I've often wondered about Writer's circles and how beneficial they could be. I had email contact with a fellow writer today (we met at an event in May) and it was wonderfully refreshing, so much so that I think I should be connecting with other writers more often! I'm used to discussing the industry with complete novices, but to step it up a level for a while felt pretty good. One of the concerns I have is that we writers want to make it so so bad, we are stupidly willing to sell ourselves short, myself included. Talking to other writers and learning from each others' experience is invaluable at keeping us all on the straight and narrow. No one else in the biz will give us that advice willingly. I guess that's why we have the Society of Authors looking after us and our rights. Another thing we were discussing is broadening our audience through social networking. I've done a bit of reading on this specifically with regards to Twitter. Is it really as simple as following more people and more people will follow you? I'll let you know... At first I was horrified at the thought of an overloaded timeline, but then I discovered lists! Yes, I'm getting the hang of all this slowly... All my lists are public so feel free to take a nose. I'm still working on them. Everything "evolves" with me, you know that!
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I find it funny that people are incredulous when I say I could self publish an eBook on Amazon for 99p and still make the same profit (25 to 50 pence) as my current £12.99 offering (Little Child) on Amazon. This is the absolute truth, no word of a lie. The one thing you can guarantee in this game is that different publishing models all result in a very similar profit margin, but the real gain for us as writers and authors is when we hit a worldwide audience simultaneously with minimal effort. The more people you "hit" with your book, the better chance you have of raising your literary profile to dizzying heights. Remember what I said in an earlier post - it's not just about the book anymore, YOU have to be a brand as well. I thought about this for a long time today and I came to the following conclusion: the internet is an amazing resource with no limits, but to utilise it properly the only thing stopping you, is you. Anybody who has a remote interest in writing can self publish some kind of book, but if you know your market and your price points and you've done your research, the potential to reach as many people as possible is right there waiting for you. I'm going to experiment with my theory and come back to you on this. Don't forget, I'm still learning too. I'm a marketeer in the making!
I've been back three weeks now and I think this is the longest I've kept a writing resolution (apart from when I was writing my book!) I'm really enjoying making time to write or work on my website every day, and taking time out from the daily grind to think creatively, rather than have a brain blocked with mundane To Do lists. Those To Do lists are still lingering, but they aren't the be all and end all. I didn't believe what the writing professionals said about habits, yet give it a try and it does actually work (with a little discipline thrown in for good measure of course). I thank Twitter for my success. It's keeping me in touch with the publishing world thus helping me feel closer to what I love. Isn't technology wonderful! And thanks Steve Jobs for my iPhone 4 - I absolutely love having everything at my fingertips. What an invention.
I'm feeling random tonight so here are a couple of misc thoughts for you all:
Just did a mega double take - one person bought my book on Amazon and Little Child jumped one million - YES, ONE MILLION - places in the Amazon Top Bestseller ranking!! Seriously?! Does that really happen, or did they miss a digit? Now for a great quote from the legendary horror writer Stephen King: “I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.” Such a clever concept. Here's a great example to illustrate my point about luxuries in the industry and how they vary depending on who you sign a contract with: my publisher emailed me yesterday and said I could invest £299 and create a bespoke cover design for my book. Now, if I had been with a traditional, big name publisher, I would have got a cover like that as par for the course.
See the difference? I've also been reading up on the debates that came out of the London Book Fair in April this year. One of them is you don't need a publisher anymore, you need a publicist - especially fitting if you choose to self publish. Ok, it would come at a price, but if they generate lots of press for your book - wouldn't it be a worthwhile investment? Certainly they would hold more sway with the Press than little old me. Unless you're a debut author with a film franchise hot on your heels, be prepared for the publisher (Traditional or Independent) to bat back the marketing of your book as your responsibility. I've been looking forward to writing this blog post for a while because I've really had my eyes opened over the last six months or so with regards to the publishing industry - getting published and being published - that whole journey.
