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What: Write anything indie related: something that will inspire or help a fellow indie; something that celebrates a release or a milestone; something that talks about the ups and downs, joys and heartaches of Being Indie.
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This month I thought I would give some advice on how Indie writers can improve their sales, simply by facing some cold hard truths.
(I have to be honest and admit that I am also looking at these things at present, to improve my published works and to help me to grow as a writer).
One of the hardest things to accomplish as an Indie writer is the process of publicizing your published work!
(I have to be honest and admit that I am also looking at these things at present, to improve my published works and to help me to grow as a writer).
One of the hardest things to accomplish as an Indie writer is the process of publicizing your published work!
The most important fact to remember is it is vary rare for a book to sell itself. Unfortunately, as with most things today, this is one of the hardest things to acheive! Just publishing your work at one or more of the various platforms, (amazon, smashwords, barnes and noble, itunes, etc), is not enough. You may be lucky, but most likely your work will not sell itself.
Smashwords, recently sent an email to its authors, explaining that most published works will sit without a sale after the initial release date and that if you happen to be in this group you should take a good hard look at your published work. Only a small percentage of ebooks become best sellers, there is second group which sell quite well and a third group which sell consistently, but unfortunately the cold hard truth is that there is a large group of published works which sit at the end of these, not making a sale for years!
(Lucky for me, my work sits among the third group, which happens to be a good starting point for improvement.)
After publishing, reflect upon your reviews, listen to what your readers tell you, make changes!
Is the cover of your novel working? Does it stand out and grab your readers attention? Do you need to re-edit your work? Is there something in your storyline that your readers are finding difficult to understand? Is your title an attention grabber?
If you received 3.5 stars in your reviews, you are most likely in the third group I listed above, if so think about how you could change your work to bring the reviews to rate higher.
The beauty of publishing as an Indie writer, is that you are in control and by publishing in an e-book format, changes can be made at anytime and your work can be re-published, over and over again.
From experience, I would suggest to new writers considering publishing as an Indie to first publish their work as an e-book, hold off with the printing into paperback or hardcover until you have tried and tested the market and make any necessary changes.
(Something I have learned from experience).
You will surely benefit from testing your product first!
After publishing and you are satisfied, your work is still not done. It is important to be involved in your writing community, make contacts and colleagues, to help you with the process of publicity. Share and support one another, look out for opportunities which present themselves and become involved.
Smashwords, recently sent an email to its authors, explaining that most published works will sit without a sale after the initial release date and that if you happen to be in this group you should take a good hard look at your published work. Only a small percentage of ebooks become best sellers, there is second group which sell quite well and a third group which sell consistently, but unfortunately the cold hard truth is that there is a large group of published works which sit at the end of these, not making a sale for years!
(Lucky for me, my work sits among the third group, which happens to be a good starting point for improvement.)
After publishing, reflect upon your reviews, listen to what your readers tell you, make changes!
Is the cover of your novel working? Does it stand out and grab your readers attention? Do you need to re-edit your work? Is there something in your storyline that your readers are finding difficult to understand? Is your title an attention grabber?
If you received 3.5 stars in your reviews, you are most likely in the third group I listed above, if so think about how you could change your work to bring the reviews to rate higher.
The beauty of publishing as an Indie writer, is that you are in control and by publishing in an e-book format, changes can be made at anytime and your work can be re-published, over and over again.
From experience, I would suggest to new writers considering publishing as an Indie to first publish their work as an e-book, hold off with the printing into paperback or hardcover until you have tried and tested the market and make any necessary changes.
(Something I have learned from experience).
You will surely benefit from testing your product first!
After publishing and you are satisfied, your work is still not done. It is important to be involved in your writing community, make contacts and colleagues, to help you with the process of publicity. Share and support one another, look out for opportunities which present themselves and become involved.
2 comments:
I think you've given some great advice C.M. All writers have to seriously consider what they're publishing and face cold hard facts.
Wise words.
I published my first trilogy as ebooks. Only when I saw the response and reviews did I feel confident enough to publish as paperbacks.
And that cover is so so important.
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