Getting a perspective on your work/ Self Pubbing

[James Marinero]

This post doesn't really apply to those who follow the trad-pub route, but they may find it of interest. It's aimed at those of us who self-pub. Authoring is lonely enough, but when you self pub you have much more to be lonely about.

From everything I'd read about publishing, it was the prospect of years to be spent trying to find agents/publishers and all that submission angst (plenty of that with Litopians) that determined me to plough my own furrow and self-pub. I enjoy the whole process, including production and the technical aspects, but the marketing is a chore.

Anyway, as part of my marketing efforts I started running Goodreads giveaways (paperback). For my last book, 'Sword of Allah' two of the ten winners took the trouble to write reviews - and they were, for me, very encouraging - uplifting even. So, when things get on top of me, I read those reviews and remind myself that I eliminated the luck element (finding agents/publishers) and that any failure is simply due to my own poor marketing (and arguably not my dreadful writing). Of course, eight out of the ten giveaway winners did not write any reviews and I don't bother speculating on what their opinions might be.

So, I'm just embarking on another Goodreads giveaway for my latest tome 'Cause of All Causes', to be published on August 1st.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I hear you, James. Marketing is the killer. And it's absolutely necessary--I can tell in my sales if I spend a week not doing any marketing. And those good reviews from total strangers are a lifeline. I've signed up for an Alli Conference this weekend--all marketing focused. You might be interested in it. Link to the agenda here.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

After returning to creative writing in the summer of 2014, I went through a prolific period as I released a logjam of ideas. I wrote several short stories and novellas, as well as 500 poems and song lyrics. Within a year, I'd uploaded 44 titles onto Smashwords and Amazon, where they've sat gathering dust (commercially, at least). I don't know what I expected to happen, seeing as how I was doing no marketing, self-promotion or schmoozing where I tried to ingratiate myself with readers, but I was still surprised at how easy it was for my books to disappear.

After reading various publishing industry figures of how many books appear annually, I did my own rough and ready estimate by noting how many new titles appeared each day on Smashwords. One day there were 600, the next 400, which made me realise that publishing an ebook is like emptying a cup of water into an ocean!

Although I'm confident and a good communicator, the thought of becoming a self-promoting nuisance via social media and blogging filled me with dread. Anyway, I was getting my kicks in writing novels. I knew going into it that the whole process of getting known as a writer would take several years, and as I'm used to subsistence living I knuckled down to write and to learn my craft while keeping a weather eye open for tactics on how to attract attention. My nature, I'm a bolshy bastard who's better suited to self-publishing, though I've done my share (300 submissions) of thankless querying of literary agents with a view to traditional publishing.

One thing that's struck me about the most successful of self-publishing writers, is that often they previously had a background in advertising and also, many worked for years as magazine or newspaper journalists, so knew influential contacts who helped to get their book promoted.

Another key factor in getting attention is to have available funds to pay for advertising.

A good example of a successful self-published author is Mark Dawson, who has some decent advice to offer:

Meet Mark Dawson, the literary sensation you've never heard of

Mark Dawson's Self Publishing Formula |