What's A Gal To Do?
Let me say firstly, that I love being an Indie author. I love the creative control, I love the hugely magnified royalties and I love, love, love some of the truly wonderful people I've met in the course of my career. But - you knew it was coming - I hate trying to market my work.
I love all the characters and story-lines that fill my head constantly. I love the physical process of bringing those characters to life, of telling people their story. I even love the editing and polishing of the manuscript - even if I'm not as good at it as I'd like to be. I know I have been blessed far beyond deserving to be in a position where I can write full-time and live my dream life.
But seriously, the marketing is soooo hard. How do you successfully reach an audience and entice them to read your book without coming across like some sleazy used car salesman? How, without spamming the internet to the point where Bill Gates himself comes looking for me, do I let the world at large know that I've even written a book, let alone that it might be good enough for them to want to read?
I send off copies of my novels for review but even that's tricky because given that I've written a series you can really only send the first novel and hope like hell they're interested enough to go back for seconds and thirds. I've had a few but not many, even of the ones who did give Erich's Plea a glowing review.
How is it possible that I've had, quite literally, hundreds of people tell me via forums like this or even direct emails how much they enjoyed the series yet I still can only boast 24 reviews for Erich's Plea with dwindling numbers for the follow ups, Ursula's Quest and Slade's Destiny? I know not everyone is the type to write a review but are the ratios really that small??? And, of course, once you've hinted politely how much you'd appreciate it if they were to publish a review - preferably all over the net - can you possibly follow that up without looking pushy and demanding? Well, obviously you can't so you just smile, sigh and hope that you'll eventually find readers who're willing to do more than just compliment you directly.
Not that there's anything wrong with 'fan mail' per se - I'd be lying through my teeth if I didn't admit I love each and every one of those comments. I mean, after all, I didn't just write for me - I wrote hoping that 'joe reader' would also enjoy it.
Naturally you can Tweet, yak about it on FaceBook, casually mention it in conversation but the truth is, at least from my perspective, none of those things seem to translate into mega sales. Now, I'm not complaining about my sales - I appreciate every single one. At the same time though it'd be nice to see the numbers rising. I don't expect, nor even want, huge amounts of fame and mega amounts of money [though I wouldn't complain about the money lol] but it would be nice if I could start making something even approaching a living for all my hard work. So I often find myself asking the question - what's a gal to do?
So, OK, I've had my little whine, and, in honesty I actually feel a bit better. Because when you add it all up, at the end of the day, I'm so far in front of millions of people around the world in that I'm living my dream job and, occasionally, getting paid for it :)
Cheers,
Trace
Oh and just in case you might have forgotten who I am -
Sorry - I couldn't resist one last, cheeky, used salesman ploy ;)
I love all the characters and story-lines that fill my head constantly. I love the physical process of bringing those characters to life, of telling people their story. I even love the editing and polishing of the manuscript - even if I'm not as good at it as I'd like to be. I know I have been blessed far beyond deserving to be in a position where I can write full-time and live my dream life.
But seriously, the marketing is soooo hard. How do you successfully reach an audience and entice them to read your book without coming across like some sleazy used car salesman? How, without spamming the internet to the point where Bill Gates himself comes looking for me, do I let the world at large know that I've even written a book, let alone that it might be good enough for them to want to read?
I send off copies of my novels for review but even that's tricky because given that I've written a series you can really only send the first novel and hope like hell they're interested enough to go back for seconds and thirds. I've had a few but not many, even of the ones who did give Erich's Plea a glowing review.
How is it possible that I've had, quite literally, hundreds of people tell me via forums like this or even direct emails how much they enjoyed the series yet I still can only boast 24 reviews for Erich's Plea with dwindling numbers for the follow ups, Ursula's Quest and Slade's Destiny? I know not everyone is the type to write a review but are the ratios really that small??? And, of course, once you've hinted politely how much you'd appreciate it if they were to publish a review - preferably all over the net - can you possibly follow that up without looking pushy and demanding? Well, obviously you can't so you just smile, sigh and hope that you'll eventually find readers who're willing to do more than just compliment you directly.
Not that there's anything wrong with 'fan mail' per se - I'd be lying through my teeth if I didn't admit I love each and every one of those comments. I mean, after all, I didn't just write for me - I wrote hoping that 'joe reader' would also enjoy it.
Naturally you can Tweet, yak about it on FaceBook, casually mention it in conversation but the truth is, at least from my perspective, none of those things seem to translate into mega sales. Now, I'm not complaining about my sales - I appreciate every single one. At the same time though it'd be nice to see the numbers rising. I don't expect, nor even want, huge amounts of fame and mega amounts of money [though I wouldn't complain about the money lol] but it would be nice if I could start making something even approaching a living for all my hard work. So I often find myself asking the question - what's a gal to do?
So, OK, I've had my little whine, and, in honesty I actually feel a bit better. Because when you add it all up, at the end of the day, I'm so far in front of millions of people around the world in that I'm living my dream job and, occasionally, getting paid for it :)
Cheers,
Trace
Oh and just in case you might have forgotten who I am -
Sorry - I couldn't resist one last, cheeky, used salesman ploy ;)
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