An Indie Author CAN publish with dignity and rise above the sleaze.
by Derek Murphy
I was at a writer’s conference recently where a woman was upset because the agent she pitched didn’t believe in her book. She wanted more support, more sympathy, more understanding.
The speaker pointed out that the agent’s job is not to be your friend, but to sell your book.
Unfortunately most authors are looking for emotional support. Even after pouring heart and soul into a book and putting it out there, the rejection, apathy and invisibility of the thing they made (a tiny drop in the ocean of newly published books) can sting.
And gradually it fades into feelings of inadequacy. But it doesn’t have to.
We Need to Learn That Selling Books is a Business
Book sales are not a complete mystery: if your book isn’t selling, there’s almost always a reason. Often it’s because new authors continue to repeat the same mistakes. Sometimes they’re following bad advice. Or they made choices stemming from their ideologies about doing creative work and the assumed value of their writing.
I’ve been self-publishing for almost a decade. Even though I’ve learned a lot about how to sell books, it took me a long time and some very public failures.
There’s an interesting debate right now raging against some indie authors as Amazon has begun banning or silencing authors for assumed breach of contract. Some writers feel it’s better not to do any marketing at all. They say Amazon is too confusing. Or there’s too much spam out there already. Or “good books should rise to the top.”
Others are marketing so hard they don’t know what’s actually working. In this article I want to cover some of the big mistakes I see authors make – ones I’ve made in the past.
Don’t Make These Mistakes I Made as a Newbie
by Derek Murphy
1) Hiring a Company to Publish for You
At the writer’s conference I mentioned, everybody was trying to pitch their book to an agent. They spent years writing the book, then more years learning how to pitch it. Recently I saw an article about a woman who’s been waiting ten years to publish.
At writing conferences like this one, there are always a bunch of vanity presses and self-publishing services ready to help authors who have run out of patience.
Some of them are small and have good intentions, and serve a real need. Unfortunately most authors don’t WANT to learn how to self-publish themselves, and would rather just hire someone to do everything for them.
The problem is, author services focused on profiting from author fees aren’t invested in helping your book succeed.
They’ll generally do a passably decent job on book design (though I’ve seen some terrible examples). I usually recommend authors away from services like this, because cover design is so important (more on that later).
But, even knowing the risks, most first time authors are so overwhelmed by self-publishing they still prefer to overpay just to get the book out there.
2) Outsourcing the Marketing
The problem is that most books don’t make any money. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the self-publishing service—unless they overcharged you for an ugly cover.
Often it’s just because the author hasn’t figured how to communicate their book’s value. But if YOU can’t sell it, nobody else can either.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of companies that will take your money and sell you things like press releases or publicity packages. (Which are mostly worthless…Anne.) Almost always, if a book isn’t selling, it’s because the core offer needs to be fixed.
Only you can figure out the right audience for your book, and describe your book in a way that resonates with them.
You also need a cover that’s attractive, a blurb that converts, and enough reviews to remove skepticism.
Most authors never reach this stage. They’re trying to find someone else to see the value in their work for them.
They think they just need more visibility. But if you don’t know who your audience is, you won’t know how to get in front of them or what to say when you do.
3) Communicating Features, not Reader Benefits.
I still do this too much, but I’m learning.
I tell them what the story or book is about, instead of making them feel something about themselves and the literature they like.
You have to make it matter (emotional relevance.) Then you have to get their attention and make the key benefits obvious to readers – hopefully in ONE powerful hook sentence –usually called the “logline” in the industry. (For more on this, see my post on “Hooks, Loglines, and Pitches“…Anne.)
If you can’t sell your book to agents, friends, family, anybody… you haven’t found your hook or logline.
Something I learned from Russell Noherty recently is that you can have multiple pitches depending on your audience, as long as you know each audience and what they’re interested in. Pitch them the book they want, not the book you have.
There’s a marketing adage which reads, “sell them what they want, give them what they need.” I’ve resisted this for years, and I’m still struggling with it in my own way.
For example, I quit offering author services because I want to make a bigger impact and help more authors at once – so I teach about writing and publishing.
The problem is, new authors don’t want to learn all that stuff. Most will sign with some company because it’s easier, then get frustrated when their books don’t sell.
