I’ve been a writer for the last ten years and in that time
I’ve learned there are quite a few things that readers don’t know and writers
don’t talk much about. I think it’s time to shed some light on those
things. Without further ado, and in no particular order, I present to you, the
myths of being an indie author.
Myth: Writers
become independent authors because they can’t make it in the “real world” of
publishing.
This couldn’t be further from the truth for most authors. I
started out in the supposed real world. My first agent turned out to be a con
artist who made her living preying on novice authors with dreams of making it
big, and I lost a bit of money and a lot of hope as a result. My second and
third agents were legitimate, but they couldn’t sell my work. It was met with
mixed reviews by publishers. Some liked the story but hated the characters.
Some loved the characters but hated the story. When I decided to submit to
smaller houses, I was offered a contract for one of my novels only to have the
publisher go under before my book ever made it to print. Another small house
offered me a contract on another of my novels, but it never made it to print
because one of their staff was on an extended leave and they had no return date
for her. Apparently, she was the only one that could format the novels. I was able
to break that contract. Yet another small house offered me a contract for that
same novel with the editor assuring me she loved it and didn’t want to change
it only to ask me to make a major rewrite. When I balked, the editor sent me a
scathing email telling me if I was with one of the “big publishing houses”
these changes would be made without my knowledge or consent so I could either
agree or move on. I moved on.
For most of us, it isn’t a lack of literary talent that motivates
us to release on our own. It’s the fact that we can retain our rights and
control and still reach our desired audience without getting our hopes up, our
hearts broken or having to jump through needless hoops.
Myth: Writers
don’t need your reviews. It’s enough that you bought and liked the book.
This is wrong, wrong, wrong on so many levels. Independent
authors don’t want your reviews because we want our ego stroked. We need your
reviews because Amazon isn’t going to promote our work if we don’t reach a
certain number of reviews. More reviews
also leads to recommendations. Have you ever clicked on a book to get more info
and seen this: “Customers who bought this also bought…”? That recommendation is
the result of your reviews of my book in the same genre as the one you’re
currently browsing. So, yes, I need your reviews.
Myth: Writers
don’t care about or want to see bad reviews
Bad reviews hurt. That is no lie. Reading a bad review can
feel like listening to someone bad mouth your child. It makes the mama bear in
you want to lash out, but there’s another choice that I make when it comes to
reacting to bad reviews. I use them as a tool to improve my writing. The only
ones I tend to disregard are those that are not constructive and obviously
intended to hurt. One of my Amazon reviews reads: “This book is a waste of
miney and it’s free.” Given that the reviewer couldn’t spell money correctly
and was the only person to give that book a one star review, I disregarded it,
but I do not ignore all bad reviews.
Myth: Using
social media will make a huge difference in a writer’s book sales.
Maybe social media works for well-established authors who
have a large and loyal following. Maybe there is that one success story where
the unknown author takes to social media to spread the word about her book and
makes it big. Sad to say, it doesn’t work for the rest of us. I have a Facebook
page with nearly 800 likes, but I doubt even one-third of those people are
actually reading and buying my books or my quarterly royalty payments would be
much higher. I also have a large number of Twitter followers and Tweet about my
books and my writing daily. Only my die-hard fans read and retweet and
favorite. The rest seem to be skimming over them. My Instagram hasn’t even
cracked double digit followers, but I created it because a number of people
told me it was necessary to build an audience and tell them about my books.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong on that front. If you have any ides, please
share them with me so I can fix it.
Myth: Joining
Facebook groups that promote reading and writing will increase books sales.
When I first joined Facebook, I went in search of ways to
use it to promote my books. I’d read countless marketing articles that said
this was something all writers had to do to reach more readers. I found a
number of groups dedicated to allowing authors to promote their work and began
posting daily. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was one of an
astronomical number of authors doing the same thing. My posts were quickly
getting buried by other authors who were there, like me, to push their own
agenda. Most readers don’t seem to be looking at Facebook groups to find new
books to read.
Myth: Trading
reviews with other authors will increase the number of your reviews.
It should, but it doesn’t always. There are several groups
online where authors can seek out reviews from their peers. I find most of them
either don’t get responded to or those that do respond don’t like my genre.
Either that or I don’t like their genre and couldn’t enjoy the book enough to
give a fair review.
Myth: Giving away
free copies of your book is a good way to get more reviews.
This should work, especially when you specify that you are
giving it to someone in exchange for an honest review being posted on Amazon.
Unfortunately, there are some people out there who want the free book and will
accept it without any intention of writing the review. It sucks, but it’s not
like I can take the book back once I give it away. All I can do is cross that
person off a future giveaway list.
Myth: You can
promote your book with little or no cost and see a big return.
Yes, you can promote your book for free or spend only a
little bit of money, but you will not gain more readers by doing this. Ever
heard the phrase you have to spend money to make money? Not only is it true,
but it applies to marketing your books. The less money you spend, the smaller
the return on your investment. You reach fewer readers and reviewers which
means you make fewer book sales.
Myth: Book
tweeting services are great exposure for very little money.
Some book tweeting services are fairly inexpensive, and they
deliver on what they promise. For a nominal fee, they will tweet information
about your book to their ungodly amount of followers. They do that, but it doesn’t
mean that anyone cares or rather that enough people care. Just because they
have one million followers doesn’t mean all one million followers will see and
buy your book. Not to mention, this service is available for any writer willing
to pay for it. That means they’re sending out an awful lot of tweets to their
followers every day that are probably being ignored.
Okay, I will admit this is a long and somewhat depressing
post, but I don’t want you to feel bad. I want you to understand how hard it is
to be a writer and why you matter so much to us. Without you, we have no one to
write for. Please, buy our books but
don’t stop there. Tweet about our books. Post pictures of our books on your
social media. Encourage your friends and family to buy our books. Take a few
minutes from your day to post a brief review on Amazon. If you don’t let us
know what you think, how can we get better?
