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Hey Fellow Writers!
I was recently asked by the Admin of the Aspiring Authors Group to write a post regarding my experience as a self-pubbed writer. I'm posting this for the benefit of theirs, as well as for the group I Admin, The Writer's Block.
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I’m no big shot, nor am I anyone special, and I don’t always spend a lot of time commenting on tons of posts and questions in this, or any other, group, but when I do, I try to make it as in-depth and meaty as I can. I’m currently in the middle of writing my 4th book, the first novella in my new action adventure series, but I was happy to take day off from my book and write this to share my knowledge in the hopes that it helps even one aspiring writer.
I’m a self-published writer and though I’m not making tsunami-sized waves with my books’ sales, I am managing to surf them. I publish on Amazon, as well as Smashwords, and I’ve learned a few things about success and failure as a self-pubbed writer. And I’m not ashamed to admit there have been bouts of failure and discouragement, it happens. But, I accept it and learn from it.
Now, before I continue, I know there are some of you who may not benefit from anything I’m sharing and you may have your own very successful methods – and you could possibly teach me a thing or two about how to reach your level of success (I’m all ears). But two of the promises I made to myself when I entered the writing and publishing arena were:
1) I will ALWAYS be a student to the craft and business. You should be, too. Someone will always have info that can help in one way or another.
2) I will gladly share my knowledge and experience every chance I get. If it helps somebody succeed, then keeping that promise was worth it.
If any part of this post seems harsh, it’s because I’m not to here to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. If you want that kind of sensation, go nuzzle a puppy or curl up with your favorite blanket. As one of my chosen creative professions, I take my approach to writing very seriously, be it screenplays, short stories or novels, and as an aspiring writer, you should, too. And taking something seriously means hitting it head on, being honest with yourself, and being willing to accept the harsh realities surrounding your craft.
Now, down to brass tacks…
PART 1
I was once speaking on a panel at a convention and a young lady asked me “Do you think it’s kind of selfish to write for myself?” I said “Selfish? No. But I think if you want to make a living as a writer, it’s kind of foolish to write for yourself. You should write for your readers since they’re the ones paying for your work, unless you plan to try to support yourself by purchasing 100’s of your own books.”
I think too many aspiring writers spend more time trying to “write what they know”, rather than knowing for whom they’re writing. There were scores of pulp writers in the early 20th century who wrote for their readers in order to get a paycheck, and even today there are writers who strictly write for a paycheck. There’s nothing wrong with that since you should approach anything you intend to make money at as a business.
Now, here’s a bit of reality - if your motivation for publishing on Amazon (or anywhere, for that matter) is to "make it big" and get rich, don't bother. Millions of other writers had the same idea years before you decided to go public with your writing. Get the stars out of your eyes! Your goal should be to make money… period. And to do that, you should have a plan for success that includes a good marketing strategy. Treat it like a business, not hobby time in art class, and you’ll make money. Maybe not the big bucks, but you’ll get paid for your work.
Remember this: If you plan to be a successful and professional writer, either take it seriously or go do something else.
There are plenty of people making a living flipping burgers, decorating cakes, or working in cell phone stores. Don’t get me wrong, those are very respectable jobs and I’ve done them all, but I was NOT cut out for a 9 to 5 job and I was never happy doing any of them. (Okay, maybe decorating cakes was fun.) To a creative person, a “real” job is a necessary evil until the creativity pays off. Anne Rice was an insurance claims processor, Stephen King was a high school janitor, John Grisham was a plumber, William Faulkner was a postman.
THE GOLDEN RULE OF ANYTHING YOU EVER SET OUT TO DO IS: Be honest with yourself. In his book “How to Write Action Adventure Novels”, Michael Newton, best known as a ghostwriter for the Mack Bolan series and one of the best and most successful action adventure writers in the business, wrote: “I’ve often heard it said that ‘everybody has a book inside them.’ Hogwash. Many would-be writers don’t possess the talent or imagination to produce a simple paragraph, much less a finished novel. Some who try (and fail) are great ‘idea men,’ capable of sketching brilliant thumbnail plots, but sadly lacking in the discipline required to see their projects through.”
The first – and most important - part of your Plan should be NOT to publish a damned thing until it is refined (plot holes worked out, characters developed, engaging dialogue), edited for typos and major grammatical errors, proofread, formatted correctly, and passes inspection through the eyes of three to six very honest and trusted beta readers. With betas, your goal is not validation and praise but to have your ego taken down a notch or two before the public does it for you. Praise comes later when you finally publish your polished masterpiece.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, can kill your motivation and sink your morale faster than a handful of 1 or 2 star bad reviews from readers who state that they couldn’t enjoy your work because of the numerous typos and bad writing. I’ve seen it happen to a few writers I know personally (nobody in this group). Sure, you’re new to it, but your status as an amateur shouldn’t come through in what you publish.
