There's Only So Much You Can Do To Sell Books (On Your Own)

The holiday gift-buying rush is upon us, and it's always the time of year when authors try to get a couple of last-minute sales under their belts. Heck, if you haven't checked out my noir mystery novel about a New York City alley cat titled Marked Territory or my sword and sorcery adventure Crier's Knife, they'd be ideal for some of the folks on your gift list!

The intro sort of illustrates my point, though. There's only so much you can do as an author to be successful... and there's no guarantee that even if you push all the right buttons that you're going to get the result you're shooting for.

Just a few more social media posts... surely that will do it...

Authors Depend on You

I'm going to start this off by saying that if you are an author, you have to tic all the boxes on the checklist that you can. You need to write a good book. You need an eye-catching cover. You need to cultivate your social media presence, and if possible build yourself a platform. Whether it's a blog, a YouTube channel, an Instagram page, you need some way to reach more people. You should probably have a mailing list as well (speaking of, sign up for The Literary Mercenary's newsletter to get weekly updates on all my releases), ensuring you can reach people without depending on the algorithms that run social media and search engines. You need to try to boost your own signal as best you can, and to do everything possible within your control.

But none of that will get us anywhere without a hand up from you.

 

With that said, though, at the end of the day we can shotgun blast our books all over every corner of the Internet. We can buy ads on the most popular social media platforms, hire companies to boost our signal, fill up forums with comments, spam our links into bookmarking sites, and shout from the highest rooftops... and when all is said and done not move a single copy of our books.

There are a lot of reasons for this. Part of it is that unless you're already famous, your voice gets drowned out pretty easily. Another part of it is that people basically discount anyone who is obviously trying to sell them something. Whether it's people who avoid looking at your table at a convention, or who down vote you for "spamming" your book on a group, no one wants to listen to your self-promotion. It's almost a conditioned response; like how you used to immediately get up to go to the bathroom as soon as a commercial came on TV, and you blocked out whatever product was being sold.

But do you know what happens as soon as you start talking about our books? People listen.

The human mind is both amazing, and dumb.

It sounds stupid, but it's true. I could deliver the most carefully crafted sales pitch in the world, but a majority of people who hear it are immediately going to ignore it because I'm, "just trying to sell copies of my book." But if you say to your friend, your co-worker, your siblings, or your spouse, "Hey, this was a really good book. You should read it!" they're going to weigh your opinions far more heavily than they do mine.

Why? Well, because they have a personal connection to you. Not only that, but because you stand nothing to gain by saying this book was great, so why wouldn't they trust you?

This is why having good reviews on websites matters (that, and if you have 50 reviews or more your book gets its signal boosted in places like Amazon). It's why you sharing a link on your Facebook wall or your Twitter feed matters. And if you have a platform of your own, whether it's a blog, a YouTube channel, or even a podcast, using that to big-up the signal of a writer you know is what we need to actually reach potential readers.

We could be the most brilliant campaign designers out there. We could ensure our books are visible, and that our ads show up everywhere. We can use all the keywords we want to make sure we get steady streams of eyeballs... but none of that is going to be as effective as you telling people in your friends group and/or your audience that we wrote something good.

Because they know you. They trust you. And the easiest way to get them to know and trust us as authors is to vouch for us. Get your friends to give us a chance, because they aren't going to take us on our own merits even if we do actually write exactly the sort of things they'd love to read.

Please. We're sort of depending on you.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

You Really Can't Do Too Much Research For Your Book

One of the major appeals of writing fiction is the idea that if you don't know the answer to something that you can just make it up. Not sure how light is focused into a beam that fires from the tip of your futuristic private eye's laser pistol? Good news, you can just create the mystery element of the Forunex crystal that makes light-based weaponry practical and compact. Unsure of how spontaneous combustion would be possible from a physics and chemistry standpoint? Well, since the Devotees of Fire are granted power by their god, it's magic so you don't have to explain a damn thing!

It can really make your life as a creator easier in a lot of respects.

In other respects, though...

A problem that a lot of writers run into, though, is they get too drunk on their own creative abilities. Just because something is fictional, that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least do a Google search, or crack a book, to make sure you aren't going in the completely wrong direction.

 

Also, before we continue on, make sure you sign up for my weekly newsletter to be sure you don't miss any of my updates!

Let's Look at Werewolves For a Second

Oh yeah, we're going to fight about this.

If you've ever read a piece of werewolf fiction, or even played a game like Werewolf: The Apocalypse, you're likely very familiar with the idea of strong alpha leaders, the right hand of the beta, and the shifty omega no one likes. These are terms and ideas that are used to describe the structure of wolf packs, thereby allowing the reader to have one foot in reality, and one foot in a fantasy.

Unless they've read a science article since roughly 1980 or so.

