Why I Write (It Sure Ain't the Money, Folks!)
It is very easy to get discouraged as an indie author. You can't find enough time in the day to write if you promote enough. If you don't promote, people can't possibly know about your books. And, how much promotion is good and when does it become annoying to others? Plus, the big name authors have the luxury of huge promotion budgets with their publisher. (The majority of authors signed by big publishers DON'T, though, and their books get lost until they are finally put in bargain bins...paying them nothing and resulting in a lost contract.)
It is great to be indie for many reasons (including the one in parentheses above), but it is not a get rich scheme. It is not even a part time income for quite some time, at least for most of us. Many people are lucky to sell 100 books. I have been fortunate enough to do better than that...but let's just say I am not even close to earning a living yet. So, it is easy to get discouraged.
Then there is the issue of price. A ton of indies go free, hoping to build a following. A lot price their books at .99. Both of these can get a lot of readers, but they are not necessarily the readers you want to target. Many people download anything free or .99 and then bitch about the fact that they don't like "that kind of book". Maybe they are romance fans and your book is horror. Or they love mysteries and yours is science fiction. They downloaded it because it was free, or close to it, and now they leave a bad review simply because of the genre.
There is also the issue of how many poorly edited and proofed cheap indie books are out there. Because of that, many other readers do NOT download free or .99. So, what is an indie to do? For months I priced mine at $2.99. Then I noticed that a lot of other $2.99 books were a) a lot shorter and b) a lot less professionally done. Lots of editing issues.
I decided to raise my prices to $4.99. Now I have to face a new problem. There are a lot of readers that won't give an indie a chance if they have to pay much at all. Seriously is $4.99 asking too much for several hours of pleasure? How much does a movie cost you? How much to paperbacks cost you? Still, many hesitate. Others won't touch historical fiction for less than that. So I am trying the $4.99. There is a lot of research that goes into writing about another era and the books are all over 400 pages. (I see Amazon has "estimated" my 3rd book at 323 pages. How they do that for a kindle book is flawed. I have news for them. When the paperback comes out it will be over 400.) Will I be able to sell decently at $4.99? Time will tell. I hope people are willing to pay under $5.00 for a well done story.
So far, things have not taken off in that huge way every author dreams of. It happens, rarely, but so far not for me. I have sold decently some months, others not. But, please, don't think I am whining. I chose this path, and I am damn proud of my work. I am also grateful for each and every fan. I am just saying that sometimes I get discouraged.
Then something happens that reminds me why I write. Take yesterday. I heard from someone who loves my work. She told me that she can't wait to read book 3 and that she has read the first two books in The Gastien Series THREE TIMES already! The books have not even been out a year. Her husband also loves them and has her read them out loud to him. He has cried over some of the events. So has she.
That touched me so very deeply that I can't even find the words to express my joy. I have moved those two people; made them feel for my characters deeply. I have provided them hours of entertainment and brought a couple closer together through sharing these books. They love my work and they are excited when I put out a new book. I don't know these people personally. We don't even live in the same state. We will probably never meet. But I am part of their lives in a positive way.
We are tied together through some words I typed, held permanently together by love of a character named Gastien and the people in his life. He has done more as a fictional character than many people walking around today will ever do. He has given some people new experiences through his story. Yes, we are tied together for the rest of our lives, and I am richer by far because of it. Not in my bank account, but in my soul.
They are not my only fans. There are others, and let me tell you loud and clear, I deeply value each and every one of them. I can only hope that the happiness they get from my work is as great as the happiness they have given me by letting me know they love my work.
It ain't money, babe. Although it would be nice. It ain't fame. It IS to know someone has been moved and entertained. To know my words matter; that they have made an impact. That, my friends, is quite simply why I write
It is great to be indie for many reasons (including the one in parentheses above), but it is not a get rich scheme. It is not even a part time income for quite some time, at least for most of us. Many people are lucky to sell 100 books. I have been fortunate enough to do better than that...but let's just say I am not even close to earning a living yet. So, it is easy to get discouraged.
Then there is the issue of price. A ton of indies go free, hoping to build a following. A lot price their books at .99. Both of these can get a lot of readers, but they are not necessarily the readers you want to target. Many people download anything free or .99 and then bitch about the fact that they don't like "that kind of book". Maybe they are romance fans and your book is horror. Or they love mysteries and yours is science fiction. They downloaded it because it was free, or close to it, and now they leave a bad review simply because of the genre.
There is also the issue of how many poorly edited and proofed cheap indie books are out there. Because of that, many other readers do NOT download free or .99. So, what is an indie to do? For months I priced mine at $2.99. Then I noticed that a lot of other $2.99 books were a) a lot shorter and b) a lot less professionally done. Lots of editing issues.
