All Authors Blog Blitz

I’m delighted to host this guest post from writer Jennifer Priester.
Jennifer and I are participating in the All Authors Blog Blitz.

Jennifer answers a question that I’ve been asked many times: What Makes Being an Author Worth It?

Jennifer says:

Before becoming a published author, I thought what made being one worth it would be getting to do something I love for a living.  However as much as I love to write, I didn’t expect any of it to be as hard as what I have experienced.  My books are still very unknown, and finding readers is a struggle.  I hardly make any money off my books, especially since I didn’t give my book much of a markup as I wanted it to be affordable for the kids who might buy it.  I am currently marketing my book mostly through local events, and, at most of them I usually sell anywhere from 0-7 books.  I have been at a lot more slow events than busy ones though I often sell better at the slow ones. Even once I sell books and people return saying how much they like them, I rarely get reviews online, and though I have sold many print copies in the last couple years, I have very few print book sales online and haven’t sold more than five eBooks.  And I haven’t had any luck with any online advertising or even recent giveaways.  I had one giveaway where no one entered and a Goodreads giveaway of ten books resulted in zero reviews.  I also did a Kindle countdown deal with no success.  When you consider these factors it almost seems as if being an author isn’t worth it, but then again these are only the negative points.

There are also some positives, such as after reading my books most kids, and even many adults (parents, teachers and librarians) tell me that they really like them.  They even got approved by some special needs teachers and librarians who believed they were perfect for their students.  The first two books in my Series are made up of six short interconnecting stories, so while a fuller story is being told, each can also be read as a standalone story if desired and can even be read out of order.  Many of the students were also highly interested in animals and magic which are the main subjects in my Mortal Realm Witch Series.  But does just knowing people are enjoying my books make being an author worth it to me?  I wasn’t sure until this happened…

One day I received a message from a parent who won my first book at one of the events I attended.  She said her son really loved it and wanted the second.  I was used to hearing this but what I didn’t expect to hear was that her son had been a reluctant reader.  Now I ask you guys, if turning a nonreader into a reader doesn’t make being an author worth it, what does?  As a former nonreader myself, I can tell you that I know that just one book can change everything and making a difference, no matter how small, is definitely what makes being an author worth it to me.

Like Jennifer, I’ve had the thrilling experience of learning that I had turned nonreaders into readers. Find the story about Jennifer’s transition from nonreader to author here: http://animalsandmagic.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/from-nonreader-to-author-or-what-gets-people-interested-in-books/.  To learn more about Jennifer, her published books and what she is currently working on, check out the following links:

Blog: http://animalsandmagic.wordpress.com
Author Website: http://www.jenniferpriester.com
Mortal Realm Witch Series Website: http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Priester/347205725374070
Twitter: https://twitter.com/animalsandmagic
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/AMMoonlight/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jenniferpriester

Jennifer also has a Goodreads group called Character Chat: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/113088-character-chat

Character Chat ‘s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/funwithcharacters

And  she’s also a publisher so her company, A & M  Moonlight Creations has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AMMoonlightCreations

The A & M Moonlight Creations website: http://www.ammoonlightcreations.com (coming soon)

She’s also on Google +.  Jennifer says, “If you choose to follow me here make sure you are following the right page as I had to create a second one after forgetting both parts of my login information.  I have been planning on shutting the first account down as soon as I can. The page you want to follow shows a profile pic with just myself in it. The one with myself and the horse is my OLD account.”