As Knowledge Nuts points out, the idea of violent struggles for dominance is what you see in captive wolf packs. When wolves have no relation to one another, and no existing family structure, which means these wolves were basically in animal prison. In the wild wolves act nothing like this. They're tight-knit family groups that care for one another, and a wolf's age is a far more likely indicator of status than how violent or aggressive they are. So trying to map the social dynamic of a violent prison gang onto all werewolves actually undercuts your attempt to bridge reality with fiction if the reader is aware you're citing debunked, outdated ideas in the story.

This is just a small example of how you need to make sure your research impacts the fiction you're creating. And the more closely tied to reality your fantasy is, the more research you need to do. Because if your central conceit is, "I have giant robots in my story," then you can probably just ask your audience to buy that without going into too many details of the physics or how these huge machines function. But if your story is set in a near-future Moscow, then it would probably help to actually research the culture of the country, the function of the government, and the ranks of the armed forces to make sure you get those things correct. Especially if your robot's pilot would have to complete regular military training, and then meet the standards of that country before being allowed into the heavy armored division.

You Can Never Know Too Much

While it's possible to go overboard on description and detail, and to bog your book down with adverbs or purple prose, you can never do too much research as a creator. Because even if you find a bunch of details that aren't going to be relevant to your story, they're still going to inform your view and your process. Whether it's how many samurai were actually women, to what the code of chivalry actually demanded from knights, to what gender roles were actually held by the Vikings (with men being beautiful and perfumed, and women being the heads of the household's finances), these little factoids can take your book in unexpected directions.

Additionally, a little extra research can often stop you from including debunked facts, outdated worldviews, or offensive stereotypes in your stories... and that's worth a little extra time hitting the books, don't you think?

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

The Best Gift You Can Give An Author This Holiday Season

It's almost that time of year again. Even in the age of Covid-19 people want to reach out to their friends and loved ones, and let them know they're thinking of them during the holidays. And if you have an author on your gift list, you might be scratching your brain more than usual to find an appropriate gift for them to let them know they're in your heart even if travel restrictions and safety precautions mean you'll likely be limited to face timing.

I mean, what do you get for writers? A novelty pen holder shaped like a knight? A set of Moleskine notebooks for all their ideas on the go? A bottle of their favorite spirit of choice so they have something to crack open either when they land their next big contract, or when they need a shot of something when their current manuscript turns into a slog?

Is it coffee? Is that the secret?

Well, the thing about writers is that each of us are different and unique individuals with our own wants, needs, and tastes. However, I will guarantee you that if you really want to make the writer in your life feel special, there are two things you can give them for the holidays that will make them smile.

Reviews, and sales.

 

Also, if you haven't done so yet, sign up for The Literary Mercenary's newsletter! As a preemptive gift for me, and for you.

A Gift For Every Budget

I want to drop a little knowledge on you. Most folks who are regular readers around here have likely come across these facts before, but if you're new, this single image lays it all out for you.

You can probably see where this is going.

Every single notice on this digital cork board is a reason that the holidays can be an ideal time to really make an author's month. If you have a friend or family member that you know would enjoy one of their books, buy them a copy, wrap it, and put it under the tree. You can get them a hard copy or buy them an ebook, the author doesn't care because they get royalties either way. Heck, if you've got several friends that you know would enjoy a particular book, make it a holiday book club!

I can personally attest to that fact in the upper left hand corner. There have been some years that I've barely cracked that $10k mark, and only a fraction of that income came from my book sales. Every little bit really does help when that royalty check comes in.

Also, your regular reminder I have a new novel out!

If you don't have a budget to buy a whole bunch of books, though, then you can make a big difference to your author friends by reading their books, leaving reviews, and boosting their signal on social media.

I'm not kidding about this, either. At time of writing, Marked Territory just picked up its 11th review. My novel Crier's Knife rounded 21 reviews a few weeks back. My short story collection The Rejects has only managed to snatch 3 reviews since it came out a little less than a year ago (not surprising, short stories are a tough sell, but it is disappointing). There's only so much you can do on your own (especially in a pandemic with no in-person events you can attend), and authors need all the help they can get right now. So if you can give an author you like a leg up, that is a big deal! It might not feel like it, but it is.

If you're wondering why, it's because you are seen as an unbiased source to all the shoppers on the Internet. Of course we think our books are great; we wrote the damn things! But when you leave a review or share a post on Twitter or Facebook, people who see that see a person who is giving their honest opinion about a book. And if a few dozen of you all have the same high opinion of something, well, then the onlookers are going to have to check it out for themselves to see what the fuss is all about, aren't they?

Need Some Authors To Help Out This Holiday?

