Someone once said, "You don't have to write something that is particularly good, just something people will buy to read." I've often given that advice to those who email me asking how to get started writing. It is excellent advice. However, one thing that I have learned is that there is a consequence to following this advice. If people do not like what you've written, and they've shelled out money for it, they feel entitled to tell you off, big time. Upon occasion, they even go to the extent of threatening you physically. There was this woman from Albany, New York, who actually wrote a "reader's review" (gross misnomer) on Amazon.com. She threatened to come to where I live in Mexico and "slap me." See what you have to look forward to as a writer? Although it would be great to write something good that earns you a literary award as well as being something people buy, this is rarely the case. The buying part of writing far outweighs the fame when you are trying to pay the rent and buy food with the income you earn from your scribbling. Saleable writing today is more often a matter of promotion than good writing. You should try to do both. You should write well and sell what you write. However, the selling part is more often the pragmatic choice. There are a lot of writers who certainly are not literary geniuses but they consistently write what their readers want. Those are the ones who make money. Information is very valuable and people will pay dearly for it. If you want to eat, pay the rent, buy clothes for the kids, correctly promoting that print, eBook, or report makes the difference between success and failure. I had to learn this lesson quickly when we wrote and published our first book. When you are a "nobody" in the publishing world, you often have to settle with small, independent publishers who have absolutely no promotional budget for your book. Basically, they get it into the market. That's all. If you want people to buy your book, so you can get that new pair of pants, you have to be the one to promote it. Quickly, you have to figure the ins and outs of book promotion. It is riding on your shoulders and no one else's. If you do not shamelessly promote yourself, trust me, no one else will do it for you. The immediate painful reality is that you will never, as a sole individual, have access to the distribution channels that big name publishers have. So, unless you are wealthy, you have to choose one or two of the venues you can realistically afford to tackle and go like gangbusters. If you can afford it, you could hire a private publicity firm to do what a big name publisher would do. But, because few of us can afford to do this, we have to think creatively. Because I write non-fiction, I was able to find scores of tight-niche websites that were thematically related to my book. I wrote a book on relocating to Mexico as an American expatriate. Can you even begin to imagine the websites out there related to my book? It is a goldmine. Consequently, with small text ads, I have been doing rather well in sales on Amazon.com and am consistently in the top ten of my book's genre. I also found related sites where I could post a thumbnail picture of our book's cover, a description, and a link back to Amazon.com. These cost very little money. One lady posted my ad in exchange for ebook versions of two of my books. So, you can barter for advertising if you have something of value to offer. You can offer to write an article or two for someone struggling to find content for his fledging website. You must insist you will write the article for FREE if the website owner will post a link back to your book. You can also tell them, as an incentive for a permanent link, that they can earn a commission on sales of your book if they sign upand it's freewith Amazon.com's Associate Program. I am on many thematically related websites because I suggested this. The website owner gets a commission; you get free advertising, and everyone wins. Something that really is grossly underestimated is writing free articles with a bio or "resource box" at the end of the article with your book's info in it. I write for FREE for several online magazines that post my books, their website links, and my bio. They, in turn, get my content. I get free advertising and free exposure. I am convinced that most, if not all, of our book sales come from doing this little-known method of book promotion. Press releases, targeted ads, link exchanges, writing FREE articles in exchange for posting your book at the end of the article, are all ways to promote your book when all you have is yourself as your publicity agent. Go for it like gangbusters as though your life depends on it. And, it just might! |