I decided to raise my prices to $4.99. Now I have to face a new problem. There are a lot of readers that won't give an indie a chance if they have to pay much at all. Seriously is $4.99 asking too much for several hours of pleasure? How much does a movie cost you? How much to paperbacks cost you? Still, many hesitate. Others won't touch historical fiction for less than that. So I am trying the $4.99. There is a lot of research that goes into writing about another era and the books are all over 400 pages. (I see Amazon has "estimated" my 3rd book at 323 pages. How they do that for a kindle book is flawed. I have news for them. When the paperback comes out it will be over 400.) Will I be able to sell decently at $4.99? Time will tell. I hope people are willing to pay under $5.00 for a well done story. So far, things have not taken off in that huge way every author dreams of. It happens, rarely, but so far not for me. I have sold decently some months, others not. But, please, don't think I am whining. I chose this path, and I am damn proud of my work. I am also grateful for each and every fan. I am just saying that sometimes I get discouraged.
Then something happens that reminds me why I write. Take yesterday. I heard from someone who loves my work. She told me that she can't wait to read book 3 and that she has read the first two books in The Gastien Series THREE TIMES already! The books have not even been out a year. Her husband also loves them and has her read them out loud to him. He has cried over some of the events. So has she.
That touched me so very deeply that I can't even find the words to express my joy. I have moved those two people; made them feel for my characters deeply. I have provided them hours of entertainment and brought a couple closer together through sharing these books. They love my work and they are excited when I put out a new book. I don't know these people personally. We don't even live in the same state. We will probably never meet. But I am part of their lives in a positive way. We are tied together through some words I typed, held permanently together by love of a character named Gastien and the people in his life. He has done more as a fictional character than many people walking around today will ever do. He has given some people new experiences through his story. Yes, we are tied together for the rest of our lives, and I am richer by far because of it. Not in my bank account, but in my soul.
They are not my only fans. There are others, and let me tell you loud and clear, I deeply value each and every one of them. I can only hope that the happiness they get from my work is as great as the happiness they have given me by letting me know they love my work.
It ain't money, babe. Although it would be nice. It ain't fame. It IS to know someone has been moved and entertained. To know my words matter; that they have made an impact. That, my friends, is quite simply why I write
date
newest »
newest »
Actually, I got both of these from yahoo and they are listed as free clip art. Since that is what it said, I believed it. It is no problem to take them down, though. Thanks for your concern and have a great week.
They are "Royalty Free" clip art, not "free" clip art. Which means you pay a usage fee, but not royalties. (the two that don't have watermarks are indeed, "free" clip art)I ought to know, the top one is mine.
Sure, you only cheated me out of 25 cents, but, as you know, it adds up (or doesn't) and anyone who lives on royalties and licensing fees should respect that other people have to make a living, too.
And I do respect that. As I said, I did not realize what I had done. I think it is rather obvious by my taking it down. You know, it is understandable to be upset when you see your work being used, but I find it too bad that you continued a second time to accuse me to "not wanting other people to make a living". I also paint, besides writing, and I very much understand and, like I said, I thought I was using things I could use. Now I will be looking in the future at all art listed under "free clip art" and I DO type in FREE once I get to the clip art. I am glad you pointed out that water marks only mean royatly free so that I know. I must say, though, that it would have been nice to see a fellow artist lighten up on me a little after the first comment instead of trying to widen the rift. Your second accusation is at best short sighted and at worst, rude. Still, I hope that you can move on and, next time, try to be a little kinder to someone else. :) Karma, you know. Unless you never make a mistake in life? Because I am betting when you do you hope the person you harmed will be thoughtful.
Now, good luck with your books and with your illustrations. I wish you all the success in the world. Any further comments will be reported to the administrators as harrassment. I have explained, complied and asked forgiveness. There is nothing else to add to the discussion.
Oh, and I see it is still up here. I don't know why. I edited on my blog, which you can check directly, as of this morning. Perhaps it will update later. Perhpas it never changes here. That I can't control. IF there were an edit bar here I would. It feeds from my blog to here, so perhaps it will correct eventually. UPDATE: I found out how to edit so I simply delted them here. Sorry again, I thought the update would come from my feed.
Writer of Fiction, Painter of Life and Energy
Talk about writing, painting, women, men, life, love and other random thoughts.
- Caddy Rowland's profile
- 87 followers
In case you don't know how to tell if the image is copyrighted, they are the ones with watermarks all over them, saying they are copyrighted.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SGBFuRUcyzo...
and
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1RSvS1Liu0k...