Is self-publishing more challenging today? The competition for readers is intense.
Recently, in one of my writing classes, a writer reported that she was ready to give up. She’s published six books, followed all the “rules”, yet sales are slow. “There’s just too much competition,” she said.
Self-publishing and competition: find readers
Whether you’re aiming for traditional publishing or decide to publish yourself, there’s always been competition. Before the arrival of electronic media, publishers warned new authors to expect nothing but rejection slips in their first years.
Today, you can write a few thousand words (or get generative AI to “write” for you) and publish within an hour or two.
Without readers, however, there’s no point.
Let’s look at some tips to help you find readers and make sales.
1. Remember what readers want: entertainment, or transformation
In this blog post, Self-Publishing: 8 Tips To Write More And Produce Better Books, I suggested:
When revising, ensure that your completed book lives up to the promise of your blurb.
(I like to create a blurb long before I finish writing, usually while I’m creating an outline. Then, I keep changing the blurb as I work on the book.)
When they read fiction, readers want entertainment; with nonfiction, they want to be transformed.
Take a moment, and think about your recent reading. Which novels entertained you? Did your life benefit when you bought that nonfiction book?
Everything is subjective, of course. We’re all different and have differing expectations. However, truly entertaining novels are rare now, and always have been. And a lot of nonfiction makes extravagant promises, but fails to deliver—again, this has always been true.
Make your books different: entertain and transform. This may mean that you publish less so that you give readers the best book you can.
2. Write… Nothing happens until you write (and publish)
Business worries will cut into your writing time. Indeed, you may find that days and weeks go by when you’re too busy to write.
Please remember that writing is the foundation of your self-publishing business. You need to produce. Moreover, if you’re an author, you’re happier when you’re writing.
If you’re anxious about your book sales, chances are you’re deep into marketing. You’re researching your promotional options, and creating ads and social media posts. All this takes time: do your writing FIRST each day, then fit in marketing where you can.
Every word you write improves your writing. Consider journaling. I’ve always found that when I journal, my productivity goes up. Create book journals, so you can easily track the 1001 things you need to track when writing a book.
3. Think about the craft of writing: keep learning
Jane Austen and other authors who are read for decades and centuries knew their craft. There’s always more to learn. Don’t get caught up in the hype of endless publishing without learning.
Yes, this is challenging. On the other hand, if you want to entertain or transform, you have no choice.
4. Develop confidence by doing (write!)
My favorite Ray Bradbury quote:
Write. Relaxation. Don’t think.
Endless thought devolves into stress. Think while tapping your keyboard, or with a pen in your hand.
When you have a challenge, whether it’s in writing, publishing, or marketing, write about the challenge so that you can understand it.
From Writing to Think:
Writing is the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about… writing about something complicated and hard to pin down acts as a test to see how well you understand it.
You’ll usually find that when you describe a difficult problem in your journal (or right in the middle of a project), the solution becomes obvious.
5. Marketing: do it, get feedback, and discover what works for you
Marketing equals sales.
Eventually.
Long before the internet, I worked as a copywriter. In those days, the saying was: you’ll see the benefits of the marketing you do today three months from now.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Market consistently. You’ll see results, 90 days from today.
6. Read… Read as much as you can
Read the classics, as well as today’s bestsellers.
Be wary of social media; it’s a dopamine trap. The algorithms give you small hits of dopamine so that you scroll, and scroll some more—when you look up, an hour has vanished.
Self-publishing gives you immense power
Keep these simple tips in mind, and make sales. You can do it, even if you’re in a hard place at the moment.
Remember to have fun. 🤗
Just Write It: Write More, Sell More, Starting Today
Do you wish writing could be easier?
This book will help you if you'd like to write more, more easily.
If you already have a writing career, but feel that you're not living up to your potential, this book will help you, too.
Want to write more, and sell more?
Do you dream of being a professional writer? This book will help. Perhaps you already have a writing career, but feel that you’re not living up to your potential, this book will help you, too. In four lessons, you’ll discover how to develop ideas, create drafts of your writing, and write faster and well. You’ll find templates for articles, as well as for book structure. You’ll develop goals for your writing. In addition, you’ll find lots of ways to combine writing with your busy life, by becoming more creative. Each lesson ends with several exercises, so you can put the ideas in a lesson to work immediately. You should find that you’re more comfortable with your writing, and have more fun with it, and will write more from the first lesson.Transform your writing, and yourself
I hope that this little ebook will help you to transform your writing career. You won’t find anything earth-shaking here. However, I hope that you will discover yourself, and will become able to trust yourself so that you can write easily, so that your words flow onto the computer screen. Once you trust yourself, you’ll easily write more, and will sell more. Most of the challenges writers face with their writing are because they have no processes which work, so they don’t trust themselves. These writers write slowly. They sit and stare at the computer screen, and worry.Writers write: use the two parts of your brain, and keep writing
I work with writers every day. Few write as much as they could, and should. Those writers who do increase their output, get results. You have a creative side, and a logical side. You need both sides of your brain to write well. Whatever your challenges with your writing, this book can help.
