It’s been a long time since
I’ve written anything for my blog, so I figured I’d take another look at what has to be
the information searched for most often by aspiring authors. Because really,
when you’ve got your book all polished up and you’ve made sure to get the beta
reads, ship it off to an editor, revise, rewrite, get it edited again, then
lovingly pass it on to ‘The Gatekeepers’, you expect something to happen. So
you wait.
And get rejected.
Almost guaranteed, your first time you get rejected. You’ve got a better chance
of winning the lottery than getting picked up by one of the BIG 6—or is it 5
now? So while you’re waiting on them, go pick out your numbers and really, don’t
bother doing anything else because either you’re hitting the best seller’s list
by the end of the week or climbing in a limo to accept that big assed check!
Wait, what??? Didn’t
happen?
Okay. Give up. It’s
hopeless. There’s really no point to trying anymore because there’s nothing
between being a number one bestseller and starving on the street while
scribbling your stories on paper you salvaged from the high school trash can. “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you . . .”
Come on! You know the song right? ;)
All right, time for a
great big reality check. One of my series makes me enough to support myself and
my kids as a single mother. I’ve made a career of my writing and I’m damn proud
of where I’m at. But my first book? Well, some months I barely get enough for
you and me, me and you, to grab a coffee and donuts at Timmies.
But wait, I’m a success
story, aren’t I? A rarity, a breakout, a bestseller!
Umm…no. I’m a self-published
author that scraped her way up over years AFTER spending years trying to get my
first baby out there. Still planning to publish THAT book, BTW, but here’s
where the whole marketing thing takes over.
I love all my books.
From Rosemary Entwined—my coffee money book—to Deadly Captive which has been
called a classic in the making (Scared me more than made my head swell! Lol!
Hard to top that!) to my beloved Cobras. All my WIP patiently (yeah right)
waiting for my attention have pieces of my heart. But sales go up and down as
the months go on after a new release and if I’m going to continue with my
career I have to prioritize.
Now, readers often ask
when the next Cobra book is coming out, but they also ask about the third
Deadly Captive book. Deadly Captive is popular enough to rival my earnings from
my hockey series if I put that next book out. I enjoy writing dark, so it would
make sense for me to delve back into that world.
Except, Deadly Captive
is contracted with a publisher. So I only get about 40% of my earnings from
them. That aside, there have been many other issues that I won’t address here
because I’ve gone there before. The point is, I’m not going to sell my soul, or
lower my standards, in how I expect to be treated as an author, by focusing on
that book right now. No matter how much money it could make me. I’ve even
stated that at some point, if I can’t get my rights back and I have the time, I
will write the book and give it away.
This ain’t telling you
too much about how you’re gonna make it though, right? How about this. You’ve
got this book you’re so proud of. You put it out there. It sells 3 copies in a
month. Depressing? Well, put out another one. Yes! Now you’ve gone up to 6
copies a month! Time to quit your job!
Ah…yeah. No. BUT what I
can tell you is that as you keep putting books out, as you keep using social
media and finding ways to connect with readers and other authors, those numbers
will go up. Read everything you can find, and I don’t mean just books—though I
can’t stress that enough. Read blogs, read FB posts by authors who don’t come across
like car salesmen/women, find betas who will BE HONEST with you. If they always
love everything there’s something wrong. I beta read for Cherise Sinclair. The
first time I chatted with her online I got all giggly and told the man, my dad,
my kids, and anyone who would listen that ‘OMG! Cherise Sinclair answered my
letter!’
Ask her. I’m one of her
toughest crits!
Do I believe each and
every aspiring author out there will make it big? No. This line of work is no
different from pro sports, acting, singing, and all those other things you can’t
just go to school for and do well. The thing is, in this new world with so many
different ways to reach your readers without worrying about gatekeepers, you
WILL get that book you love so much into someone’s hands. If you continue to
write, to improve, to work your ass off, doing the thing that didn’t make you a
goddamn cent last year will start bringing in some money.
Stop and think about
that. What does that money mean?
