Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 36

The Decline of Self-Publishing

I’ve been taking in what authors have been discussing in author groups and speaking privately with a couple of author friends. My gut feeling has been telling me that I better make plans on what I should do when self-publishing is no longer the best venue for publishing. I wish I could dig up a comment someone had made back in 2010 about trends in publishing because what he said seems to be playing out in front of me. But one thing he said was that self-publishing would take off for a while, and then there would be a point where it went into decline. From the decline would come the resurgence of traditional publishers.

I have to admit, I thought that guy had a gloomy outlook on things at the time. Nevertheless, his words had stuck with me over the years, and the more I look around at what’s going on, the more I’m convinced he’s right. He based his assumptions off of the history of publishing. His argument was that things are cyclical. What has been is what will be.

Thinking over his words, I can see why publishers would become more attractive than self-publishing. I don’t have time to break down all the different scams going on, especially within Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited (KU) program, but people who are gaming the system at KU have weakened the integrity of self-publishing. In the author community, these people are called scammers. Now, I’m not going to say the scammers are the only reason I think self-publishing is in a state of decline. It’s just one part of several factors. But scammers have definitely hurt the quality of self-published books to a degree I’m not sure KU can ever recover from. This will probably mean the end of KU in the long run, and a lot of self-published authors’ careers have been built on KU. Since it’s a lot harder to get noticed on other retailers (Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play), I don’t expect those KU authors to hold out for things to take off on those retailers. Amazon has made visibility easier, which is why so many authors have embraced exclusivity with them. Now it’s even harder to get visibility on the other retailers than it was a few years ago. This only makes an author new to a retailer harder to get noticed. It’s not impossible, but it’s harder, and a lot of KU authors will give up.

Another factor contributing to the decline in self-publishing is the “pay to play” trend. If authors don’t have money to spend on ads, they’ll see sales decline because ads give them visibility. In the end, those with the money can stay relevant. Those without the money won’t. There’s no way I can spend significant money on ads every month. Most authors budget $50 or so a month. But there are some who spend $1000 or more. That’s every single month. Those authors who have the most money will get the most exposure, and exposure means sales. So the more you pay, the more you sell, which leads to the more you can play. Hence the term “pay to play”. Already, I’m hearing rumblings from authors who said their ads are no longer effective, and it’s because they can’t afford to spend more than they already are. Thus, those who can’t afford the ads will end up being weeded out of the self-publishing business.

And another factor in the decline of self-publishing is the saturation of books in the market. There’s no way anyone can read all of the books out there. Even if someone reads 2-3 books a day, they’ll never read all of the stuff that’s currently available. This glut of books in the market means that it’s going to get harder and harder for authors to get noticed or even stay afloat. For example, I’ll search for particular things within romance that I want to read, and most of the results are sponsored ads (that often don’t even match what I’m searching for). I might find one or two promising books within a few pages of scrolling through my search terms, but even those aren’t fitting exactly what I want to read. I have to rely on the Freebooksy emails, Bookbub recommendations, or running into an author on social media by accident in order to even KNOW the author/book exists. Of all of that, I probably go on to buy about 5% of anything I come across. That’s a very low number of books. But it’s hard to find what I’m looking for. This makes it hard for authors to get noticed, especially new ones who haven’t had time to build a platform.

So, I think these are the major forces that will eventually drive out a lot of self-published authors.

I don’t think self-publishing will completely go away. With the internet being the way it is, it’s hard to imagine that people won’t be able to keep publishing their own books. The question, however, becomes whether or not the people can afford to publish their own books. I’ve mentioned this a couple of times in the past on this blog, but most authors are not financially independent. They need to earn money in order to make publishing books worth it. Authors have bills to pay, just like everyone else. If authors can’t make enough money from the sale of their books to pay their bills, they will have to find another job. It’s just the way it is. It’s not that they want to stop writing. It’s that they have to.

