A Cooperative Press for Indie Authors discussion

Is it okay if I put this here?

I'd like a thread for supporting one another in a less concrete way. Not beta-reading, reviewing, suggesting marketing ideas, or any of that.

Just good old-fashioned comfort. I can't be the only one that looks at the flat line of a sales graph and wonders if the hundreds of hours of work are worth the $2 or $3 I make from it. Can I?

This will be my best-selling month - netting me probably $10 (woohoo!) - and yet I'm at my lowest ebb as far as confidence is concerned.

If others feel the same way at times, mightn't it be a decent idea to encourage one another to persevere? Or is this just me?

(Admittedly, I am the kind of guy that has trouble soldiering on if something isn't an immediate success. When I was a kid, I couldn't master bike-riding in one day so I quit. Didn't try again for years and years.)

Are you having fun writing? Are you having fun putting your characters in all kinds of trouble?

I do hope the answer is yes. :) I know I am. And between us (and all the people who may read this thread), I never had a $10 sales for a month. In fact, I may have had that in the whole year last year. Sure, I hate looking at the flat line. Not because I don't get money. That'd be just the cherry on the sundae. No, I hate seeing the flat line because...well...flat means no one's reading it right?

I don't regret putting that much time in those books though. If anything, I wrote the books I always wanted to read but couldn't find. That in itself was worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Maybe the difference between us is that too often in my life I was told I wouldn't be able to do something. When I was a kid, I believed my parents. After all, they had to know better than I did, no? Yet, in school, I did my best to always succeed so if my parents wouldn't believe in me, the teachers had to. :P

So instant gratification? What's that? It took me 40 years to prove my parents wrong. Yes, I was 40 when I moved to the US. That day, I told my mother, "You and dad always said I didn't have the guts to do things. Well...No matter what you think, no matter what you'll tell me, I'm leaving. I have the courage. (I refrained from blowing a strawberry with my words but barely. :P)

J. wrote: "Is it okay if I put this here?

I'd like a thread for supporting one another in a less concrete way. Not beta-reading, reviewing, suggesting marketing ideas, or any of that.

Just good old-fashion..."

J.D. and G.G.

I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Admitting the frustrations, disappoints, and discouragements that are all to often our most abundant rewards as independent authors speaks to the very reason we write. The thrill of holding that first printed volume in one's hand is so often followed by the disappoint - not of rejection, but of just being ignored. How many times have I proudly announced to friend or family: "I've written a book!" Only to be answered with a flat and totally disinterested: "Oh. That's nice." But we soldier on, because we must. And though at times we may seem a severely overpopulated bunch, in reality we are doing what very few of our species would even attempt. I don't write because I want to be rich an famous (though I won't lie and say it doesn't find a place in my imaginings). I write because I have stories to tell. And I really believe that with this new paradigm in publishing, we will all find readers who will appreciate our efforts, and perhaps learn from our stories. So damn the naysayers; damn the poor sales; damn the obscurity! Write on!

A.

I think is is really important to have someone to support your efforts. I am not sure I would have finished my first book had it not been for my wife. Seeing her reaction while reading and her constant hounding for the next chapter really gave me the encouragement I needed. Even if she was the one and only fan of my books, I would still write them. Making a living would be nice, but watching her enjoy my writing is all the gratification I ever need.

J. If you can accept the fact that you may never be successful, and still love writing, by all means go for it. I expect 90% of all indie authors will never get in the black. This in no way means that your work is of no or little value. My first novel took 11 years to get to the fourth edition. I am doing one last edit before I return to the second book in the proposed trilogy, and I have another non-related book in the works.

I hit a real low point in my project, when another author, Walter Parchamenko, encouraged me to complete my work. I owe him. We should all be encouraging each other.

The bottom line is: Are you doing it because you love writing? Anything less, and you should certainly quit. If you love it, keep on doing it.

Thanks, guys, for the comments.

I hope this thread will help buck other people up when they're down as well.

Yes, I do love writing - but I don't love pushing myself to write when I don't feel like it. But I need to, or I'd never get around to writing anything at all!

