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Is 'keep writing' a sound advice?
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I think people when they say "Keep writing" it doesn't mean necessarily to expect anything exactly. It basically means to not give up, to stand by your convictions, to not give up your dreams and aspirations of being a writer, especially if you feel it's meant to be, if it's your calling. Because this is a tough business we're in and giving up is not an option if you ever want to have a snowball's chance. Staying in the game, rolling with the punches, staying steadfast with the process is the key and only the fittest survive. You can't achieve your goals if you give up.
Well said, Angel.You can't gain momentum if you're not writing, so...
Writing is for pleasure. Those who like it, why would they want to give it up? It's almost like saying "keep breathing".
Thanks for your insight Angel, Kat and Mehreen. I understand what you mean, of course. "Give up" is probably worse advice than "keep writing" -:)Whoever writes for pleasure, there is no problem to keep writing and enjoying it.
For many others though it's not just writing for pleasure, it's self-publishing books which usually entails expenses. Judging by my own expenses (around 1K USD) on each book, I'm not sure that spending a budget of 4-5 K on release of more books is better than spending the same budget on marketing.
I'm hesitating, but I'm attentive to your opinions -:)
you can self-publish free on amazon and Lulu.com. No money involved. However, you might have a spend a bit marketing if you want to take up writing as business. For me, I would be happy of course if my books were best sellers. But I'm also happy to be contributing in doing my bit.
Mehreen wrote: "you can self-publish free on amazon and Lulu.com. No money involved. However, you might have a spend a bit marketing if you want to take up writing as business. For me, I would be happy of course i..."Sure, publishing itself on Amazon doesn't cost me, but as I'm not a native English-speaker and still want to be more or less professional, I need to hire an editor/proof-reader. Also I spend on cover designs. These are two items that cost me money.
Agree with you that being content or happy even with what you do is of paramount importance -:)
Nik, your thoughts are those we all have from time to time. Now that I've retired from the work-a-day world, when people ask, I can say that I'm a writer. Now that I have three books published I can see that I have more options for promotion. So the advice 'keep on writing' has proven to be true. Have I seen a profit? No. I spend dollars and I get back dimes. I imagine we're all looking for the 'magic bullet' that will break our writings out of massive sea of available options. Having recently released my third novel, and working with a limited promotional budget, I trying to discover if there really is a 'magic bullet' to drive sales.
William wrote: "Nik, your thoughts are those we all have from time to time. Now that I've retired from the work-a-day world, when people ask, I can say that I'm a writer. Now that I have three books published I ca..."Thanks, for your input, William. Yep, writing is an excellent venue to spend your downtime. Sounds like you have a pragmatic strategy there. I'd probably try some paid promotion after the release of a third book too. If you find this 'magic bullet', don't forget to share with us -:)
Denise wrote: "I agree with what Angel said about keep writing meaning keep going. What surprises me is how many 'keep writings' there are for so many posts. I'm amazed by how many authors published with the ex..."
Sure, I pretty much agree with your approach. More so, I found writing kinda addictive, so I'm not sure I'd be able to quit that easily -:) Strictly business speaking, what I'm less sure about is whether spending more money on release of new books is superior to spending the same money on promoting what you have, unless of course you have enough budget for both...
Denise wrote: "Promoting is always a good thing, and somewhat continuous. I've updated both my book covers, and I recently had my first book up for a Goodreads giveaway. I plan on doing another Goodreads giveaway..."Sounds solid and easy -:) You and many others on the group are much farther on the road than I am and longer time in the game. If you find any particular way of promoting especially successful, I'd appreciate the heads-up -:)
Wow! Great ideas Denise. I also agree with your earlier post. There's something about writing, like creating anything I guess, that gives one an inner sense of accomplishment and worth. Sometimes, when I review what I've written, I think, "Gee, did I really write that?" (Then I find a typo and say, "Yeah, that was me all right.")
Denise wrote: "Will do, Nik. I'm still feeling my way around with publishing and promoting. Below are some unique promotional ideas:- You can create a book sell sheet, whatever size you want, put a picture of y..."
Some extraordinary and unorthodox ideas indeed! Thanks for sharing.
I'm not sure everything would work in a non-English speaking country, but I still have plenty to try.
Love your Pinterest Storyboard. Really well done!
Nik wrote: "Haunting different groups here on GR, some of which are dedicated to support and help to indie authors, I've noticed that a most popular advice is 'keep writing, pal'. The books don't get reviews, ..."Making headway is a problem. I now have ten fictional ebooks and four scientific ones. The scientific ones are really my archiving of some of my work in the theoretical ones, and trying to be helpful and put some sense into an issue that concerns me (e.g "Biofuels"). I self-edit, and for the scientific ones I create my own covers, so while these are hardly best sellers, I do not lose money.
The fiction is more difficult. Again, I self-edit and compile, but for half of them I have commissioned covers. In terms of whether my covers or commissioned covers work best for me, the jury is still out. Getting reviews is extremely difficult, particularly as I live in a country (New Zealand) where ebooks have not really taken off, and getting sales here is difficult, at least for the sort of fiction I write.