While I will never say no to more sales, ratings, and reviews, I did want to take a moment to boost the signal on some of my fellow authors and their books this week. We're almost into the time of thanks, and then the season of giving, so consider checking out some of the following!

- Geisha Hands by Lauren A. R. Masterson: Written and illustrated by the author, this historical fiction novel is definitely worth your time.

- The Hole Behind Midnight by Clinton Boomer: If you need your modern fantasy hit, and other authors just aren't packing the punch you need, Clinton has you covered. When you turn the final page, you'll with you didn't have to leave the bizarre world of the 25th hour!

- Bitter by Ruth de Jauregui: For those mystery lovers who like a side of grit, this is one you shouldn't let pass you by. Ruth's been working on the Bitter series and setting for some time, and this is enough to give you a bit of a taste.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

NaNoWriMo Is Not (Generally Speaking) How Professionals Write Books

Before I get too far into this week's post, I want to start with the caveat that every writer has their own comfort zones, their own acceptable word count, and their own rituals. Some people do it faster, some people have more re-writes, and some people have been doing this so long that it practically seems like magic when yet another manuscript slides off their desk.

With all of that said, NaNoWriMo prepares you to be an author in the same way that watching gonzo porn prepares you for a night of romance. Some of the same elements are indeed present, but if you think this is the way it works then you are going to be sorely disappointed.

Seriously, that is NOT how this works!

 

Bad Habits Lead To Bad Writing

For those not familiar with this November event, NaNoWriMo is when everyone hunkers down in November to hammer out that novel they've been talking about for years. You have to hit a particular word count, which means that you need to get several thousand words a day in order to be done with it by the end of the month.

Is this real writing? Absolutely! People are sitting down and putting words on the page to tell a story, and that is literally all it takes to be considered "real" writing. However, as with my adult film comparison above, there's more to writing a novel than just the mechanical process of putting one word in front of the other.

There may not be a lot more to it, but there is more.

However, Nano teaches you to write at a dead sprint when a novel is really more like a marathon. There are some writers who can put out a manuscript in a month, but the Stephen Kings and Robert Louis Stevensons are sort of the exceptions that prove the rule. Most people cannot hammer out several thousand words of prose in a sitting... especially not if they have a social life, a full-time job that isn't selling books, etc. And that doesn't even get into the editing process, re-writes, submissions, self-publishing, sales, and the hundreds of other areas you need to be skilled in if you want this to be your job.

 

The pace required to complete the challenge keeps you going forward with no time to pause and evaluate what you're putting down. Whether you thought of a change that would improve your plot, or you realized there's a mistake, you just don't have the time to go back and change it. Anymore than you'd stop to tie your shoe during a sprint. Worse, if it turns out your story needs more space to stretch out, but you've only budgeted your efforts to hit the minimum word count, then you're going to add an extra stress trigger into your brain because you "failed" to accomplish what you set out to do.

I could go on, but in many ways, Nano is kind of like a crash diet. You will achieve what you set out to, but it isn't really a sustainable result. And if this is something you want to maintain long-term, you need to develop better habits, and make more permanent changes to your routine rather than just slam energy drinks and go nuts for one month out of the year.

Hey, It's Just For Fun!

If you are one of those people who just wants to sit down and pound away at the keys for fun this November, far be it from me to hold you back! If you're someone who is using this as your excuse to finally indulge and see if you have what it takes, or you're looking for something exciting to do when going back into quarantine, then by all means go for it!

However, my point is that the pocket universe of NaNoWriMo that crops up every year is not how things work if you're a professional writer. And just because you managed to finish a manuscript for Nano, that book has no better chance than any other at becoming your meal ticket just because of how quickly you wrote it. If anything, I'd suggest that it's probably going to need a great deal more revisions than something that was put out with more attention to detail, and at a steadier pace.

Pshaw, this writing thing is easy!

And I'm sure there are people out there right now saying that of course it's different when this is your job! Stop ragging on people who are just doing this for fun! But the human brain is exactly as smart as we'd expect electrified jello to be, and it often draws false conclusions. Whether it's comparing yourself to that fitness model who spends a dozen hours in the gym and has an entire lighting crew to make them look their best, or watching a romantic comedy and forgetting that acting that way in real life would get you slapped with several felony charges, even the smartest among us are working with brains that are pretty stupid.

So if you want to participate in NaNoWriMo, please, do so! Break that keyboard, write your story, and have a blast with it! But if you want to be a professional novelist, understand that the Nano format is not a great way to hone your craft, and to produce the best quality work you're capable of. And while a crash workout designed to get your toned and fit fast might get a lot of immediate results, it isn't a great strategy if you want to become a body builder.

Lastly, don't get too hung up on your daily word count. A couple of paragraphs a day will have a complete manuscript in less than a year... you don't need to go overboard with it.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!