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On Writing and Marketing
I read a great and informative post on the Steve Laube Agency’s blog yesterday. Steve boiled down the numbers, explaining the expenses publishers dole out to put books on the shelves. What an eye opener. On the average, publishers are only making about $420 on the first printing of 10,000 books. Wow!
As writers, what should our response to this information be? Well, for me it’s all about marketing and producing a quality product. If a publishing house is going to take that kind of risk on me, a new writer, I’m going to do my part to make sure they make a profit.
How can writers move toward the goal of better writing and marketing?
1. Write each day. Practice, practice, practice. There’s nothing magical about hard work.
2. Read well written fiction. Learn from those who have done it.
3. Read books on writing craft.
4. Research marketing. Check out the blog post I read today.
5. Be involved with an active group of writers, including a great critique group.
6. Join a writer’s community like ACFW.
7. Give back to others. It can’t always be about our platform and our skills. What can you give someone else?
8. Apply what you’ve learned.
9. Be patient. Learning to be a great writer takes time and so does building a solid marketing platform. Keep working toward your goal.
What are you doing to advance your marketing and writing skills?
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Reasons It’s Hard For Me To Blog
Time
We all know this one. Time has a way of vaporizing when I try to take hold of it. I do have a very busy life, but writing (even in the blog form) needs to be a priority. I’ll just swap it for that old priority…Sleep. Speaking of time, I only have fifteen more minutes to finish this post.
More questions than answers
When I sit down to blog, my mind throws out question after question. I am one of the true Google junkies. Questions come to me throughout the day and I dive for my computer. I think this may be why I love research.
Insecurity
It may sound funny to some of you. I’ve published a couple of stories and I regularly send chapters to my critique group. I’ve even been a finalist for some major awards. Still, the thought of others reading my work makes me nervous. And honestly, my blogs posts aren’t as carefully edited as my manuscripts. That goes back to the topic of time. I feel like I should toss a major typo in write here.
I know, as authors we’re suppose to grow thick skin, and oddly I have no problem with most upfront criticism, it’s the behind the scenes that gets me.
Lack of tech ability
Blogging is suppose to be easy, right? Huh! I’ve had more glitches than I care to remember. Sometimes a picture won’t load. Sometimes I type but nothing appears. Sometimes my website just disappears. I’m a writer, purely a writer. When people start to talk computer, my mind jumps into a story world.
Spite
Yep! Spite. I’m really working on this one. Compliance isn’t my middle name. I don’t like to be told what to do, even when it’s the right thing. My husband actually finds this amusing. I think I’ll become compliant…just for spite.
What makes blogging difficult for you?
Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Living on a schedule
I love freedom. I want to get up whenever my eyes open and stay up until I feel sleepy. You know, do what I want to do, when I want to do it. However, I also get very stressed when I don’t feel like there is enough time in the day. The later happens way too often, especially when I’m working on a first draft.It’s busy around here! With writing, blogging, homeschooling the girls, and the boys schedules, I sometimes feel like my head is spinning around on my neck.
My answer is to be a free-spirit on a schedule. Now, I’m not one of those people who schedules every second of their day. That would make me into a time bomb and very dangerous for my family. I’m organized from 6am until 2:30. The rest of the day seems to schedule itself. With picking one kid up from school, to games, making dinner, and cleaning up around here, there isn’t a whole lot of down time.
The new scheduled went into effect this morning. It means getting up 30 minutes earlier than I have been. That’s 6am folks! I’m not an early bird. Not even close so this time is brutal, but appreciated later. The first thing I do is my Bible study. It’s something I don’t want to have pushed aside if life intrudes on the schedule.
So, how do you get it all done?
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles.
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Adventures into the 30s – hair
I’ve been working on a scene that involves the main character styling her hair. After reading about the process, I realized that I’d need to actually have this experience to be able to put it on the page.
This is what I usually look like:
Here’s me as I waited for my hair to be perfectly dry. The instructions were very clear that this step should not be rushed. I learned later that this would have been a good thing to do before bed. I also learned (relearned) that I have no patience.
While I waited for the pinned up curls to dry, I went to work on my kitchen. It struck me as I was scrubbing a shelf that this is a fairly authentic experience. My family lives in a farmhouse built in 1898. We still have some open shelves where modern houses would have closed cupboards. On my shelves you’ll find an old-fashion coffee grinder and a series of clamp-top canning jars.
Hours later I finally released my hair from those obnoxious pins. The result…disappointing. I didn’t look a think like the pictures in vintage magazines. If I had been a young woman in the 1930s, I may have shaved my head and worn a wig. At least I’d have had it cut shorter and without layers. I actually had to pin back some of my hair for the picture.
So there you go. Not all adventures in research are successful. I think I’ll look into hats next.
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