It has been quite a year. Three completed novels, but little in the way of time for marketing. This weekend I have spent far many more hours preparing for that next phase, trying to establish a presence.
Sure. I have been to writers groups on Facebook, I have a page created, I have a twitter account, this blog, and even a personal website. And each of those things need to be cultivated and managed. Stephen King? James Patterson? Most authors with a contract? They all have people that do it for them. As the independent author, we do it all. There is, of course, good and bad to such a heavy work load.
Advantage? We have one-hundred percent, complete creative control. If we do not like something, be it the way our cover looks, or the manner in which an interior of a book is organized, the look of a website, the blog template, we can make the change. no calls to an agent, manager, publisher, or any other person. We simply make the changes we choose.
That is a burden, though, at times, as we all want to do what we do – write. When I started writing the first novel, I foolishly had the optimism of every writer; that my work would get the attention of an agent and everything would be taken care of. I never really envisioned fabulous wealth as a result of words on paper, but I sure thought that getting an agent would be less troublesome.
I like doing all of these little things in some ways. It is cathartic in many ways. Would it be nice if there were someone else to whom I could express my wishes and watch people considerably more talented at me with html, graphic design, and photography do the work? Absolutely. But at least I have some time, albeit usually late at night, to get some work done.
Then there is marketing. This is, in my opinion, the area which would be best served through traditional publishing. There are a ton of less than scrupulous people who prey on the lonely writer’s need for validation. They prey on our desire; our weakness. They want us to invest thousands upon thousands of dollars promoting our work. This is where the deep pockets of traditio0nal publishing makes a difference. I do not have ten grand just lying around to spend, as much as I’d love to be able to make the kind of investment in marketing my work as I would expect a publisher to do, it is not feasible.
Thus, the long hours of blankness become a labor of love. I will still market, but it will be a slow cook type of marketing. A crock pot of money slowly and surely filling up, cooking a stew to perfection.
Along the way, I will keep writing. It’s what we do. Writers write.