I see no reason why any author should be asked to write for free. On average, a book costs about $500-$1000 to produce (that factors in editing, covers, formatting). So they need to get back the cost on making the book, and after that, they can pay their bills. If they aren’t selling books, the math doesn’t work out. I guess one could argue the author can work a job outside the home and use that money to pay for producing a book, but it’s more likely that the author will need to spend that money on bills or save it. So I think the financial angle will weed out a lot of self-published authors, too. And, since publishers take on the cost of book production (getting the edits, covers, and formatting done), it will make traditional publishing more attractive to the average author.

Now, these are just my own thoughts on the topic. I don’t have a magic ball. But I believe we’re looking at the decline in self-publishing, and I believe this will lead to a rise in the traditional publishers.

This is Why I Publish My Books On More Than One Retailer

I just found out Mitch’s Win, Boaz’s Wager, and Patty’s Gamble are not available on the Amazon UK site. I knew Patty’s Gamble hasn’t been available on the Amazon Australia site.  Meanwhile, Google Play isn’t showing Shane’s Deal, Just Good Friends, or the pre-order for Kidnapping the Viscount.

This hasn’t only been limited to those two sites. I’ve had this happen on Kobo in the past, too. As far as I know Apple and B&N have been okay. But I haven’t received feedback from people telling me they can’t find them on those sites, so at one time, maybe there was something missing. I have no idea what to think.

Sometimes there’s a glitch in the system. It’s no one’s fault. It just happens. But this is why I have never been exclusive to only one retailer. No matter what the retailer is, I refuse to be exclusive to it.

Okay, in the course of writing this post, someone in a FB group said they found Just Good Friends and Kidnapping the Viscount on Google Play. So within ten minutes, the books went from missing to being there. True story, guys. I’m not making this up!

See what I mean about unpredictability? Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to some of this stuff.

But that’s why I’m on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play, and Smashwords (and the smaller channels Smashwords distributes to). I want to be available in as many places as I can. I don’t know if you will want to go to another retailer to get a book that isn’t on the one you prefer. (I, myself, am pretty loyal to my retailer, so I understand why you might not want to.) I am sorry if you can’t get one of my books on the retailer you prefer. I am doing all I can to rectify that issue, but I can’t promise my efforts will work.

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I wrote the stuff above yesterday evening. Then I put this post in my draft folder since I wasn’t sure I wanted to publish the post. This morning I got an email from an author friend who had a pre-order up on Barnes & Noble. The book had been on pre-order without any problems. Then the book released today. And it disappeared from the Barnes & Noble store this morning. She had no warning. This is a horrible thing to happen on a book’s release day. So now I know of a case where this happened on Barnes & Noble.

This tells me that no retailer is immune this kind of thing. And this is why it’s best for all authors to be on every retailer possible. It’s also best for readers. I know it’s inconvenient to buy a book from another retailer, but at least there’s the choice to do that. If the author only published the book on one retailer and that retailer didn’t show the book (for whatever reason), at least the book can be found somewhere else.

Shane’s Deal (Montana Collection: Book 4) is Now Available!

For those of you who wanted to see the Montana Collection complete, Shane’s Deal is finally here! Thank you for being patient and waiting.

Shane’s Deal (Montana Collection: Book 4) is Due out April 5

I’ve gotten a few questions about when Shane’s Deal will be out, and I can now point everyone to the links were they can go to get it if they want to pre-order it. The only place it’s not on right now is Google Play, but my publisher does have it ready to go over there, so it will be there.

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Click here for the pre-order links!

This is the last book in the Montana Collection. For easy reference, here are the other books:

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When I was working on Shane’s Deal, I had the covers changed for the series has an updated look. That’s why you might not recognize them.

Write What You Want To Write

This post is for writers, especially those who need some encouragement.

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ID 44809591 © Ayse Ezgi Icmeli | Dreamstime.com

The quickest way to kill your enthusiasm for writing is to write what someone else wants you to write.

Seriously, it’s as simple as that. This is your story. You are the only one who can write it. While I know the urge to please everyone is a strong one, it’s an impossible goal. If your books reach enough people, there will be someone who hates it. Whether it’s the main character, the plot, some technical inaccuracy, the writing style, etc, there will be something someone doesn’t like. You can’t avoid it.

