Diversification is Necessary (A post for writers)

This morning, I happened to stumble across a TikTok influencer who said she might lose all of her income because she relied 100% on TikTok for her platform. I’m not here to argue whether a TikTok ban is good or bad. I prefer not to get into politics. I mention this because as soon as I saw that video, I thought, “It is dangerous for anyone to rely on one single platform for their business.” So that is what we’re going to discuss today: the importance of being diversified.

This rule of thumb works in any business, but since I’m an author, I’ll approach this from the author’s point of view.

The problem with being exclusive on one retailer

Your reader may not be exclusive to one retailer.

I buy ebooks off of Amazon because I’ve had a Kindle for years, and I don’t want to buy another eReader. To watch movies, I have my Roku set up with Amazon movies & subscriptions. Now, I have also purchased some movies from Apple and YouTube, but I prefer Amazon since they have most of what I want to watch. However, I buy audiobooks off of Apple and Google Play because I prefer to listen to audiobooks on my iPhone when I walk, do chores around the house, or drive around town. (I don’t want to lug a Kindle around to listen to an audiobook, nor do I want an Audible subscription.) Some authors have argued that if a person really wants to read their books, they can download the Kindle app onto their device that isn’t a Kindle, but some people don’t want to do that.

My point to all of that rambling is to give an example of how your reader might not be beholden to a single retailer. They might use different retailers for different reasons, and it’s best to meet them where they’re at. I have readers who buy my books on different retailers. For example, I’ve had one person tell me that they have some of my series on their Nook and my other series on their Kindle. Another person had some of my books on their iPad and other books on their Kindle. And another person listens to my audiobooks on Google Play and listens to other audiobooks on Apple. My point is that people may actually buy different books/series from the same author at different retailers. It is a good idea to be available where your readers want to be, at least as much as you possibly can. Some retailers still haven’t opened digital narration on audiobooks, and that limits authors like me who can’t afford a human narrator (nor do we want to do a royalty-split scenario that binds us to another person for a set amount of years). So as much as you can, I recommend being wide for the sake of your readers.

Multiple streams of income help you sleep better at night.

Another reason to diversify is to limit your risk for losing all of your income. If you are only on one retailer (whether it’s Amazon or elsewhere), you are much too vulnerable. What if your account gets banned, or what if the retailers unpublished some of your books for some reason? This stuff has happened. And it is terrifying when it does. It will stop any author in his/her tracks. Imagine if that one, single retailer was your only way of paying bills. What if you are the sole provider in your household? I mean, if you are at least investing and earning dividends to supplement your income, that is a decent buffer, but I don’t think most indie authors are looking to investments to make money. I think most indie authors are looking to their writing income for the means to pay their bills. In that scenario, it helps if you are getting paid from multiple retailers. That way if one retailer doesn’t work out for some reason, there are other retailers helping you get through the rough patch until you can work things out with the retailer that isn’t paying.

And over the years I’ve been doing this, I have come to appreciate how stable retailers like Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and Apple are. Some authors like to bounce from being exclusive to Amazon (in KU) to being wide (available everywhere), but you lose momentum on the wide retailers that way. In my research last year, I learned that Amazon rewards “new” books. So new books get special treatment. Then after the newness wears off, Amazon props up what the newer thing is. I used to wonder why Amazon is such a rollercoaster compared to the other retailers. Authors assume they are doing something wrong in their marketing efforts when their Amazon sales take a hit, but in reality, it may just be Amazon shifting them down because there’s newer stuff to bring customers in. (Obviously, if you have a breakout hit, Amazon will keep you in a strong position. But most of us don’t have those breakout books.) That’s why things fluctuate so much over there. But wide is more stable. That’s not to say wide is always “up”. I’m just saying that wide is not the rollercoaster that Amazon is.

Be on multiple platforms so you can buffer yourself against anything like a ban happening to a single platform

This bounces back to the opening paragraph of this post. I am old enough to remember when MySpace was a thing. I was on it. Since then, there have been so many different ways to get the word out about you and your books.

Do the stuff that complements your personality.

This is where you need to take your personality into account. Think about stuff you enjoy doing. Just because some authors flourish in one area, it doesn’t mean that is a good fit for you. Maybe you’ve already figured out your strengths and your interests. But in case you haven’t, then take inventory of things you enjoy doing already. I would make a list. What types of things get you excited? On the flip side, what do you hate? Knowing what you don’t like is just as important as knowing what you like. For example, I love writing blog posts. I find it enhances my creativity for when I write. On the flip side, I hate the thought of doing ads where I am having to put in keywords and tweak them all the time. I would rather go to the dentist for a root canal than deal with the click ads on Amazon. But some authors love working on those ads, and some authors hate blogging. I’ve had this blog for over a decade now, and I still post on it. It’s easy to stick with this blog because I enjoy it. That’s why your interests matter. You want something for the long term. When you hone in on your interests, you are more likely to stick with it, and you’re more likely to engage more positively with others.

Try to be on at least three places consistently to build a sustainable presence.

I don’t know what the magic number of platforms to promote is, so I chose three since it’s easier to stick with three main things. This will depend on your situation. If you have a day job in addition to writing, obviously, you will have less time to promote yourself than someone whose sole job is writing. Also, if you are single, you will have more time than someone who is married, and once you have kids, the amount of time you can devote to promotion goes down even more. I guess you could hire assistants for this work. I see nothing wrong with that. But I would advise that if you want to build a foundation where you can connect with your readers, you should invest time into communicating with your readers. For example, if you have emails coming in because of your email list, then you should be replying to the readers who email you. Don’t leave that to the assistant. (If the person emailing is rude, they deserve no reply from anyone.) Another example is if you have a group on a social media site. Take the time to get to know the people who are reading your books. Respond to their posts. Comment when they respond to yours. Make an effort to get to know something about them so that when you see their name, you’ll know who they are. This will mean honing in on a smaller group of people, but I think it’s better to develop connections in a small group than to not know anyone in a large group. That’s just my two cents. Will this mean mega money coming in? Probably not. But there’s something to be said for the human connection. Money is great. I love it as much as the next person. (Haven’t I whined enough on this blog about not making much money to wear you out?) However, I will say that when I look back on being an indie author since 2009, I barely remember how much money I made every month. There are two things that are easy to remember. I remember how much the books I wrote meant to me, and I remember the people I met along the way. There are some things in this world that money can’t replace, and in a world where we’re driven by technology to do everything for us, it is nice to have actual people who mean something to us.

As a general rule of thumb, I would recommend you pick at least three ways that you want to be visible as an author. And let people get to know you. Who you are is more important than what you write because part of being human is letting people know the person behind the books they’re reading. That helps to establish the bond between the author and the reader. Not every single marketing effort needs to be personal. There are times when you are giving the sales pitch. But everything can’t just be about selling the books. One of the ways you can divide things up for your promotional efforts could be buying ads, having a blog you maintain, and engaging with your readers on Facebook in an author group you run. Another way to divide things up is to have an active email list where you send something out once a week (and respond to readers if they email back), have a website that you regularly update, and engage with readers on Instagram. Those are just two examples, but there are so many ways to get out there on the internet. If you’re any good with video, you can add in something like YouTube. There’s also Substack and Patreon. Some authors do Kickstarter. There are so many ways you can be active online that I can’t even list them all. The more time you have, the easier it is to spread yourself out. Whatever you pick, make sure it’s something you like and something you can commit to for the long run because our books will outlive us. Once you write a book and publish it, you’re an author forever.