So far, however, my literary efforts end up with a net profit. Not a huge one, but enough to pay a modest amount of tax and buy some luxuries I otherwise would not purchase.
Why do I have trouble getting sales? The various options are: I can't get my head above the morass of competition; I can't find a way to get my books to the attention of those who might purchase; they're not good enough [horrors :-( ]; I live in the wrong place to promote what I am producing; nobody actually wants the sort of thing I am writing; nowhere near enough reviews . . .
In short, I have no idea how to remedy this situation. Fortunately, it is not the end of the world. I do not need the income (as opposed to, it would be nice if . .) So I shall probably keep going.
As long as it's a profit and hopefully a great deal of enjoyment, all sound pretty good. And there is always a potential for more...With today's Global village, your location in NZ is hardly a disadvantage. Maybe on the contrary even - as it provides a more tranquil surroundings for writing books... -:)
Admire your composure and humorous approach
Denise wrote: "Will do, Nik. I'm still feeling my way around with publishing and promoting. Below are some unique promotional ideas:- You can create a book sell sheet, whatever size you want, put a picture of y..."
Hi Denise, excellent ideas, great ideas, wonderful ideas.
(when just one word is not enough...)
Re "keep writing."There's always the next book.
Once switched on to writing - would you willingly switch off?
I for one could not stop.
If you've written one or two books or eight books and they're not selling and you're unhappy then stop writing. Then wait a week or two weeks or a month or six months and if you still have that burning urge to put your thoughts down on paper and hit publish, if you still feel a thrill every time you write then you know that the sales aren't the biggest indicator of whether or not to continue. As for the money that is spent on editing, cover design etc. I feel that is money well spent although this is just my opinion. Why would you work so hard on something and not send it out into the world with its best clothes on LOL. And when we are dead and future generations realize just how absolutely brilliant we were LOL hour descendants won't be embarrassed at least :-) :-) :-)
Graeme wrote: "Once switched on to writing - would you willingly switch off? I for one could not stop."That's the problem -I argue that writing is addictive!
Tara wrote: "As for the money that is spent on editing, cover design etc. I feel that is money well spent although this is just my opinion. Why would you work so hard on something and not send it out into the world with its best clothes on LOL...."I'm in around minus 2.5K USD on 3 released books. I'd hate never seeing them back. On the other hand to bring things a little into proportion - it's probably my cheapest hobby, for I can only imagine how much I spent on cigs in 20 years of smoking or on booze -:)
There are a lot of interesting thoughts here. I've published my first book and have a second in the planning stage. As for writing it - not a chance in the summer. It's too hot here and I'm worn out all the time, boss and his family are here (arrgghh!!) so writing will have to wait until the autumn. It's taken a summer in Italy to realise that I am a winter person, I'll come alive again once it's cooler.On top of all that I am currently 60 miles away from last week's earthquake epicentre, thankfully I just had an early wake-up call at 3.37am and no damage here at all. I adore the people of central Italy and this tragedy is just so heartbreaking for me. I'm still trying to get back to my normal sleeping pattern, and before that we had the darned stone marten trying to rip tiles off the roof at 3am!
Stay safe, Jen, and clear of Vesuvius just in case
The news about the earthquake last week was heartbreaking. My prayers go out to everyone in the region.
The news about the earthquake last week was heartbreaking. My prayers go out to everyone in the region.
Nik wrote: "Stay safe, Jen, and clear of Vesuvius just in case"Will do Nik - I did check a seismic fault map before I came here! We're well away from the major faults which are much further east and south. The area around Vesuvius is potentially very dangerous as they would have to evacuate 4 million people if it ever blew again and experts reckon that it's impossible in a short space of time. Still, I would love to have a visit to Pompeii again, *sigh*
Jen wrote: "Still, I would love to have a visit to Pompeii again, *sigh* ..."Yeah Pompeii is nice. Also, a place of a great tragedy, if you look back all those years...
Now, that Dynamo ended up in one group with Napoli in Champion's league, I might consider re-visiting this location a little more attentively -:)
Jen wrote: "The area around Vesuvius is potentially very dangerous as they would have to evacuate 4 million people if it ever blew again and experts reckon that it's impossible in a short space of time. ..."Precisely.
Something to note.
Tara wrote: "The news about the earthquake last week was heartbreaking. My prayers go out to everyone in the region."It was Tara, the people round here are so lovely; salt of the earth, kind, honest and generous and it seems awful that this should happen to communities like these. It's great though to see that the rallying of support in Italy to help them has been so widespread and generous.
Part of the beauty of humanity is how people will typically help strangers in times of disaster.
I write because I enjoy it and publishing a work is, well, it's fun. So for me there is no real 'keep' about it, I write. That's that.
Nik wrote: "Graeme wrote: "Once switched on to writing - would you willingly switch off? I for one could not stop."That's the problem -I argue that writing is addictive!"