Umm, no. Stop trying to
quit your job! Suck it up chuckles, and yes, they want fries with that. :P
The money means your
baby is now a product. With value. We can get into the whole issue of hanging
onto your baby and stalking all the readers who bought it some other time, but
for now, I’m going to tell you what your next step will be…
Write another book.
Yes, I’m repeating myself, but this is the end all. That first book might take
off quickly, or, like me, you’ll have to get four or five books out to start
getting noticed. Crazy, but some people still don’t know who I am! ;)
I would suggest that
series are probably the easiest way to move into being a career author, but at
the same time that series would have to resonate with enough readers. So I
think it’s a good idea to explore all those shiny ideas your muse is flashing around
for you. Try to publish a new book every 3-4 months (I’ve started breaking this
rule, but my books are long!). Talk to your readers—or potential readers regularly.
And no, don’t follow them around like a salivating dog looking for attention,
posting on the walls and PMing them with ‘Buy my book? Don’t you wanna buy my
book?’
Be YOU. Who you are
with your friends, the person everyone wants to get to know. I’ve checked out a
lot more books from people I could have intelligent conversations with than
with people who spam my walls. I’m not saying don’t talk about your book ever,
but if you’re gonna bring it up, make it interesting! Give me a picture and a
bit of a scene. Share your excitement over an award or your word count. Yeah,
the last one may seem weird, but I’ve never gotten annoyed over posts like
that. My readers encourage me when I’m running a writing marathon. Call me
fucking idealistic, but I truly believe most people feel good supporting
others.
For the book itself,
don’t aim to be one of the flukes. A shitty book that sold thousands or
millions (not naming names here, could be a lot of books! <g>) because
that’s the flavor people wanted at the time. Here’s the funny thing about how
book sales works. One person picks up the book and finds something that
snatches them out of a long boring day. Made them laugh or smile. They tell
more people and on and on. Doesn’t mean the book is gold or that the author is
better than you. Doesn’t mean the book is necessarily crap either. But it could
seem like crap to you and that’s okay. Because you’re not worrying about being
THAT author.
You’re writing your
goddamn book! And the next one, and—who said stop?
Ready to give up? You
sure, because if you don’t fucking love (sorry, one of my characters swears a
lot, trying to keep the rhythm!) what you’re doing, you won’t be in this long
enough to get where you wanna be. If you don’t bleed for your work at some
point, you will be forgotten even if you DO make it. Not making much money is
MUCH worse than being forgettable.
But passion? Passion is
addictive. If you feel that, if you can drive that, then your name will be the
one readers mention to their friends. Your book sales will mount and . . .
Yes. Now you can quit
your day job!
So, while you’re doing
all your homework reading and learning and taking steps towards the part of
your future that YOU can control, I want you to keep one thing in mind. You
will hear all kinds of different advice. You may be told adding sex to your
stories will get you more sales.
The truth? No. It won’t.
You may get lucky, but there are a long more struggling authors out there that
tried that angle then there are on the bestseller list. If you like writing wet
wild monkey sex, go for it. Have fun! But don’t expect the book to get you any
further than if you wrote any other book. If whoring yourself out would make you rich, the street corners would be a bit more crowded. And I'd be out there because making money doing something I love anyway?
Just kiddin'. I wouldn't sell my body. I mean, lots of hot guys are broke, so I'd just give it away. I'm more of a slut than a whore! :P
But away from the slut shaming--I'm a proud wanna-be slut, thank you very much--this business is pretty straightforward. From your mind, to your fingers, to
the virtual shelves. Then it’s out of your control. You can do your best to
make sure you’re not invisible, but you cannot decide what will be the flavor
of the week.
All you can do is offer
up another scoop. And remember that readers are hungry for new books, for an
author who will give them a story they can dive into and not want to surface
for hours.
I know I do!
Questions and comments
are welcome. As well as suggestions from other authors. I’ll pop in when I have
a chance and answer anything directed to me. Or just because it’s my blog and I
love reading comments! Lol!
