Time to Step Back
Since June 2011 I have published a debut novel and graphic prose, sold over 1,100 books and made about £50 (which is enough to buy the largest jar of Jelly Beans on Amazon I thank you). Reviews for Dark Waters range from promising to good and my confidence as an author has not yet been shattered to tiny fragments. All in all I'd say this self-publishing lark has gone fairly well, taking into account the foxtrot of errors I made on the way of course.
What's more is my affair with indie writing has inspired my to push on into my ambitions. A new series of novels, publishing Dark Waters as an illustrated trilogy and maybe even getting around to a sequel are all jumping on the sideline, screaming "pick me! pick me!" and there's no reason why I can't get them all done this year if I focus.
Unfortunately I'm a self-publisher and any break from advertising/promotion severely damages my sale figures. I may be grand slamming (Da Iawn Wales) the creative side of writing at the moment, but each win in that field leaves me with a wooden spoon in my marketing success.
With only £50 to show for my strenuous efforts so far I am not in a position to give up my day job. So I wake, I work, I give my family the dinner hour and then I set to writing. It's two hours a night, maximum three to promote and write. Juggling the two fairly is like trying to stand on tennis balls whilst wearing stilts.
It's time to order my priorities. Sales or product? Actually this is an order predetermined a long time ago. I am a writer first, an author second. My passion is in words not sales figures and watching numbers crawl upwards will never be as satisfying as constructing sentences, paragraphs and chapters. Having very little time to fulfil my passion I have no option but to run the creative try and worry about marketing a conversion when the work has been done.
(It's a rugby metaphor - if you don't know anything about the sport just remember Wales rocks and everyone else can lump it).
Basically there comes a time for every self-publisher when they must return to the isolated, but comfortable hibernation of creative construction. The outside world will have to wait a while, but I promise it will be worth it.
This week is my last push at promotion. Dark Waters will be free for two days (19th March - 20th March) and this is your last chance to download it for free for a while. I think I'm long overdue scrawling my imagination all over this blog... So things are going to start to get messy.
What's more is my affair with indie writing has inspired my to push on into my ambitions. A new series of novels, publishing Dark Waters as an illustrated trilogy and maybe even getting around to a sequel are all jumping on the sideline, screaming "pick me! pick me!" and there's no reason why I can't get them all done this year if I focus.
Unfortunately I'm a self-publisher and any break from advertising/promotion severely damages my sale figures. I may be grand slamming (Da Iawn Wales) the creative side of writing at the moment, but each win in that field leaves me with a wooden spoon in my marketing success.
With only £50 to show for my strenuous efforts so far I am not in a position to give up my day job. So I wake, I work, I give my family the dinner hour and then I set to writing. It's two hours a night, maximum three to promote and write. Juggling the two fairly is like trying to stand on tennis balls whilst wearing stilts.
It's time to order my priorities. Sales or product? Actually this is an order predetermined a long time ago. I am a writer first, an author second. My passion is in words not sales figures and watching numbers crawl upwards will never be as satisfying as constructing sentences, paragraphs and chapters. Having very little time to fulfil my passion I have no option but to run the creative try and worry about marketing a conversion when the work has been done.
(It's a rugby metaphor - if you don't know anything about the sport just remember Wales rocks and everyone else can lump it).
Basically there comes a time for every self-publisher when they must return to the isolated, but comfortable hibernation of creative construction. The outside world will have to wait a while, but I promise it will be worth it.
This week is my last push at promotion. Dark Waters will be free for two days (19th March - 20th March) and this is your last chance to download it for free for a while. I think I'm long overdue scrawling my imagination all over this blog... So things are going to start to get messy.
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