Ha! That’s kind of how I feel today. It’s all payroll-y and stuff. ::sigh::
So I found myself on the CS message boards again this afternoon explaining to the “noob” indies that selling 0-5 paperback copies (a month) of their WWII historical ::yawn:: novel is normal. It also made me realize how strange some indies are because their marketing consists of telling other “writers” about their book.
Really? I mean – yeah, I’ve kindly purchased fellow writers’ books (after previewing them and making sure they’re not poorly written, poorly formatted, or poorly edited). I never have a shortage of reading material, but quite frankly, my book buying budget is tapped. I can’t afford to buy your 180 page $14.99 historical civil war ::yawn:: novel. Oh, it’s on Kindle? Great! ::face falls:: For $9.99. Sorry – I can get books by my favorite authors for about $3 less. Why should I take a chance on your book?
Okay – okay, I’ll look at the preview. If I like what I see and the price is reasonable (usually under $6 for fiction if I’ve never heard of you) then I’ll probably buy a copy. To get me to recommend it I either need to love your book or like you a lot. I suspect I’m typical of most readers – even as a writer. Actually – I’m probably even more forgiving than most writers and readers. I won’t berate a writer for a couple typos in their book or a funky sentence here or there (unless it’s every other line), especially if the story is interesting. Why? Because I know how much work indies actually do. As if writing a damn book isn’t hard enough – add the editing, packaging and marketing to that. I have a great deal of respect for indies – especially the successful ones.
I just wish people were more educated before jumping onto the self-publishing bandwagon. I can’t begin to tell you how many writers I meet who think that if their book is available – they should be selling thousands of copies just by the virtue of its mere existence. ::rolls eyes:: It just gets old and I had to remind myself it’s the reason I no longer hang out at the CS forum. Now I’m off to find more coffee.