Go on and check your favorite traditionally published authors who’ve been around for years. Do they all get 5-star reviews? No. There are people who don’t like their books. Take a good look at the 1 and 2-star reviews. Now, keep in mind that these are your favorite authors. Do you agree with the reviewers who didn’t like those authors’ books? Or do you think, “Wow, those people don’t understand how brilliant these authors are”? Or maybe you can see some value in their criticism, but you enjoy the authors’ books anyway, so you really don’t care what the critics had to say.

I mention all of this because there’s one truth in writing that often gets overlooked.

Taste is subjective.

People’s tastes range in a variety of areas. Not everyone likes the same songs, same movies, same art, same food, or the same houses. I could go on, but you get my point. If we all liked the same thing, life would be boring. Case in point, I hate mysteries. If the only books available to read were mysteries, I’d never read anything. Also, there are certain types of heroes I can’t stand. I hate the hero who sleeps around. As soon as one pops up in a story, I toss the book out.

So you see, readers come to every book with a set of biases. Is that wrong? Of course not. Writers come to every story they write with a set of biases, too. I have my biases, and you have yours. This is why I am the only person qualified to write my story, and you are the only one qualified to write your story. Stories should be as unique as a fingerprint. People who love your work should be able to read your story and see “you” in it. Your voice, your writing style, the type of stories you write, and the types of characters you use should all be like a fingerprint.

Does this mean you should write the same stories over and over? No. You definitely want to write different stories. If you wrote the same kind of story all the time, it would bore people. But you will have things you lean toward. You’ll naturally lean toward a certain genre. You’ll naturally lean toward certain character types. You’ll naturally lean toward a certain time period, whether it be historical, contemporary, or futuristic.

The key is to embrace those things that most excite you. Instead of asking, “What does someone else want to read when they pick up a book?”, ask, “What do I want to read when I pick up a book?” If you are the person you are writing for, you will have an enthusiasm for writing that energizes you. You’ll come to your work with overflowing excitement. You’ll be anxious to get out of bed just so you can write.

I’ve approached writing both ways. I’ve written for others, and I’ve written for myself. Each and every story I’ve written for me has been my best work. When you write the story you want to write, you will naturally do your best. The characters will come alive. Everything will be like a movie playing out in your mind, and all you have to do is type out what you’re watching. The story takes on a life of its own. You end up falling in love with your own work.

This is what writing for passion is like. This is why writing for passion matters. Writing for passion means you write what you want to write. You kick out the critic who’s telling you what others want you to do, and you focus on the creative part of your brain that tells you what you want to do.

And as inspiring as all that sounds, I know it’s not easy to do. Sometimes you’ll be tempted to give into the critic. I get tempted, too. But I have good news.

There are some ways to help combat this temptation so you can focus on writing what you want.

1. Take yourself offline when you write. No emails, no messages, no texts. Set aside a routine where you get away from all distractions and just write. You can have your favorite music in the background, white noise, or silence. The point is you learn to write when you’re in a relaxed atmosphere where there are no distractions. After a while, it will get easier to focus on the creative side of your brain that wants to tell the story.

2. Embrace positive people. We need to watch who we choose to let into our circle. Writers who are negative will end up bringing you down. Now, we all have our bad days, and there’s nothing wrong with venting one’s frustrations. But if someone in your circle is continually negative, you’re better off parting ways. These people are toxic, and they end up draining you of your enthusiasm. Also, avoid the nitpickers who like to find fault with everything. They will never approve of anything you write. Don’t give them power over you.

3. Stop listening to authors who write to market. Their goal isn’t the same as someone who’s writing for passion. These authors want sales. They’re interested in the bottom line: money. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not going to help you find the inward fulfillment in writing that only passion can bring. If your goal is to have joy in writing, then you can’t focus on the same things they do. It’s easier to put your focus on where you want to go if you choose to listen to other authors who have the same mindset that you do. So find authors who also want to write for passion and listen to them.

