David Wind's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-promotion"
I don't like this hat!
For me, writing is about creating people and places and even worlds that spring from within my mind. BUT now that
Born To Magic
is out, I find myself spending hours and hours every day trying to promote it.
Yes, after 33 traditionally published novels I am now an independently published author, and yes, at this point and with my fourth Indie book out I know I must promote my work or it will not get anywhere. BUT it certainly doesn't bode well for the future of writers, when they must spend more time promoting than writing.
And YES, I know that in today’s market, the traditional publishers are now REQUIRING their writers to do most of their own promotion, including building a website, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Only the bestselling authors seem to have the publishing houses behind them with advertising.
So where do we independent writers go from here? How does the market shake itself out? Those are questions that will be answered over the next couple of years, but for the present, authors battle authors for space on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and every Social Media outlet available to us, because most of us cannot afford a page in the New York Times Review Of Books , and they certainly don’t give a damn about independently published novels other than to give minimal lip service to us.
And Publishers Weekly ? Do I dare mention them and independent publishing in the same breath? No, I think not.
Again, how do we get to where we, as writers, need to be? How do we claim enough real estate to bypass the 1,2 or 3 second space given to a post on social media before it is replaced by another author trying to get some recognition?
How do we get the time to write when we spend so much time in promotion?
If anyone has some answers, PLEASE tell me.
David
David Wind
Born To Magic
Yes, after 33 traditionally published novels I am now an independently published author, and yes, at this point and with my fourth Indie book out I know I must promote my work or it will not get anywhere. BUT it certainly doesn't bode well for the future of writers, when they must spend more time promoting than writing.
And YES, I know that in today’s market, the traditional publishers are now REQUIRING their writers to do most of their own promotion, including building a website, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Only the bestselling authors seem to have the publishing houses behind them with advertising.
So where do we independent writers go from here? How does the market shake itself out? Those are questions that will be answered over the next couple of years, but for the present, authors battle authors for space on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and every Social Media outlet available to us, because most of us cannot afford a page in the New York Times Review Of Books , and they certainly don’t give a damn about independently published novels other than to give minimal lip service to us.
And Publishers Weekly ? Do I dare mention them and independent publishing in the same breath? No, I think not.
Again, how do we get to where we, as writers, need to be? How do we claim enough real estate to bypass the 1,2 or 3 second space given to a post on social media before it is replaced by another author trying to get some recognition?
How do we get the time to write when we spend so much time in promotion?
If anyone has some answers, PLEASE tell me.
David
David Wind
Born To Magic
