquishes it. This involves a plan of attack. I like plans of attack.
Let's go through this together, so others that are in the same boat can follow along, yes?
The first step is to take inventory.
I have a published novel. Good.
I have a professionally done book cover. Excellent.
I have a number of growing book reviews, all positive. This could be improved on.
I have a social networking base that I use to promote my brand. This can be scaled up.
I have a book description that I wrote in haste the night I was pushing to get my book online. Ah, now that's something, isn't it? We'll come back to it.
I have no exposure on major book blogs, websites, or podcasts. This is something I clearly have been deficient in.
So, if we break things down, we find that even though I am getting lots of eyes on my work (despite not having as much exposure as I need), these viewings are not resulting in purchases. Book description, I'm looking at you.
The weak points have been identified; now I can put them in order and knock them down.
First thing is first, I'll be doing research on book descriptions and finding out what makes for a compelling blurb that makes a potential reader into a buyer. What gets people to really sink their teeth in? This is something I can do even with my day job, and so it will get top priority.
Social networking can be rolled into lack of major exposure. This is where things get tricky. Do you need to sell books to get exposure, or do you need to get exposure to sell books? Well, I'm not selling books and I don't have exposure, so it's likely the second option. In this I will need to exercise patience and allocate my resources carefully, those being time and money. As I've said, I can't quit my day job. So we start small scale. Develop a game plan that may involve writing reviews for other new authors and asking them to read and reciprocate. Reach out to smaller blogs and offer to do a guest article. After that, it's merely a matter of scaling up.
Will this work? There is absolutely no way to tell, but it's essential that anyone with a professional mindset take the time to analyze their situation and find the best way to move forward. This is not a one time thing, either. In six months or a year, circumstances will have changed and it will be time to take inventory again. This is a loop, a habit, a methodology that has to become engrained if you are an independent author. You are your agent, you are your publisher. Strap on your boots, put on your gloves, and get out there.
At the end of the day, it'll ask everything of you. All you can do is drive forward with true grit. After you've done absolutely everything in your power to make things work, then you can blame fate. Anything else is just giving up on your dream.
A.C. Harrison
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.
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