4. Remember this is your book. You are the writer. It’s your name (or pen name) that is going on the cover. This should be something you’re proud of. It should be something you get fired up about. This should be something that you will want to read over and over again in the future. Yeah, I know that sound egotistical, but if you aren’t 100% excited about reading your book, then why should someone else be excited to read it?

5. Keep the end game in mind. The end game is for you to be happy with your book. If someone doesn’t like your book, it’s not the end of the world. There are so many books out there that there is NO reason why you have to write the book the critics want to read. They need to go find an author they can enjoy, and if they can’t do that, they are free to write their own stuff.

6. Focus on people who love your books. Ignore the critics. We are writers who write what we want to write, and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Take joy in what you do. I promise you that someone out there will love your book exactly the way you wrote it, and people who love what you do are the ones you should focus on. My advice is for you to print out the positive feedback you get on your books and put them in a place where you  can read them whenever you start to doubt yourself. Repeat this to yourself as much as you need to: “I do not write for everyone.” You will never please everyone. It’s pointless to try. But you can please yourself, and in doing so, you will please some people.

Updates On What I’m Doing

It’s been a while since I gave an update on what’s happening, so I thought I’d do that today.

The One Simple Trick to Getting More Done

Today’s post is inspired by this You Tube video.

It’s twenty-six minutes long, but there are a lot of good tips in it. I’m not going to rehash them. I’m using this video as a springboard.

There is actually a very simple trick to getting more done, but it requires discipline to follow through with it. Ready for it?

Here goes:

Limit how much time you give yourself to doing the task you want to do.

That’s all there really is to it. I tried two different methods. One was giving myself a set word count to finish. I couldn’t stop writing for the day until I hit that goal. On average, it took me all day to reach it. I found if I don’t set a limit on how much time I’ll give myself to write, I’ll actually write more in a shorter amount of time.

For example, I used to give myself 6-8 hours to write 3,000 words for the day. On some days, I would get to 3,000 words, but on others, I would only get 1,500 or 2,500 words. I rarely ever wrote over 3,000. Why? I guess it’s because my mind was fixed on 3,000 words at a maximum. But I also would let myself check social media, emails, You Tube, and do other things with my time while I was supposed to be writing. Then I started giving myself 1 hour per book to write in as much (or as little) as I could for that particular day. I found that I not only got more words in, but I got more time freed up afterward to exercise or relax.

I know this sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it does.

Here’s the key: You have to get rid of ALL distractions AND you have to focus only on that one book for the ENTIRE time you have devoted to it.

You can listen to music if it tends to motivate you for writing. You can even take a drink of water, tea, coffee, etc. You can stretch your muscles if you need it. You can also use the bathroom as long as you come right back to the computer. No cheating on this one.

But you can’t do any of the following: answer phone calls, make phone calls, check the internet, listen to TV, watch TV (even if it’s out of the corner of your eye), listen to the radio, engage with anyone on social media, talk to someone (throw people out if they come into your room, or find a library/cafe/park to write).

The basic idea is that it must only be you and the story. Nothing else matters.

See what I mean? This requires a lot of discipline, and it’s not easy. Some days, you’ll do better than others. I have fallen out of this routine after implementing it, and it’s lowered my progress each and every time. So you have to be dedicated to this method.

It’s really easy to do, and yet, it’s not. The bottom line is how determined are you to write the book?  If you want it bad enough, you’ll do this.

So, let’s say you have one book you’re working on, and you’re crunched for time. Give yourself 30 minutes to give your 100% attention to it. When those 30 minutes are up, you’re done. You can’t go back to that story until tomorrow. So, if you didn’t get much done on your first day, you have extra motivation to get more done the next day.

This is a process. It takes time to develop this habit. It won’t always be easy to stick with this. If you fall off the wagon and slip into old habits, give yourself some grace (because we’re only human), and just hop back on the wagon tomorrow.

I used the example of writing for this post, but this tactic works for a lot of other things, too. It can be used for social media, emails, blogging, formatting, marketing, cleaning a room, exercise, etc, etc.

Writing for Passion Buffers Writers From Fickle Trends

Today’s post is inspired by an excellent blog post I came across in a Facebook writing group on The Ghostwriter Game by Sherry Ficklin.