We'll just have to
M.L. wrote: "I write because I enjoy it and publishing a work is, well, it's fun. So for me there is no real 'keep' about it, I write. That's that."Well said, M.L.
The writing itself should be the most important, but it's sometimes hard to drag your brain away from thoughts of promoting, getting reviews, ect. I only have one book published, so I know my time would be better spent finishing the next one. For that reason, I don't want to spend too much time on the marketing side of things, and try to divide my available time properly, but what normally happens is that I start to work on promo stuff (research, looking for reviewers ect) for an hour, and the next thing I know, two or three hours have passed, the kids are about to get home from school, I've done no writing and feel like I've achieved nothing.I tell myself that I'll get a few hours writing done once the kids are in bed, but that sometimes drags on, and by 9 PM I'm not at my most creative.
Must focus, I know.
Ian wrote: "Keep. But maybe I am a silly optimist."That's better than being a serious pessimist.
i've wanted to write a loving tribute to my deceased mom with limited family help what can I do?
Eric wrote: "i've wanted to write a loving tribute to my deceased mom with limited family help what can I do?"Just go for it and see how it works out. With such a purpose in mind you shouldn't lack motivation and inspiration. Once in the process, it'll probably be easier to convince the family to join the project
Eric wrote: "i've wanted to write a loving tribute to my deceased mom with limited family help what can I do?"It's a nice idea, Eric. But I think that first you have to answer one or two questions; Why do you want to do that. What would you do with the results. Why doesn't your family want to help?
On the other hand, if it's just to get you through the grieving process then, as Nik said, go for it. It would be best to do that by just writing to yourself; it will mostly be with emotion. If you want to write something that you or your family will want to read in ten years time, then give it time when the emotions are not so raw.
I think 'keep writing' is particularly useful if you have a series. The latest one helps to promote the previous ones.
Eric wrote: "i've wanted to write a loving tribute to my deceased mom with limited family help what can I do?"I think it's always good to relate specific stories about the deceased that show how she affected your life or what made her special or interesting. Maybe you can also ask for a story from the family members who are willing to contribute.
Hope springs eternal. Equally, keep doing the same thing and expect the same result.
Nik wrote: "Haunting different groups here on GR, some of which are dedicated to support and help to indie authors, I've noticed that a most popular advice is 'keep writing, pal'. The books don't get reviews, ..."Hi everybody
It is interesting to read your replies about getting your writing out there. I am struggling with social media platforms because I always avoided them, not being inclined to bore everybody with my actions. Writing is the easy part, it flows and can be done to suit the author. People who read my books seem to enjoy them, they sometimes send reviews. Most people do not know me or are aware that I have published four books with two manuscripts to go. So, I think it is good to keep on writing, enjoy the experience. Promote when and how it is possible and perhaps your time will come eventually. If not, this work will live beyond you and benefit generations to come. All the best!
Nik wrote: "just keep writing.What's the premise behind it, you may ask? ..."
Depends on your objective, if you've a story to tell, it won't get told unless you do it. If you want to make a marketing-literary splash, you have different things to do to hit that objective, yet in turn, these are better if you've a well stocked trunk of titles.
That apart, I rank it alongside: 'chin up and face forward'
Nik,So, I hear you. I have five books/stories out. I put money into editing and the covers. I put money into publicity. And well, it's just so so sales.
My idea on keep writing is I no longer consider this a 'second career'. I can't with the 'failure' I'm in. It's not a good time/money investment. But I do enjoy it. I like writing. I like creating my worlds. I love it when someone likes my story. I'll probably never go into the black (break even) unless someone important touts my books. But I've kinda accepted that.
So, it's not a second career, but an expensive hobby. I don't ski. I don't race fast cars. I don't have a horse. So, yeah, this is my expensive hobby. So, I keep writing for myself.
If I didn't enjoy it, wasn't doing this for myself, I would totally put my time/energy into another avenue.
Writing is NOT a good investment strategy for most people.
What's the premise behind it, you may ask?
Supposedly, the more you write the more followship, overall visibility, goodwill/reputation you accumulate. The more you write the more you hone your craft. Each new book boosts sales of the previous ones. All sound pretty logical.
Now, I ask myself, keep writing and what exactly should I expect? Release of each book costs me around 1k USD spent on editing, cover design and ancillary expenses. I don't see myself writing over 500 titles like Isaac Asimov, not even about 70 like Agatha Christie. Yet, even 5-6 titles require a tremendous effort, time investment + considerable expenses.
What's the advice for someone who has one story and gave his/her best shot at it? After all, not everybody has to be a 'serial' author. 'Confederacy of Dunces' is a pretty cool book, even though its author hadn't written much more than that.
So what I'm asking what happens to those who followed the advice and kept writing? Are they crowding the top spots of NYT bestselling lists and we should ask them now to 'stop writing' to give us a chance?-:)
What to expect? I ran here into fellow authors that have much more titles than I do and still report abysmal sales and struggling even after 10-15 years to gain recognition and some sales.
So, keep writing sounds great, but what exactly does this advice imply and where does it suppose to lead?