Self-Publishing is a Business
I’ve been at this for almost ten years now, and I’ve worked with many self-published authors who have found great success. I am proud to have been associated with these authors, and even more proud to see their books receive critical acclaim. Here are just a few of them!
However, I have other clients who have seen their book sell a dozen copies (to friends and family) and then they are never read or seen again. Sure, they’re internationally available all over the web, but no is buying them.
No one is even seeing them.
The worst part? Many of these books were incredible reads! Some of them were even better than several of the books I’ve edited that did exceedingly well!
It’s incredibly frustrating for me to watch good books fail. There are so few of them out there, and when I see greatness get buried in the Amazon junkpile, it’s disheartening and demoralizing. These authors went through all the work to have their books professionally edited by me, had a wonderful cover bought and paid for, then formatted and uploaded their books on all major platforms only to watch their baby die a slow and painful death. How is this possible?
This happens more than you’d think. What drives me nuts is that it happens despite my warnings and advice.
Self-publishing is a business. There is a myth that you can publish, then sit back and wait for the money to roll in. That just simply isn’t the case, and all it takes is a few minutes to consider the facts.
On Amazon alone, there are nearly 50 million book titles for sale. 50 million. Furthermore, Amazon, or any other retailer for that matter, has no reason or incentive to push your book to the front of the line and place it in the eyeline of potential readers. That is not their responsibility.
When you self-publish, it is your job and your job only to sell your book and yourself as an author. You need a comprehensive plan before launch, and you need to treat your book like a business each and every day. An author website, a monthly newsletter, paid ads on Amazon and BookBub, social media posts, and creating a team of people to assist you can all help to sell your book and put those dollars back in your pocket. I can even help you get honest reviews from expert book bloggers, which improves consumer trust when they do stumble upon your book. But they’re not going to stumble upon it all on their own.
Plan on spending at least 30 minutes every day marketing your book. If you are not prepared to do this, then you are vanity publishing and you will not find monetary success or even make your money back in the self-publishing realm.
If you’re not willing to do this, or simply don’t have the time, your alternative is to attempt the traditional publishing route where, if successful, you will receive some marketing, some support with your book, and possibly a place on the shelves of brick-and-mortar bookshops. Of course, garnering a publishing deal is like winning the lottery these days, but determination and professionalism (ie: query letters) can go a long way in giving you a leg up over the competition. This is also something I can help you with.
I did not write this to scare you away from the industry. I want you go down this route with your eyes wide open. There is nothing more terrible than to see years of work get swept into a corner of the web, never to be seen again, especially when I know the book’s fate could have turned out so much more differently.
So, don’t be one of those authors.
Or do, and be prepared to blame it on the fact that you took half measures and didn’t see your dream to its epic conclusion.