Writing for passion offers wonderful buffers that I didn’t even consider when I decided to leave the rat race of trying to keep up with the trends in the indie publishing world. There have been several trends I’ve noticed over the past ten years I’ve been in this business.

Here are four trends I’m aware of that has played a big role in indie publishing:

1. Exclusivity to Amazon. This meant authors had to enter the Kindle Direct Publishing Select program, which later gave birth to Kindle Unlimited. Authors who entered this program could only sell their ebooks on Amazon. They could not sell it on any other retailer. In return for this, Amazon gave these books special rankings (aka visibility) not granted to books not in the program. Greater visibility means more sales (or, at the very least, more pages read money).

2. Writing to market. If authors wanted to keep sales going, they had to figure out what types of books were selling the most and then write books tailored to that audience. (I fell into this particular trend, which I have come to regret. But I learned a lot of valuable things from it, so it was worth slogging through the pain of being immersed in it.)

3. Ads. This one gained serious momentum in 2018 and is still riding high. Authors are talking about how it’s “pay to play” now. In order to make money, you have to spend a lot of money. Some authors spend $1000 to $10,000 a month on ads. These ads are mostly run through Amazon or Facebook, and yes, people really do spend a lot of money to get noticed. So if you’re not playing this game, your sales are taking a hit. Even authors writing to market have to run ads to stay relevant.

4. Ghostwriters. This is the latest trend. I’m not sure when it started, but I suspect it was around 2017. That’s when I noticed that in order to stay relevant, I had to get books out as fast as possible. Before 2016, I  used to be able to release a book and rest for a month or two before I needed another one to keep sales going. I can’t speak for other authors on when they noticed they needed to get books out faster to keep a steady amount of sales coming in, but 2016 is when I noticed it. (Hence why I began writing to market at that time.) Anyway, over the years, the time period between release dates has gotten shorter and shorter. It started out that a book would fall off the map of visibility in 90 days. Then it was 60 days. Then it was 30 days. And at the time I’m writing this (March 2019), it seems like you need to get a new book out every week or every other week to stay relevant. This is where ghostwriters come in. There’s no way in the world an author can stay sane while getting all of those books out so quickly. Authors need breaks. No one can work without a break. So ghostwriters are a trend. They help authors stay relevant in the indie publishing world.

Why writing for passion buffers against trends:

I don’t fault authors for doing any of those trends. As I said, I did one of them myself. They keep authors afloat in an ever-changing landscape. But chasing these trends is stressful because they aren’t consistent. They only work for a while. And believe me, this ends up taking a toll on the author. This is why some authors have personal assistants to help them. They can’t manage all of this load on their own. There’s only so much any one person can do in a day.

Chasing trends is really about chasing money. Yes, money is important. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. We need it in order to pay the bills and eat. Who wants to work at their job and NOT get paid? Writing is work. It’s work authors enjoy, but it’s still work. Just because you enjoy your work, it doesn’t lessen its value.

But when money becomes the focal point of what we do, it can hinder us from being able to enjoy writing. Most writers I talk to started writing early in life. They wrote because they loved writing, and they had stories they wanted to share with the world. When you replace that passion with the quest for money, it makes writing a chore. As I said in the last paragraph, money is important, but it needs to be placed in the right perspective to avoid making it the only thing that matters.

This is where the benefit of writing for passion comes in. Writing for passion gives you something other than money to aim for. It focuses your attention on the story itself. It frees you up to indulge in the characters’ lives. You immerse yourself into the story, and, as a result, the story becomes the reward.

When your focus is on the story, your eyes go off of the trends. It no longer matters what the new gimmick is. All that matters is writing a story you can give 100% of yourself to. So while other authors are chasing trends at a frantic pace, you can relax and enjoy the world you’re creating. I’ve written plenty of stories for passion and more than I care to admit for money, and the difference between the two is like night day. Writing for passion energizes you. It excites you. It makes you eager to wake up. Really, what it does is produces a joy in you that money can never give you. Money is a temporary pleasure, but the joy that comes from working on something you’re passionate about brings pleasure for a lifetime. When your focus is on the joy of writing for passion, you will stay level while the rest of the world is on a crazy rollercoaster ride.

