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You Can Be an Author Too

Jan 30

AndrewA Writer's Blog Authors, Writers, Writing 1 Comment

Self-publishing has developed into a powerhouse industry in the last few years as the technology to print books on demand has made it profitable for a number of high profile companies (amazon among them) to start selling those services to the average person. That means you can be an author too.

But even as there are more books published today than ever, there are less readers out there, and the result is a saturation of the market with books that nobody will read, much less ever hear about. It’s an internet myth; you can reach anyone if only you publish on the world wide web.

But whether you publish a novel for your own satisfaction or to make money, you still need key ingredients in order to be successful.

Value
Now that publishing companies are switching to a print-on-demand format, it is an amazing opportunity for writers to get published in an industry that is largely stagnant and decidedly unkind to the rookies. But. Books are a consumer product and in order to sell, they have to have some value to the customer.

Fiction books offer the value of entertainment. Self-help books offer advice. As an author, you have to know the value of what you are writing, and whom it will appeal to. And you have to remember that value through every step of the process because it should be an integral part of how you make decisions on every aspect of your book

Credibility
You do not have to be Suze Orman to write a book about finances. And you don’t have to be Stephen King to write a horror novel. But. The advantage Orman and King have is they don’t have to rationalize their own credibility. Credibility, quite simply, is the ability to convince someone to pick up your book and read it. Orman and King will sell books just because of who they are as public figures and people are already convinced of the value of their writing. New authors don’t have that kind of draw, so you have to establish yourself as an author, create an identity for public consumption and begin the process of branding yourself.

There are other ways though to establish credibility, whose effectiveness depends on the kind of book you are writing. Your resume or work history might be enough in some cases, and you should be vocal about telling people why you were the one person that could write this book. Testimonials are powerful statements in your favor, and you should begin to gather them early and encourage people to talk about you and your book. Word of mouth, frankly, is the ultimate tool to establishing credibility.

Branding is something that happens over time, people will come to recognize your name and appreciate what your works, present and future, have to offer them without being told.

Exposure
You can only sell to your friends and family once. So even if they are willing to support you, you still will run out of readers in about a week. The internet myth leads us to believe that all we have to do publish, and people will find it somehow. And then there is the notion that anyone who has a product to sell has to have a blog too.

There is some power to cross-promoting yourself like that. A website is a low cost opportunity and the internet stays up 24 hours a day, selling your brand even when you’re sleeping. But. The downside is that your blog needs as much attention and work as your book (value), you have a small window of opportunity to pitch yourself to potential readers (credibility) assuming you can even get visitors to your website in the first place (exposure). So if you’re not careful, you end up doing the same promotional plan twice over, once for the book and once for the blog.

Working through traditional publicity and marketing plans takes time, and doesn’t have quite the same immediate impact of viral marketing. So you have to find a nice balance between using internet tools and utilizing the traditional marketing strategies of the publishing industry.

And you have to commit to your own success.

You can be an author too, and listen up, because the print-on-demand industry is the single best thing that ever happened to new authors. It allows a company like amazon to sell your book without holding on to any physical inventory, and allows you, the author, to publish right away with minimal cost investment. That alone makes it an ideal publishing strategy.

But before you contact a print-on-demand publisher, be sure to decide what level of success you are comfortable with. Is the goal to publish your book or to be the next Stephen King? Is your success measured by holding the physical book in your hands, or by holding the royalty checks in your hands? Do you need a fans to feel successful, or are you content just to be published?

Throughout the year, I will be looking at all of the steps in detail, from the writing process to self-publication (with an emphasis on print-on-demand) and publicity. I will explore the process of self-publishing/print-on-demand for how it worked, and didn’t work, in my personal experience. As we go along, I will delve into every aspect of the self-publishing industry as I deal with them. From writing to design to printing to promotion, I will give you my perspective and feedback on what worked and what didn’t. I welcome your contributions through comments at the end of each post.