I almost learned that the hard way my first time out, but luckily I caught the issues and fixed them before anyone could give me a bad review. I just walked around feeling pretty STUPID for about a week. Get it right the first time, you maggot, or readers will steer clear of anything else you ever publish. Unless, of course, you use pen names - but if you haven’t learned anything and your writing still sucks, you’ll still fail. Readers are NOT stupid.
By the way, the issue of “major grammatical errors” I mentioned above is open to interpretation since sometimes a writer’s style violates a few rules, but you should know (or learn) the basics and apply them.
For example, my writing style is influenced by the old fashioned pulps - quick and choppy - and sometimes it could be considered a nightmare to literary purists (luckily my editor isn’t one of them), but I’m not writing for the purists, I write for my readers and fans and they enjoy my pulpy style. Terrible grammar in dialogue is one thing, but I always adhere to rules of grammar in my narrative… okay, well, maybe 90% of the time.
Oh, and one more thing: You should be your work’s best, if not only, grammar Nazi. “That’s my style” is NO excuse for being ignorant to all the rules and publishing massive amounts of grammatical garbage just because you want to see your name on Amazon as soon as possible. That’s the biggest problem with the self-pubbing community. Take your time, the internet isn’t going anywhere anytime soon (and if it goes down as soon as this is posted, then, I was wrong. Good luck with traditional publishing).
PART 2
You have to set, then hustle it and hit, your marketing goals hard because the kind of “make it big” success I mentioned in Part 1 doesn't just happen overnight. For most writers on Amazon, it NEVER happens. I’ve had books linger at #1,000,000 and I have them jump to #1, 2, or 3. When do I see those jumps in ranking? When I actively market my books. It’s tedious and does not always produce a steady flow. This is reality.
Before I go any further, I must suggest – I beg of you - NOT to price your ebook any higher than $.99 cents. Don’t come right out of the gate with a $5 or $10 book.
I mean seriously:
Who the hell are you to even think that millions
of readers are going to just plop down
$10 for an ebook from a writer they’ve
never even heard of?
It’s laughable. In the beginning, when Kindle was just a baby, maybe you could get away with it. But, now, there is so much crap out there from sloppy writers that it’s really made readers extremely gun shy to the point that even $.99 cents is a big risk when it comes to new writers. All of my books and short stories are $.99 cents and I even know several best selling authors who offer their books for no more than that. Keeping your prices low retains your readership and makes it easier to gain new followers of your work. Hopefully, the following suggestions might help keep those $.99 cent sales coming in.
Okay, now, the Marketing Portion of my personal Plan for Success includes (and I work my ass off to do all of these… it’s a major undertaking, but part of my job as a self-pubbed writer because I am the best sales rep of my books):
1) – SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION! I’m the captain of this ship... so it’s my job to steer it toward the sunken treasure.
A) Shh… don’t tell anyone, but when I’m in a department store, I’ll take postcard-sized ads or business cards of my books and place a few on the shelves in the book section. Sometimes, I even slip the business cards into a few books that share my genre. (Yeah, it’s a bit sneaky, but I actually received an email from a woman who found one of my cards in a book she purchased and thought it was so clever she actually bought a Kindle copy. So, it works just don’t go overboard with this method and get banned from the store.)
B) When I leave a tip at a restaurant, sometimes I’ll leave a copy of one of my books with it signed to my waitress. My books cost less than $3 to print, so it’s not a huge loss. I have gained lots of new readers, as well as online and print sales, doing this. (but don’t just leave a book by itself, that’s kind of rude)
C) Another restaurant anecdote involves being in Applebee’s once when the wait staff started singing Happy Birthday to one of the guys at the bar. I went out to my car, grabbed a copy of one of my books and gave it to him as a birthday gift. His friends thought it was so cool and from out of left field that I ended up selling 11 copies of my other books to them at $5 a piece. They basically bought my dinner that night!
D) EVERY chance I get, I talk to people about my books, whether I'm in line with at the grocery store or just out enjoying the day. You have to be a shameless self promoter and you can’t be afraid to strike it up with anybody. Besides, someday, if you do make it big, you’ll be giving them a story to tell to their friends.
For example: I wash my clothes at a local laundromat, and I post my book ads on the bulletin board or talk to people about them while our clothes are washing. I even offer free print copies ($5 value) to people if they download one of my other $.99 cent ebooks in front of me. This helps boosts your Kindle ranking. And I always ask for a review if they find the time to do it, as well. Sometimes they leave one, sometimes they don’t.
