Makes me wonder what the point of them is theb.
They print the books so you don't have that print cost.
And more importantly, they get your work into book shops, like Waterstones. How else will your work appear on a shelf?
Publishers have a sales force because you don't. Another cost and job they take on. The sales force goes to book shops as well as other retail outlets with the catalogue of what's coming out. (My husband did that job, freelance, for Searchpress for a few years.). Because publishers too sell their books. The only person in the chain who doesn't do any selling is the buyer (unless of course they sell their book on, on ebay
)
..... No individual author will ever get a meeting with the buyers of a major bookshop. Ever. A publisher is our only way into the physical shops like Waterstones, or WH Smith, or Tesco, or Foyels .... If you want a publisher, you need to put the work in getting one and that includes building an online following so you look 'attractive' to the publisher by potentially having a readership already.
You can of course selfpublish. You can earn money doing it. Look at Roz Morris. And Alessandra Torre. But you also have to put the work in. Roz and Alessandra did put that work in. It's a job.
I've been considering it, but it's a lot of work.
I'm also not very good at selling myself
But you can learn to sell yourself.
You can write. And you write well. You've learnt to write well. It didn't just happen. You put the work in. Don't be workshy now when it comes to the non-writing step. Now learn to sell yourself. YOU CAN DO IT. You just need to put your mind to it. You need to want it.
Here's a bit of tough love:
You can't expect to be a selling author and not work for it. You have to do the leg work. Even in your day job there will be stuff which you don't want to do and you don't like doing, and yet you're doing them. Ask any plumber, any decorator, any private fitness instructor. To earn money, you need to put the hours in, and you need to learn to sell. Freelancing (which writing is) comes with selling. Selling is a skill that can be learnt.
Write down your big goal then make a list of little goals which will get you there, then the hurdles and weaknesses, then jump and sort one thing at a time. And be prepared for the long haul. It won't happen tomorrow.
And yes, it IS a lot of work. But ask yourself how much do you really want to be earning money from your writing?
Life doesn't fall into your lap.
We're all behind you. Now be behind yourself. You owe it to your future self to try damn hard and work damn hard at what you want to achieve. Otherwise you'll be old and regret not having tried.
Now do it.
