Sunday, July 19, 2015

Don't Be Stingy

Do you remember that writer who hoarded all of his books and forced people to buy them, taking folks to court who loaned them to friends?  Remember how he then made millions of dollars because everyone flocked to his brilliance?

Yeah, me neither.

When a writer begins building and audience, the most important thing...and I'm just spiffballing here...is for people to read his stuff.  Building a list is nice, but there's simply no way to build a list of thousands if you haven't yet published a single thing.  Further, of those who are on your list - the ones who so enthusiastically told you they couldn't wait to buy your work - count on selling to about half of them.  Everyone is all about it in person, but there are hiccups when it comes time to actually purchase.

So encourage others to share what you wrote with friends.  Give copies away.  Take them to public libraries and offer them to the librarians for nothing.  Do these things in the hopes you catch on with some people.

No, everyone won't like your stuff.  Some will think you're shitty and will vow to never read another one of your novels.  Some won't even get past page ten, declaring your life's work to be juvenile and poorly written.  So what?  Reading tastes are subjective, and not everyone will think you're awesome.  Does everyone you meet in person think you're awesome?

However, what you're going for is to hook one person for every four or five that pick you up.  You want a new fan who can't wait to read your next release.  As a newly published author, these are the ones you need, and you have to encourage as wide a readership as possible for it to take.  No one will break down your door and demand to read your work if they don't know who you are.

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