If you’re a writer on the cusp of publishing a book, today might be a good day to take a deep breath, close your eyes, and tell yourself that becoming a successful author in terms of sales, is not going to be easy.
No, really. Make up your mind right now that it’s going to cost you - not just in terms of time, but in actual money.
You see, if you’re anything like me, you might be suffering from a backwards way of thinking that your book deserves to get attention just because you love it and wrote it and all your friends and family love it, too.
But here’s the honest truth: it doesn’t deserve attention. We are living in a saturated e-book and self-publishing world, where hundreds of thousands of new books are self-published each year.
Years ago, the gatekeepers at the publishing house might have locked you out altogether. So count it a blessing that you get to even release your baby into the literary world.
That being said, don’t bank on getting something for nothing.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It is possible you could become one of those rare authors whose book takes off with absolutely no marketing whatsoever (as the rumored stories of the Wool phenom go), but you could also win the lottery, too (according to Forbes magazine, success stories such as Wool happen to1 or 2 books out of every million).
As DIY authors, we need to be more proactive in our own success story, and not sit around hoping success will come to us.
I know I’ve had to learn the hard way.
My fantasy romance novel, The Last King, has already been in Amazon’s Top 100 Bestseller List in no less than four separate genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Christian Women’s Literature. And yet I’ve only sold 210 copies of the book.
That’s right, you heard me. 210 copies. My budget for marketing has been in the $700 dollar range, and so far, that’s all it has produced (of course, my book is episodic, which means I’ve sold 210 copies of a partial book, which gives me an opportunity really increase my sales, but that’s for another topic).
To me, the money hasn’t been a waste. In fact, I am inspired to now hire a professional publicist. I believe in my book and it’s chance to succeed, but that means I have to give it a chance to reach a larger audience.
And that’s going to take time and dinero.
Of course, what I’m not talking about is breaking the bank or spending money you don’t have. I only mean to address a broken mentality we as self-published might have about money - that is, a lack of belief in the the age old business saying that ‘it takes money to make money.’
It does.
Getting your beloved book in front of readers and book clubs, on being on blog hop tours means either hiring someone to push your book out front, or paying the price with your sweat, time and your diligence. Actually, it’s going to take a combination of all those elements. And that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it can be a great thing, if you decide to let it be great.
So go ahead and tell yourself that it’s okay if getting your book out to the
world is NOT going to be a walk in the park. Give yourself permission to
love the idea of marketing and self-promotion. Yes, take a deep breath and
let go of the idea of fairness and entitlement.
Then decide to get down to work and enjoy it.
Because remember, writing the book is just the beginning.
A.
Yamina Collins is a graduate of New York University.
The Last
King her first novel, follows the trail of a young woman who, in modern
times finds herself innocently caught in the midst of a game of wits between
two age-old rivals - God, and immortal beings whose ancestors marched into
the Garden of Eden and ate from the Tree of Life.
Check out her blog at Yaminatoday.com.
or follow her on Twitter
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