Here’s another example: I do a lot of writing at a local 24 hour diner and, after 2 years of it, the wait staff all know who I am and I even have a “regular table” that I sit at (in fact I'm sitting at my usual table as I write this blog). A few nights ago, it was just after 2am, I think. I was busy writing and another table near me saw my whole setup with my laptop, wireless keyboard, etc. One of them asked "Working late, huh?" I said yeah. Then I went to the bathroom. When I came back, I started packing up to leave and three tables came up and just started asking me about my books and about writing in general. Turns out my waitress told them what I do. Most of them were college students either studying writing or journalism. So I sat there for another hour talking about how I started and what I'm doing now, how I promote my work, stuff like that. It was pretty fun and it was inspiring to them, even though I’m nobody special, to actually meet someone who is an active writer. And as much as I love to share and inspire others with my writing experience, it was just as rewarding to sell them the last 15 books I had in my car. After six hours of writing, one hour of visiting with aspiring writers, and a chocolate shake, I walked out of there with over $80.
Selling out of the trunk of my car is so easy and generates quick cash. I keep a box of books in my trunk and I consider it my “book mobile”. There are so many successful rap and music artists who started out selling their mix tapes or CDs like this. Why can’t it happen for a writer?
2) - Doing interviews on podcasts that cater to my genre. I write horror and action and many of the fans of any genre are already set in their ways with their favorite writers. My goal is to give them something new and fresh to try. I reach out these podcasters mostly on Twitter. I follow them, they follow back and usually include my name in a “Follow these writers” Tweet.
3) - Running sales and deals on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc. Anytime I discount my books on Kindle or Smashwords, I’m promoting the hell out of it.
4) - Attending local or regional comic and book conventions, library events, book signings, etc.
Conventions and book events are great and I usually sell out. At a convention, I don't spend a lot of time behind my booth. I'd rather stand IN FRONT of it and meet with the passersby. After all, they did take the time and spend their money to come out to see the sights and meet the artists, so I’ll gladly give them what they want.
Some of these events are weekenders and can be quite pricey at $350 to $800 for a booth. You can always find smaller, one day events, such as street fairs or festivals, that are cheaper. Some of the conventions I attend are also one dayers and cost me anywhere from $25 to $75 for a booth. When you contact these shows or events and sign up for a table, be sure to get an artist’s table, not a vendor. They keep artists in their own section of the event called “Artist Alley” and when you create and sell your own books, you’re an artist so that’s where you belong.
But if you see me at a convention… beware! I’m a pro at putting my books in people’s hands while reciting a page from one of my stories, complete with sound effects and character voices. It’s a great show. Con attendees love the interaction and the fact that you’re also paying attention to them rather them coming to see you. Plus, when you put a book in someone's hand, there's only about a 20% chance that they're not gonna buy it.
Two of my three books are short story collections, and I often have con attendees buy a copy of one book, get through the first story and come back to my booth to buy my other two books because they enjoyed it so much (which is why it’s important to take your time to put your absolute best work out there).
5) – Creating and branding my writing persona. My pen name is “Clive Carpenter”. I created him as a tribute to two of the most recognizable names in horror, and it has actually helped sales more than I expected. “Clive” has a fan base, not me; I’m just the brains behind the name. “Clive” also has a distinct, in-your-face writing style and his readers recognize it and love it. He’s a business, like Nike or McDonald’s, and has a website and social media pages just for him.
6) – I use companies like Self Publishers’ Showcase and Thomas Author Services to promote for me because if I spent 100% of my time promoting my own books, I’ll never be able to devote any time writing my next one. These are very affordable options.
For $80 a year with Self Publisher’s Showcase, they will Tweet your books to their network of 300k across 3 Twitter accounts 5 times a day. Not a bad deal.
Thomas Author Services blasts newsletters to 90k+ email subscribers who are hungry for new writers.
These are only two options of the hundreds out there, but you need to research before you go dumping a buttload of cash into them.
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All of the above contributes to your success, not just "publishing on Amazon" and hoping it takes off. If you’re not willing to put forth any effort, then you deserve to never reach any level of success. But, it all takes time. So be patient with anything you do. If the sales trickle in, then good. Let them trickle and be happy, but push for more every chance you get!
One last thing to consider… and it’s important. If you seriously want to see any real sales and gain an audience, you have to publish more than one or two books. Most self-pubbers don’t see anything substantial or steady until they have 5 to 10 books out there.
I personally know four writers who are frustrated with their Amazon experience because they didn't "strike it rich" with just one or two books (again, nobody in this group). They each walked away from it and went back to their day jobs and regular lives. I think it's kind of silly and sad that they just gave up without really even trying. Whether it be on Amazon or even a traditional publishing house, the job of a writer doesn’t end with writing any more than the job of a movie star ends when the director calls the final “cut”. There are promotional tours and such that you have to do to bring attention to your work. And then, there are more books to write and publish. As I mentioned before, you have to treat this like a business, because that’s what it is. Being a self-pubbed writer ain’t easy, but it’s definitely fun and interesting.
I sincerely enjoyed sharing this with you all and I really hope this has helped someone. Good luck in all you do, gang.