The Imperfect Husband is Now Available!

I’m very excited about this one. It’s a romantic comedy, and those are always fun to write. And for those who were upset that I didn’t resolve the subplot between Tony and Mark in Book 3 of this series, I did it in this one. So this wraps up all the loose ends in the Misled Mail Order Brides Series.

Quickly, here are all of the books in this series:

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The Bride Price is Sep’s romance. (Sep was Joel Larson’s brother-in-law in Shotgun Groom.)
The Rejected Groom is Anthony (aka Tony) Larson’s romance. (Tony is one of the twin boys Richard and Amanda had.)
The Perfect Wife is Mark Larson’s romance. (Mark is the other twin boy Richard and Amanda had.)
The Imperfect Husband is Annabelle Larson’s romance. (Annabelle it the daughter Richard and Amanda had.)
This is Annabelle Laron’s romance. She’s the daughter of Richard and Amanda Larson.

So, now that I’m done with Richard and Amanda’s children, I have started writing about Tom and Jessica’s four daughters. Nelly’s Mail Order Husband should be out before the end of the year. (I’m already halfway into writing it.)

But since this is about The Imperfect Husband, let me get to it…

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As I wrote above, this is a romantic comedy. The hero, Ben Martin, has a terrible time knowing what to say around Annabelle. In desperation, he decides to join Annabelle’s women’s group (disguised as a woman) so he can learn who she is as a friend, rather than a love interest. Keep in mind it’s all a comedy, and while I have a couple of serious moments, the overall tone is fun and light. Below, I’ll share a couple of snippets that are part of my favorite scenes to give you an idea of what you’ll be getting with this book.

This is my personal favorite in the series. It’s also the longest book, and again, it ties up all of the loose ends I left hanging from the previous books. Most of all, there’s a happily ever after ending.

If interested, here are the links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Smashwords

Google Play

Okay, so now that I’m done with that part of the post, here are a couple of snippets that made me laugh while I was writing the book:

Snippet #1 (Annabelle arrives at Ben’s house)

Annabelle’s mother was the first to talk when they reached the door. “Good afternoon, Ben. How are you doing?”

Ben, having forgotten his mouth was full of peppermints, started to answer, and one of the half-melted pieces of peppermints flew out of his mouth and landed right on Annabelle’s dress—directly above her right breast. Face warmer than the hottest day in August, Ben hurried to dig his handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to her.

….. (later in the same scene) …..

Once he made sure he was done with the peppermint, he headed to the parlor.

“It is a sign of things to come,” Annabelle was telling her mother in a hushed tone. “Every time he’s around me, something bad happens.”

“You mustn’t look at things like that,” her mother said in a quiet voice. “Ben’s a good young man. He’s just nervous, that’s all. After some time, that will go away.”

“I don’t think so. I think he’s going to be spitting peppermints at me for the rest of my life.”

Snippet #2 (Tony confronts Mark and Ben in Ben’s house) – Ben’s reaction still makes me chuckle (though this does show that Tony had not forgiven Mark at this point in the series, and yes, Mark will finally get the point)

“I thought I heard you telling me to come in,” Mark replied. Then, after a moment, he asked, “I assume the first night as a married couple didn’t go as hoped?”

At first, Annabelle thought he was asking her the question, but then she realized his gaze was focused on someone behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Ben gesture for Mark to stop talking.

Tony noticed it, too, because in the next instance, he let go of Annabelle, ran over to Mark, and gave him a swift punch in the nose. Then he headed right for Ben. Ben let out a startled shriek and darted around the furniture, successfully avoiding him.

“You’re not going to force Annabelle to be your wife,” Tony barked, his face red from the effort of chasing Ben around the room. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to get to punch Ben, he returned to Mark, who was wiping his bloody nose with a handkerchief.

