Not that I have to think about it much yet, ha! But the business side of writing has always fascinated me. I think it would even if I weren’t a writer. So I think about these things. And the current debate about the impact of online marketing confuses me.
Some of my writing friends know authors who say they definitely boosted their sales by heavy-duty online promotion, such as blog book tours. But I’ve also heard numerous editors, agents, and writers at conferences, or elsewhere, say that writers should do as much online marketing as they have time for, but they don’t think it bumps up sales much, if at all. And I’ve heard the same about traditional forms of marketing–booksigning tours, postcards, etc. I’ve been told school visits can turn a children’s writer into a “name” author, and I’ve been told that only word of mouth will do that. I had an agent tell me that sometimes when a publishing house throws a ton of marketing money at a title, they can turn it into a bestseller, but sometimes that same ton of money is for naught and the book tanks.
Which of these things is true? Are they all true? Does it depend on the title? The timing? The author’s hairstyle? What?
Writer Tess Gerritsen recently wrote about the online marketing question. At first, she thought traditional forms of marketing were more effective. But then, she was persuaded that the old forms of marketing are on their way out.
Huh!
I’ve heard all those things too and have no clue. Obviously they can’t all be true but I will say I don’t believe in absolutes so anytime anyone says something along the lines of ‘all writers must’…I tune out. There’s no one size fits all solution.
I even disagree with this from that second link:
“Everyone should be willing to do at least a few speaking engagements at libraries and bookstores. ”
If you’re good at it (or want to become so) and enjoy it, sure. If you’re not and don’t want to be and don’t have anything to say about writing (the last thing I want to do is analyze what I’m doing, my process if there is one is, invisible to me) then I think you’re better off working on your new book or promoting in some other way which seems less abhorent.
As you can see I’m not planning any speaking engagements! Of course it’s not like I’m Stephenie Meyer here so maybe I’m proving Tess’ point.
I don’t know, but I just *hate* thinking about marketing. I was saying to someone else recently that it made feel like the person in the Scream painting by Munch. The minute I start to think about writing as being a business I can’t bring myself to do it. I have to sort of cocoon myself away from the publishing world and pretend I’m the only person in the world doing this and I’m doing it just for me.
I know everyone’s always saying it’s a business and blah, blah, blah, but I just can’t. If I thought that I wouldn’t want to do it anymore, or I would, but just for myself.
C.K. your POV is deeply appealing to me, but writing a ms that I LOVED, that was kind of “just for me” and then having everyone turn it down as “unmarketable” even while saying some of the nicest things about my writing I’ve heard yet, shifted my perspective on this. I’m not strong enough to create thing after thing that I think is good and others agree is good, but that doesn’t reach readers.
I might be a little sensitive on this point, since my Dad was a mostly unsuccessful visual artist. He cocooned himself away pretty thoroughly from the art world, and I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons his work never broke through significantly.