I like to think of my experience as an experiment. Some of it was how I expected things to play out, much of it wasn't - but that's because the industry is going through a period of discontent, more of which will be the subject of another blog session. It's worth pointing out here that I was made two very succinct promises when I signed those contracts: 1) Little Child would get published 2) Little Child would be available worldwide online BOTH were extremely important to me and I'm very happy to say BOTH did happen. If I had been snapped up by a big traditional Publisher, I know my experience would have been completely different. I would've had those luxuries, but maybe lost the book's integrity. The funny thing is, I may not have sold many more copies. The exposure would've been different, however, not necessarily generated more sales. Currently my online presence is spot on, but I don't feature in any book shops. A traditional Publisher would get you into the stores but they don't believe in / like / want to acknowledge (delete where applicable) the eBook thing so I wouldn't have been on Amazon, not immediately anyway. There are lots of these "vicky verky" scenarios to consider. To sum up my experience for today's post, I'd say this: being published by an Independent is pretty much like flying with a no frills airline - they'll get you to where you're going, but don't expect any luxuries along the way (unless you want to pay for them!) And be prepared to work really really really hard because no one else will do it for you. It was almost a year ago when I was travelling with a group in Serbia that I received some sound advice from a Journalist (also travelling with us) at what was a critical time for me. I was in the throws of doing market research for Little Child to figure out where it would sit genre-wise on the book shelves in the real world. To be honest, I was losing the plot a little prior to my conversation with Roger. I'd written the book, I was still assuming the publishing industry was as it had been 15 years ago and I was struggling to fix my genre. I had a reading list lined up that I'd put together to help me decide, which consisted of a romantic suspense, a true life abuse novel, a couple of thrillers (one really fast paced, the other longer with many characters and sub plots), and two commercial fiction I'd bought on a whim because the story lines appealed to me - but I hadn't started yet. I wouldn't say I was doubting Little Child would sell at this point, but I was questioning whether I'd been too bold with the style and would it really appeal and grab people the way I'd intended it to. Roger said to me I should write for myself first and foremost and then consider the markets. If the story isn't coming from the heart, the end product will be stilted and artificial words on a page that no-one connects with. I'd always believed this and had written Little Child exactly as I wanted, so I guess Roger was just helping to reaffirm in my own mind that it was OK to be approaching this the way I was. He also said I'd make it in the end - and I did 6 months later. Thank you Roger!
It's been a week since Cyprus and I'm missing the champagne at breakfast, the truffles, the Geography cake (our version of Marble) and seeing the sun shining without fail everyday. I'm also missing being in the moment with no beginning and no end, all the days rolling into one, no obligations and no responsibilities except to sunbathe and dress up for dinner... It's almost like suspending life... But but but I have been writing and working on my website every day since getting back and I hope to keep this up! It's so good for the Writer's soul. And I love having cuddles with my puddy cat again plus welcoming our new addition to the family Snuffles the hedgehog. I haven't seen hedgehogs in the garden for 20 years or more! It's the only thing Misty can't eat so she doesn't know how to handle it. It's funny, but everyone was talking about how they'd missed their pets on the flight coming home, me included. She may drive me round the bend (like right now she's crashing around the bedroom whilst I'm trying to type this), but we couldn't live without them.
As you've probably gathered from my News & Events page, it's been almost a double hat trick of Firsts for me and Little Child - the book cover, holding the book, book signing, book review and blog spot - all amazing stuff on this new and exciting publishing journey. And yes, I'm well aware I'm at the bottom of a very long ladder, but who cares! I've learned the hard way and over a long period of time that it's all about the little things. Be grateful and thankful for these because they WILL stack up and together contribute to your overall well being and happiness, and your sense of achievement. I used to set my expectation of myself and events way too high so was always disappointed. Now, I set that bar at a realistic and attainable height - and I'm never disappointed. And when I look at my book sitting proudly on the shelf, man, I'm chuffed to bits!!! I hope there will be many more.
Usually autumn fills me with a sense of dread - dark mornings, nights drawing in and no more shorts and tees - and it's only the prospect of XFactor that cheers me up... However, I feel very very different this year. I feel as if I'm on the cusp of something amazing. I remember this feeling well - it always happened when I came back from my travels in the springtime. I took a lot of my business trips March / April time so when I returned to merry ol' England, spring was in full swing and the prospect of summer was enticing. There is so much exciting me right now - lots of new British comedy to look forward to, a new series of Downton Abbey, a new series of Miranda and Ab Fab being reborn with the original cast, fresh tunes from my favourite artists, marketing my book, starting the 2nd in the trilogy "Tainted", blogging, writing for my website, some new story ideas to outline, business ideas to explore - the list is endless and it'll soon be Christmas!
As long as I can keep my creative muse alive, it's going to be all right and spring will soon be knocking at the door again... |
AuthorBlogging is an amazing concept so here I am giving it a whirl. You'll get words. You'll get pics. Sometimes a vid or two. You'll get tongue in cheek, the odd humble opinion and an honest insight into my travels and writing life. Maybe even a few gems along the way. I'll be musing on home turf as I see more and more of the UK and sharing my experiences further afield on holidays and adventurous trips across the globe. Archives
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