Obligatory "I write because I like to write" post
My journey into self-publishing has been fascinating. I believe that my work is good. It's not Pulitzer-worthy, but I think I'm telling a worthy story in a worthy way. I've got a few loyal readers. Some pay for my work. Some love my work as long as they don't have to pay for it.
Some have promised me reviews they haven't written yet...
(Stares at some of you...)
But ultimately I saw the numbers. Self-publishing is very much like finding a needle in a haystack of needles. There are tens of thousands of writers out there all hiring cover designers and getting their stuff professionally edited. All of us are screaming, "I'm worthy of your time and money!"
Even persistence isn't a guarantee. Even if I wrote 10 books a year, that's 10 books amongst hundreds of THOUSANDS. It's like buying lotto tickets 10 times and expecting one's chances of winning to significantly improve. Self-publishing is a tax on people who don't understand statistics.
The emotional cost of being vastly ignored only comes when you write something with ANY hope at it being popular. I sometimes grouse good-naturedly about only selling eight books TOTAL. My promotional campaign at Amazon has yeilded zero sales. Out of 11,000 "impressions", only 59 people clicked on my book. Out of those 59, NONE have purchased. People say the cover sucks. I got a five star review that specifically SAID my cover sucks. I like the cover. I ain't going to change it.
If changing the cover will make it more appealing and increase my audience, why don't I hire someone to make a better one? Why am I not discouraged by the low sales?
Because there is a cost in NOT writing Love/Kroft. Because I've had nightmares about these characters. I've awakened from dreams of them and sobbed into my pillow. This world is in me now. These characters are part of my life. I love these characters. Even the bad ones (maybe especially the bad ones) live in me. To not write about them is to kill them.
So I write. And as long as I have a platform to allow other people to share the world inside me, I will publish.
Some have promised me reviews they haven't written yet...
(Stares at some of you...)
But ultimately I saw the numbers. Self-publishing is very much like finding a needle in a haystack of needles. There are tens of thousands of writers out there all hiring cover designers and getting their stuff professionally edited. All of us are screaming, "I'm worthy of your time and money!"
Even persistence isn't a guarantee. Even if I wrote 10 books a year, that's 10 books amongst hundreds of THOUSANDS. It's like buying lotto tickets 10 times and expecting one's chances of winning to significantly improve. Self-publishing is a tax on people who don't understand statistics.
The emotional cost of being vastly ignored only comes when you write something with ANY hope at it being popular. I sometimes grouse good-naturedly about only selling eight books TOTAL. My promotional campaign at Amazon has yeilded zero sales. Out of 11,000 "impressions", only 59 people clicked on my book. Out of those 59, NONE have purchased. People say the cover sucks. I got a five star review that specifically SAID my cover sucks. I like the cover. I ain't going to change it.
If changing the cover will make it more appealing and increase my audience, why don't I hire someone to make a better one? Why am I not discouraged by the low sales?
Because there is a cost in NOT writing Love/Kroft. Because I've had nightmares about these characters. I've awakened from dreams of them and sobbed into my pillow. This world is in me now. These characters are part of my life. I love these characters. Even the bad ones (maybe especially the bad ones) live in me. To not write about them is to kill them.
So I write. And as long as I have a platform to allow other people to share the world inside me, I will publish.
No comments have been added yet.
C. Lee Spencer's Blog
Random utterances, musings, vague thoughts, complete ramblings, and entertaining prancing can be found here.
- Christopher Spencer's profile
- 5 followers
