And Just Like That…

Well, the time has come for me to embrace the deeper parts of marketing.

Earlier in the summer, I went through a free, online 5-day Amazon Ad challenge that taught me a lot about how to effectively market my books through Amazon Ads. And while I learned a lot of helpful information, I also learned a glaring truth about myself:

I am not tech-savvy.

And I don’t just meant the use of technology, I mean the innerworkings of that technology. I did really well with the first three days of the challenge, and then on the fourth day, the instructor went into material that was mildly more intermediate than the other three days, and my neurodivergent brain decided it was done. No more. Not now. Too much already. Done.

I intend to do the challenge again to try and pick up on those last two days of information that I genuinely did not understand, so I know I’ll get there eventually, but this struggle goes beyond Amazon Ads. There is so much information out there about how indie authors and small business owners can reach a wider audience of consumers. And while I definitely believe that capitalism is a big part of what makes this world a living hellscape, I also believe that writers, artists, and workers deserve to be paid appropriately for their work.

And yeah, book sales are part of that.

So, I decided to attend the virtual InkersCon events. The convention took place in Texas over the months of July, and now it’s available online for people to access. Last night, I completed the first lecture, which was on utilizing automation effectively with your newsletter. I did try creating a newsletter earlier this year through Mailchimp, and it was horrible. So I gave up. But, after listening to her lecture, I realized that it really is important for me to have a newsletter. I spent most of the evening yesterday trying to create an account through Mailerlite, and figuring out how to get the signup form to appear on my website. (Which, look to the right and you’ll see it at the top of the page!)

It took hours. Like, no less than three, to get the signup form on my website. Again, I am not tech-savvy by any means, and it is incredibly difficult to push through and try to teach myself something that 1) does not come naturally to me, and 2) does nothing but frustrate and confuse me as I try to learn how to do it. But, I persevered. Partly because I’m stubborn and I want to be able to do shit on my own, but mostly because I am dedicated to making a living as a writer (eventually), and I won’t be able to do that if I avoid all of the parts of the running-a-small-business side of things. Because even though I’m nowhere close to earning any kind of a living on my writing yet, I am still running a small business. And giving myself the necessary tools to succeed at running said business is only going to help me more down the line.

And I think this is the crux of it: not everyone’s creative journey is going to lead to financial independence. It just isn’t. And that’s ok. Not everyone wants to earn a living through their creative efforts. My mom is an absolutely amazing graphics designer. She’s been in her career now for over 25 years and she loves what she does. She went to a prestigious art school in California and got a degree in interior design. And even though she’s not an interior designer, she does love her job. But, due to circumstances outside of her control, she hasn’t really had the time or the means to create her own art. Plus, for a lot of artists and writers, the very focus on using their art to make a living detracts from the creative experience.

And I don’t think this is because of the money itself. I think most, if not all, artists believe that they should be well paid for their work. But focusing on money can mean that a writer ends up working on projects they’re not passionate about. I’m a poet. The vast majority of people who read poetry are other poets. Unless you’re a Rupi Kaur, Nikita Gill, or other poet who made it big on Instagram, you’re not going to make thousands of dollars on your poetry.

My debut poetry collections was released last year and, since its publication, I’ve earned less than $600 in royalties, and that is considered incredible for a poetry book by a new poet. If I were to focus only on writing what would make me the most money, I’d be writing in some kind of romance category, and while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with writing romance, it’s not my thing. I would rather spend my life creating what I want to create, writing what I want to write, than focusing only on the dollar signs.

However, that doesn’t mean that I’m casting marketing to the wind. I am currently writing what I want to write, and yes, I also want to make money from it. So, I market. I advertise. I publicize. I do giveaways online. And yes, I learn how to start a newsletter. Because my writing is nothing without all of you, my readers. I want to be able to connect with all of you, give you exclusive content, update you on the progress I’m making with my books, etc. That means I have to take the marketing seriously.

I also think there’s something to be said for each writer’s individual goals. My goal is to be prolific. Not so that I can brag or toot my own horn, but because I see the internal difference when I’m constantly writing verses when I’m not. Writing fuels me. It motivates me. It gives me something to fight for. If I were to count the projects currently in my head/being worked on, there’d be…10 books inside of me, waiting to be written. And ya’ll, that’s only including the rest of the 7 novels in my current fantasy series, and the three poetry books I’m either actively working on or planning to work on.

I have other fantasy series’ ideas, they’re just not scheduled out as projects yet. And I will have many, many more books of poetry that I write. And I know I will write at least one memoir in my lifetime.

Point is, there is a wilderness of books inside of me, waiting to be written. And I do not want to miss any opportunity of getting them out into the world. One of my faculty mentors, Vi Khi Nao (who is, by the way, a fucking outstanding human being and writer), gave a lecture at my college this summer and in that lecture, she mentioned that she’s written 50-60 books. I can’t even. I don’t know how to wrap my head around that number because it’s not like she’s an old woman who has spent her life writing. She’s young and has already written more books than some writers write in their lifetime.

She is my hero. She is my inspiration. She is who I want to model my writing career after.

Writing is the most important step. However much I can write at a time, and for however long. That’s the heart of it.

Everything else is because of what I’ve written.

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