If you’ve followed me from the beginning, you know I was fiercely independent for the first decade. There was no way I was interested in going cap in hand to a traditional publisher to get my books published. Of course, I made mistakes. My early efforts received the reviews they deserved, but occasionally, some readers appreciated the characters and storylines without cringing at the punctuation and grammar. As the original titles were corrected, and later books got a more thorough edit before publication, my band of readers grew, and the reviews became less critical. With practice, I became a better writer. At the very least, I’d like to think so.
This isn’t news, so why do I remind you of the path I took to get where I am today? Social media is an excellent source for learning how fellow writers are navigating their unique journey. In the past week, I’ve read of a writer who has been submitting manuscripts to publishers for twenty years without success. They didn’t explain whether they had published as an indie during that time, but I couldn’t imagine the frustration, even despair, of getting rejections over such an extended period. Why would anyone put themselves through such a thing? What does it do to their mental well-being? It’s far better to publish independently, surely, and let the readers decide.
A couple of days later, I read that another writer complained when nobody attended a book reading they’d scheduled at their local bookstore. Admittedly, they write in a niche genre, and a quick search shows they haven’t yet made a significant breakthrough, but what did that empty room do to their self-confidence? I repeat, why would anyone put themselves through such a thing? Is there a Bible somewhere that lists the path one should follow to a literary Eldorado? If there is, it must have been written ages ago and is as helpful today as a chocolate teapot.
Ever since I started writing, I’ve followed a work-from-home policy – not just for my writing and editing, but also for promotion and networking. I can’t think of anything worse than sitting in a draughty hall on a cold November evening with a table full of books, bookmarks, business cards, and several pens that make it look as if I’m desperate to sign a copy of one of my books. Yet many authors do this, so why?
I’ve checked online for guidance on why authors should attend book fairs, and the experts always list ‘meeting other authors and readers’ as the main motivation. The order of words suggests they know they’re more likely to speak to other authors in the same predicament in that draughty hall, with lots of books and goodies, and few potential readers. It all feels dated and bum-numbingly negative.
One advantage of going it alone is that I could celebrate the wins, because they were all my own work. I didn’t have to thank a publisher for finding the right button to press. Also, I could choose to view my losses as another positive. Perhaps, the reason wasn’t that the book I was promoting was poor; it was that the site I used wasn’t as attuned to crime, thrillers and mysteries as it claimed. Or their email listings had stuck at 25000 for a decade, and open rates were low. Either way, even if you think I was kidding myself, my well-being was intact and I quickly identified the best sites to target, focusing on five or six that consistently attracted new subscribers and continued to give me acceptable returns. Nothing was ever a total loss. Like many successful sportspeople, I learned more from my defeats than from my victories.
The following set of percentages haven’t changed much in the past decade. Around 95% of writers with books listed on Amazon never earn enough to earn a living from their writing. The remaining 5% earn between $10000 a year and telephone numbers. Indeed, there’s a significant number that exceed $100000 each year (I wish!). However, you might struggle to name many of the high earners, unless they’re always popping up on TV or in the press (and even that might be misleading).
How many writers are there with books on Amazon anyway? Two million? Three or even four million? If you search deep enough you’ll find kindle books ranked above two million, but many never even acquire a ranking. They have a product page and similar trimmings to the best sellers but they’re rarely visited by readers. Let’s agree on three million writers for the sake of this exercise. That means 150000 writers earn more than $10000 a year, and 60000 of those are earning over $100000. When you scroll through social media you might believe you’ve spotted the most successful writers – the ones that don’t let a day go by without posting something, no matter how trivial. They never miss a conference either, and they’re forever appearing at their local book retailers, and welcome the opportunity to feature on radio, television or theses days the podcast. Egos are polished on a regular basis, and it’s easy to assume they rank among the 60000. But how can you tell?
One thing that sustained me while I took those first tentative steps back in 2013 was being able to rely on my accounting background. I’d always loved working with figures, so I gathered evidence to assist my writing, promotions and networking with a large number of spreadsheets. That helped me reach the top 5% for five years on the bounce, and all without ever making a single personal appearance. In fact, I’ve never left this office. I wouldn’t know what a bookmark would cost me, nor have I signed a single copy of my novels. Funny that, isn’t it? Yet so many writers get nowhere using what they are told are tried and trusted methods. Believe me, there is another way.
What do my spreadsheets tell me about some of those frequent flyers on social media? I was suprised, and on occasion, shocked. Many haven’t earned $10000 a year for several years, their current earnings per month on Amazon are a fraction of this humble storyteller. If you’re one of the 2,850,000 writers who haven’t found a way through the maze, perhaps I could help? (Gulp! What have I said…)
Breathe, Ted. It’s okay, only a handful of people read my blog posts, so I can’t imagine I’ll be swamped with requests for help. My website is useful as a way for readers to keep up to date with the latest news, and join The Phoenix Club for my monthly Newsletter. I’m not an ‘influencer’ with a million followers on Insta or TikTok, so don’t go looking, because you won’t find me. Further proof you don’t need to be everywhere on social media, or make personal appearances to earn a living as a writer.
It’s hard work, and you need the hide of a rhinoceros, but the first step is to move away from the doom and gloom of social media.
By all means use it to support the promotion of your books. I’m not convinced it helps, but the promotion sites you’re using will appreciate the effort, if they ever check you’re all on the same page.
I look forward to hearing from someone.
BREAKING NEWS will follow shortly with the latest news from Vinci Books
I’ll be back in July for a brief visit squeezed into the home refurbishment campaign my wife has started.
Best wishes