(Actually, the last few days I haven't been writing, but have been working on new covers for the rebranding of my sci-fi novellas. I think it will be a good move for the series' image.)

One of my favorite writers (TV writer Steven Moffat) said recently:

"I love writing! Especially when it's over and I don't have to do it."

That's so me.

I've taken a few days off of writing. (Stress issues, only partially related to writing.)

After my best ever month in September (again, that was a whopping $10) my October has been abysmal. I rebranded with a new line of covers that is more commercially appealing than my previous quirky ones. I have an ad campaign going on Amazon (400 impressions so far - zero clicks) and even paid for a bknights promo on Fiverr.

Two sales so far this month. (Adding up to $1.40 in revenue.) Take into account the $5.50 spent on the promo, and I'm $4.10 in the hole so far for October.

I find sticking to my self-set schedule of one novella per month impossible now - even for this, the final installment of the series (for now). Book 5 has had exactly one sale. No one will care if I let the deadline for Book 6 slip past. (Except me.)

So for the sake of my sanity, I'm taking a small amount of time off. Once this series is out of the way, I'll be able to focus my energies on new projects. I'll be all right - eventually.

It's just getting through this last story. Which is kicking my ass. (I'm about half-way through the word count and nothing has actually happened yet. This should be the big finale, and so far it's looking like a dud. Sigh.)

J. wrote: "I've taken a few days off of writing. (Stress issues, only partially related to writing.)

After my best ever month in September (again, that was a whopping $10) my October has been abysmal. I rebr..."

It takes courage to be a writer, not the least because success is so capricious. How many absolutely marvelous works have gone unpublished or unnoticed? Countless numbers, I dare say.

Though we may seem excessively abundant in number at places like Goodreads, in fact few are the people who have the courage and stamina to sit down with themselves, alone, and face the myriad demons that inhabit our thoughts and spur our creativiety (of course, there are a few angels as well).

So always be of good heart. Writing is the loneliest, most thankless of human pursuits, and yet when it succeeds, it represents humankind's noblest achievements.

A.

Well said A. :)

Thanks, guys.

It's not really about the money, of course. Unless and until I can actually make a living off of it, anyway.

Really, I use the dollars as an indicator of readers. It's tough to knuckle down and write (to a deadline) when no one is actually reading. (Even my last free promo did almost nothing.)

After a little rest, I hope to back in business again very soon. Even if this book ends up sucking, I'm really looking forward to writing the very end part - a short piece that has been with me for a while.

In reality, I think the chance for independent authors to be "discovered" by the reading public is slim (unless, of course, we are independently wealthy already and can afford an effective advertising campaign). Our best hope is to create a "place" where readers can find us - a place that we can build and promote collectively. Our little venture at IACP is only a few months old, but if we continue to use all available means to promote it (including some eventual collective advertising) I think we can create a "place" where people will expect to find something to read. Maybe not my book; maybe not your book; but a book! That place may be nothing more than our present website; maybe it will evolve into a catalogue; maybe someday it will grow into a real publishing house (with a little help from the Blue Fairy, of course).

A.

Okay J. I have some observations. You have seven books published, I believe, under the name of J. Douglas Burton. I pulled all of them up on Amazon, and count a total of four reviews for the entire lot put together. I googled you and nowhere on the front page was your name associated with a blogger's spotlight. You are linked in and have facebook; that is good.

My advice is to connect with your readers. First, every blogger that comes to goodreads saying they will set up a review or interview, jump on it. Be polite and accommodating to the blogger. Next, if you don't have Create Space set up for your books, do it. Then do some giveaways of autographed paperbacks. Solicit reviews and offer free eBook copies. Work on getting amazon reviews.

I haven't read any of your books, so I don't know if the editing is good, the stories engaging, etc... Let's say that you are the next Hemingway, then if so, you need to elevate your author's platform and get connected with readers and bloggers. If you are mediocre (I have no idea) then feedback and growth, and maybe some rewriting of what you already have is in order.

Hope this helps, Morris