I'VE BEEN BUSY WITH MOVIES FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS. BARELY TOUCHED MY BOOKS. NOW, I AM BACK, AND PUSHING OUT TEN BOOKS THIS YEAR.
I DO LOVE TO WRITE. IT IS TERRIFYING WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF RAIN IN HIGH FIFTIES EACH DAY, BUT I DO ALSO LOVE THE SUNNY DAYS. WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN HAMMERING YOUR HEAD OVER A STORY PLOT THAT JUST WON'T FORM. NOTHING, SAVE SEX, CAN GIVE YOU THE BLISS THAT THE MOMENT WHEN YOU FIGURE OUT THE BOOK'S "THING" GIVES YOU. YEAH, I DO LOVE TO WRITE.
AS AN INDIE FOR SOME YEARS. I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE SCENE CLOSELY FOR ALL THOSE YEARS, AND WATCHED THE TRENDS, THE TRIUMPHS, AND THE DEFEATS OF THE INDIE COMMUNITY. I'VE SEEN PEOPLE WORK THEIR ARSES OFF TO MAKE IT IN THIS BUSINESS. I'VE SEEN DOZENS OF WRITERS ALSO FALLING TO THE DARK SIDE, LIKE SWAPPING REVIEWS, AND GIVING BAD ONES TO FELLOW WRITERS, JUST TO GET A TASTE OF THAT SUCCESS, EVEN OVER THE CORPSES AND LAWS THAT GOVERN US ALL.
WE STARTED WTH AMAZON OFFERING PRETTY MUCH ANYONE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE A ... WRITER. NO, BETTER, A SUCCESFULL WRITER. A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE MADE IT BACK WHEN THIS WAS FIRST POSSIBLE, AND ARE NOW CASHING IN ON OLD LESSONS THAT MIGHT NOT EXACTLY FIT THE SCENE TODAY.
WHAT HAS CHANGED RADICALLY IS THE MARKETING. THE METHODS CHANGE ALMOST DAILY. OF COURSE, WHILE AMAZON GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A WRITER, THEY ALSO EXPECT YOU TO BE A MARKETER. WITH OVER FIVE MILLION BOOKS, EVERY SINGLE HOPEFUL DOING THE VERY SAME THING ALL OVER AND OVER AGAIN, WRITING FOR THE "MARKET", SOME FEW TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE MARKET MIGHT BE NEXT, PEOPLE COPYING EACH OTHER BUT ONLY WITH LESS SUCCESS, AND MORE AND MORE WRITERS AND BOOKS COMING EACH DAY, THE MARKETING WILL BE TRICKY. VERY FEW STORIES ARE ENTIRELY ORIGINAL, THE MARKETING CHANNELS ARE BENT WITH THE SAME BLURBS AND AD SLOGANS, AND E-MAIL LISTS ARE GETTING SO ANNOYING, READERS ARE REALLY TIRED OF THEM.
SURE, IT ISN'T HOPELESS. WITH UNIQUE VOICE, PERSISTANCE OVER YEARS, CO-OP, SMART METHODS, AND EXCELLENT STORIES, A WRITER CAN MAKE A LIVING AS AN INDIE.
IT IS POSSIBLE.
FOR MOST, IT IS NOT.
THE MARKETING TAKES MONEY. IT TAKES TIME. IT TAKES SKILLS, AND A WILL TO LEARN THOSE SKILLS, AND TO KEEP UP TO DATE. IT MEANS LESS WRITING, AND MORE LEARNING AND AD-WRITING. DID I MENTION IT TAKES MONEY? MANY ARE THE WRITERS WHO DO NOT SEE THEIR BOOK AS A PRODUCT THAT LIVES FOR A SHORT WHILE, BUT SOME KIND OF A WORK OF ART THAT PEOPLE SHOULD FIND BECAUSE IT RADIATES THEIR BRILLIANCE ALL OVER THE GLOBE. NO, IT IS A PRODUCT. MARKETING, TAKES, SKILL, AND, MONEY.
I'LL KEEP MARKETING. I KEEP LEARNING. I KEEP DOING ALL THAT. I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, AND ALL MY STORIES ARE UNIQUE IN A NUMBER OF WAYS.
HOWEVER, I AM TIRED OF TRYING TO MAKE A BUCK OF EACH BOOK. I HAVE HAD TENS OF THOUSANDS OF READERS WHO LOVE THE BOOKS, AND QUITE A FEW WHO WOULD LIKE TO READ THEM, BUT CANNOT AFFORD TO.
SO, TO COMPLEMENT MY NORMAL MARKETING EFFORTS, I AM MAKING MANY OF THE BOOK 1'S FREE. SOME NOW, SOME LATER. THEY ARE FULL-SIZED BOOKS, HUGE BOOKS, AND I DO HOPE YOU LIKE THEM. MORE ARE ON THEIR WAY.
GIVING IS GETTING.
