I recently had an email conversation with a local author who has written a book and they wanted advice, because they felt stuck with their book. It wasn’t going anywhere. I asked if it was on Amazon, so I could take a look and this was their reply:
“It’s not on Amazon, I was curious about that, it seems like thousands of people upload their books every day, is that not like throwing a tiny pebble into the sea? “
I found that an interesting thought…
I’ve been published traditionally in the past: a schools’ music scheme, used nationally for many years.
I’ve published with a small hybrid publisher.
Now I’m publishing independently, on Amazon.
When it comes to making the sales, the most money I’ve earned was with the schools’ music scheme – because it was being used nationally by many, many primary schools. It was written to help non-specialist teachers teach music and to fit the new music curriculum that had come in at that time in the early 1990s. There was a huge need for support materials to help teachers teach lessons that were expected of them, when they didn’t have the musical acuity to do so.
Since then, I’ve earned more with my independently published books than I did with the hybrid publisher. I’m not earning enough to live on it, but as I’m 72 and semi-retired, I don’t need to rely on those funds. However, I also don’t treat it as a hobby. I’m serious about my writing and want to get it out there in front of an audience.
Therefore, when the person I was talking to suggested that they thought Amazon was a waste of time, I wondered how else they expected to sell their books.
I’m talking fiction too – not something that you can sell as part of your business, or as a ‘business card’ to showcase your expertise. If the latter is the case, depending on the size of your business, you have an audience ready to sell to.
As I’m sure all of you who write fiction know, it’s hard getting your book in front of people.
Amazon as much as many people hate it has opened up a whole raft of opportunities to writers to be able to independently publish their books and reap the benefit, rather than sharing a cut with a publisher/agent plus the percentage that Amazon also take.
Yes, I have a website where I can share my books – if people find my website.
I’m on social media – but again, it’s hard work getting noticed among the many millions of others’ out there.
But isn’t that life?
If we are passionate about something, we have to make the most of it that we can.
So, yes, I toss my pebbles into the sea.
‘You drop a pebble into a pond, you get ripples. Soon the ripples cross the whole pond.’ Bruce Lee
In the words of Bruce Lee above, I’m hoping that my books will make a ripple, and if people enjoy reading them, then the ripple can spread across more of the pond – reach out to more readers.
When you throw a pebble into the sea it is transported on and off the beach by waves, and might end up in different regions of that beach, but it’s there among the other pebbles.
My books are out there with the other books – they have as much likelihood to be noticed as any other books, and the more I spread my own ripples across my social media, by talking to friends, giving talks… hopefully, the more they’ll sell.
If you don’t even drop the pebble, there’s no ripple….
And even if you think it disappears into all of the other pebbles – if you haven’t thrown it to start with, it won’t even be with the other pebbles!
What are your thoughts?