Inspirational Video for Writers: Follow Your Passion

I stumbled upon this video this morning, and while it’s geared toward aspiring writers, it can also fit for writers who’ve been doing this for a while. This video is under 3 minutes, but there’s a lot of wisdom in it.

When I published my first indie book in 2009, the authors around me who decided to also publish their own books were doing so for the passion of writing. We were glad to finally have an avenue to publish our stories that didn’t require a ton of money or a publisher telling us to change them.

(Now, don’t get me wrong. I think traditional publishing is wonderful. I have nothing against it. But I am grateful to indie publishing because it opened up doors most authors wouldn’t have had open to them otherwise.)

So, early on, the mindset of most authors in indie publishing was on writing for passion. I don’t know exactly when the mindset shifted in the indie community, but it seemed that most authors started entering the indie publishing world in order to make money around 2013-2014. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money if you’re writing. If you can write books you love and make money at it, that’s great. My concern is when money is THE MAIN REASON you’re writing. Writing stories for the purpose of making money will end up stifling your passion. When you stifle your passion, writing becomes more of a chore than a labor of love, and if it keeps being a chore, you’re going to probably end up bitter and resentful. Something you once loved can become something you hate.

I don’t think the “writing to market” mindset really exploded until 2015-2016. Suddenly, there were courses all over the place where authors could learn how to write to market. You couldn’t get away from it, or at least, I couldn’t. This philosophy was all over You Tube, in podcasts, in author forums, on Facebook, and in blog posts. These all led to me feeling like a failure as a writer because I couldn’t measure up to the level of success some authors were “so easily” obtaining. And, now that I think about it, it probably made a lot of other authors feel the same way.

But it seems that this phase is starting to fizzle out. I think authors are beginning to realize that writing to market doesn’t work well in the longterm. You can sustain it for a few years, but sooner or later, the chore of writing what others want (instead of what you want) starts to take its toll on you. Oftentimes, I don’t even think writers are aware of how much of a toll it’s taking until they wake up one day feeling as if all of their energy is gone, which is where I was at in March 2018.

Writing what you’re passionate about is energizing. It fills you up. Since writing for passion in October 2018, I have been averaging 3500-4500 words every writing day. (I take weekends off, and sometimes a day or two off during the week. You do NEED breaks!) At this time last year, I was struggling to reach 3000 words, and sometimes I would only manage 2000 on a good day (even with the breaks). So yes, there is a huge difference between writing to market and writing for passion. And honestly, I’m super excited about all of the books I have coming out this year. I want to go back and reread them, even though I just finished editing them. These are what passion books are like. They’re the keepers.

I think as we move forward in indie publishing, we’ll realize that “writing to market” is unsustainable. As the men in the video I posted above said, there IS room for passion books in the market. But it takes courage to pursue passion because the world is only impressed with a big sales number (aka lots of money). The world isn’t impressed with a story written out of love. The world wants to hear the success stories of how an author sold a million copies or made a six-figure income in under a year.

But at the end of the day, I believe writing stories for passion will produce books that resonate with the people who read them. I have never once regretted the time I spent on a book I wrote for passion. I’ve done quite a few books for passion that have sold very little. For example, one series didn’t even earn $50 in 2018. (Keep in mind that is an entire series, not just one book.) I have other examples just like that, too. But I’m still glad I wrote them. I go back and reread them, and I enjoy them as much today as I did when I wrote them. Most of my books don’t make much money. It’s a myth that all writers are making a lot of money off of their books, whether they indie or traditionally publish.

This is why it’s important to focus on the main thing that truly matters if you’re writing: a book’s real worth boils down to how much that book touches the person who reads it. That is why writing for passion is so powerful. Books are more than words on paper; they are an emotional experience to be savored.

So for those of you who might be feeling discouraged, I just want to say that it’s okay if your book isn’t a big seller. We shouldn’t be measuring our worth by a dollar amount. We should be measuring it by the joy we have and the joy we can pass on to others. There is a place for your book in this world. There is a story only you can tell. So I encourage you to follow the advice the two men in this video offered. That advice will sustain you for a lifetime in the writing world.