As any indie author knows, writing the book is only half the story, the other half is flogging ourselves to death always trying to think of new and original ways of generating a few sales, and those even more elusive reviews. I don't know about anyone else but I can have some months where I do quite well, a decent amount of sales, then others - well, least said the better.
It's great that self publishing has now come into its own and we can get our work out there and read, hold our books in our hands, see them downloaded. What I find so unfair for indie authors everywhere is that their talent goes largely unrecognized. I can't comment on my own books. There will always be authors who are better than me and worse than me, stories that are better than mine and worse than mine and it's all subjective, but by and large the quality of the indie authors' work that I have read has been superb. The majority of it is easily on a par with traditionally published authors and I still find myself asking that same question, what exactly are agents and publishers looking for? I've read some utter rubbish that someone 'in the know' has deemed fit to represent and publish when I could barely struggle to the end of the book or indeed have given up as it's been so poor, yet many talented indies face rejection after rejection - and don't get me started on celebrity memoirs that make a fast million for all concerned!
I read mainly indies now. The last traditionally published book I read was Jilly Cooper's Mount and I thoroughly enjoyed it as I have most of her Rutshire Chronicles and although she is an excellent writer so are lots of undiscovered indies. I find it soul destroying for myself and other indies that we work so hard, putting our hearts and souls into our books for very little recognition.
Looking at the various marketing techniques that indie authors use, it all seems very hit and miss and I still draw the same conclusion. It isn't enough just to have the talent to craft a story and promote it, we all need an element of luck, right place, right time, and I think it doesn't go amiss if your face fits either. I don't think there's any magic formula. All we can do is keep on keeping on and just hope that one day that little bit of luck comes for us.
Authors, give yourself a Christmas gift
ReplyDeleteYou cannot sell a book if no one knows you have a book to sell.
While this statement seems obvious, consider asking yourself "How many people know you have published a book?" (Hundreds of Thousands? Millions? More?)
and "Does your book stand out on Amazon?" (Yes? No? I think the cover does = Not sure?)
Then ponder these facts:
Amazon currently lists 32.8 million books for sale, comprising:
Paperbacks 22.9m
Hardcover 8.1M
Kindle 1.2m
Audio CD 351k
Board Books 138k
Audible Audio Books 42k
Now, ask yourself again these slightly re-phrased questions:
"How many people (who use Amazon) know you have published a book?"
"Does your book stand out (against the competition) on Amazon?"
You now have a full understanding of the competition your book is up against?... nope, then let me help you with the following fact:
Amazon's book list grows (on average) by 12 books in an hour, that is one new book every five minutes, 24 hours a day.
This is what else you are up against:
Indie publishing is immensely popular, it’s already being programmatically gamed by robots. In fact, one robot alone has created 100,000 books.
Folks under the top 100 can easily fall into oblivion.
Even indie millionaires aren’t doing quite well nowadays.
Amanda Hocking, the vampire writer, made millions on her novels, but now her titles are going for free or cheap and have fallen far in the rankings.
Hugh Howey’s 'Dust' is at 800th place in the pantheon of books, which might as well be the bottom.
The trick now is to rise above the noise, which is as noble a writing goal as any.
I created Electric Eclectic as a way to rise up above that noise, as a way to get noticed in this crazily competitive world.
Quite simply, Electric Eclectic is a marketing brand which authors share to highlight and promote their books.
Working together under EE guidelines and using the EE promotional strategies gives indie authors an online presence which they are unlikely to achieve alone.
As the number of books continues to grow, as the big publishing houses use their muscle to compete and hybrid printers bring their expertise into the field of book sales, the marketplace is going to become a bloody quagmire of unachieved dreams and unfulfilled wishes for so many indie authors.
One way we, the sole indies can establish a foothold in the online book world, is to band together and form strong alliances. Electric Eclectic is possibly the first to consider and take pro-active action to save indie authors from drowning in the seas of mass competition.
Being an Electric Eclectic author is a low cost, exciting, fun way to promote your books.
Electric Eclectic is currently accepting enquiries from interested authors…but there is a number limitation to how many authors are the optimum number for Electric Eclectic to be effective.
In other words, places are limited.
All applications will be considered, but authors must meet certain criteria to be accepted.
Once we have achieved our crucial number of sanctioned and endorsed authors, further applicants shall be placed on a waiting list for future consideration.
With that in mind, I would hasten you to contact Electric Eclectic soonest. The email address you require is EEbookbranding@mail.com
We look forward to hearing from you.