It’s been a few weeks since Once Upon a Lie released and I can feel my head clearing and making space for other thoughts beyond the monumental efforts to get the book produced and uploaded to all the places. It takes an insane amount of work to get your book polished, formatted, and connected to all the channels for distribution around the globe. This is the hidden work that most traditionally published authors and readers alike never really know about. Weirdly, I mostly enjoy doing it. It’s only when I have to chase down problems and depend on sometimes less then helpful customer service operations that I feel the frustrations rise.
Why can’t things JUST WORK, I often wonder. But generally I’ve been able to work out the bugs with venders and I’ve learned a lot of lessons for my next book. I’m really happy with how Once Upon a Lie has turned out and I feel proud of the book I’ve created for you. Which brings me to my next thought…
With my new headspace, I’ve been wondering more and more about goals and next steps for this indie author career. If you’re already a part of this world, you know there is nothing but an avalanche of How-To advice from every conceivable corner of the internet. When I head down these rabbit holes, I see that the advice is both helpful and overwhelming but my greatest take away thus far has been the realization that I’ll need to align my path with goals that truly resonate with my values as a writer.
So much of the marketing advice is centered on writing more books faster in order to sell more books and make more money. There is advice on creating ads, tracking data, sell through, market reach, etc, etc. It’s amazing, truly, how much other authors share about exactly how they have found success. And as much as I realize they are correct, selling books is a business after all, I’ve yet to find myself even remotely capable of implementing any of their very sound selling tactics.
Why? I have no idea. Obstinance? Stupidity? Unwillingness to deep dive and learn how to really market a book? All of the above?
Maybe.
It could be that all the climbing and learning I did to produce a book I could feel proud to have my name on has left me a little tired. Perhaps you’ll see a Mad Men level marketing surge from me after I’ve had a month or two to recuperate. I don’t really know how I’ll end up trying to sell this book, but I do know I’ve landed on my number one goal for this career moving forward, and I actually think it’s foundational to any selling I do or don’t attempt in the future.
And that goal is to create great books that I feel proud of and that readers will love.
From the concept and writing to the packaging and design, I want to make books I, as a reader, would want to read and own. If I can that right, I am hoping the rest will more easily fall into place with time.