I gave up writing for almost ten years after my first book was a flop, so I know how it feels. A lot of writers quit. Those that persevere long enough to become successful view author services as predatory and scams.
The key thing to remember is you need to keep your book profitable, which means spending less than you earn. If you don’t follow that guideline, it’s easy to overspend thinking everything is an investment.
4) Spending Too Long Writing a Book
Most authors self-identify as “good writers” so they focus on the details and want everything to be perfect. There’s also this conception that books written slowly are better quality.
The problem is, readers don’t care about how long it took you to write the book, and there isn’t a luxury market for books that justifies the extra time investment.
The thing about writing slowly: you can spend years writing an AMAZING book that nobody else appreciates or enjoys. You can also spend years writing a very crappy book. Quality is not what defines art. Van Gogh was derided in his lifetime – because he painted messy, sloppy, fast paintings and nobody appreciated the value.
But art is more than skill and length of production.
Recently I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of art, literature and value, and I’ve concluded two things:
- Real art has value
- Value = skill + demand
- Speed is irrelevant
Many authors cling to Romantic ideology of art, where art has value, but value is not defined by earnings or popularity (in fact, there might be an inverse relationship – such that the BEST work is the LEAST appreciated).
Most authors want their book to be perfect before sharing. The danger is wasting months on the solitary pursuit of greatness, and emerging from the cave with something nobody else gets.
But real art makes an impact, which means a lot of readers see it and love it. My aim is to make THE BEST ART, but I define “best” as the work that only I can do that readers love the most. I want to deliberately make better things that more people enjoy.
To do that well, I need to practice more and publish more frequently, so I can develop the skills I need to improve.
Real Artists Don’t Starve
As Jeff Goins wrote in his book, Real Artists Don’t Starve:
“We must not only make art, but also make money. That is the point – to keep making things. The success is the means, and the end is not having to quit. You don’t have to be rich to do that, but you can’t starve. That’s not how your best work is going to be made.”
Nobody sits down and writes a perfect novel, at least not without lots of practice.
Commit to taking imperfection action with the goal of incremental progression, otherwise the perfectionism can be crippling. Elizabeth Gilbert says in Big Magic, “A good-enough novel violently written now is better than a perfect novel meticulously written never.”
When most people spend years writing a book, they’re actually only spending a few hours a week, and sometimes go months without writing. If you added up all the writing time it takes to finish a book, I’ll bet you could fit it all down to a few months. Even just 500 words a day is three books a year.
Improving your craft is not just a matter of patience and inspiration: creativity works best within limits. Personally I’m invested in learning how to write faster AND better at the same time. Skill and speed of any practice should increase with experience and expertise.
Note: you can also be successful writing a book a year. You don’t have to crank out books. (For more on this, here’s a post in defense of slow writing….Anne.)
My point is you’ll probably reach the stage you want to be at, faster, if you learn to stop procrastinating and actually do the work of finishing the book. It’s not really about writing faster. It’s about writing, period. Choose to make a commitment to your craft, and your readers.
5) Not Getting Enough Feedback
When I started writing fiction, my plan was to publish 10 short novels in a series.
Instead I’ve been slowly rolling out a bunch of book ones for many potential series. It’s not the easiest or smartest way to succeed, but it has allowed me to very quickly get feedback on my writing and test the market.
If the purpose of great art is to matter and be culturally relevant, I cannot be a great writer without writing books readers love. That means my fame, fortune and success is audience-dependent. It’s a relationship – if I can’t make readers happy and satisfied, I don’t deserve to get paid.
This doesn’t cheapen the work. The really interesting thing is, I can test out ideas MUCH faster.
Instead of writing a full book one, for example, I can write a proposal. I can write the sales copy, synopsis, and hook first.
If I do an amazing job of that, I can presell the book and start building an audience while I’m writing the book.
A friend asked me recently why I don’t just concentrate on fiction and cranking out more books (I could be earning a lot more if I finished my series). I can do that, and I will… but I also know my previous work isn’t my BEST yet. My self-published books sell well and review well. I know I can do this writing thing for a living.
But I don’t want to spend ten years getting to my best work.
Shorten feedback loops
Now I’m going to make my feedback loops even SHORTER. I have an agent willing to look at my ideas and pitch them to publishers. So now I’m going to write the first chapter or two of ten potential projects and pitch them all at once.
If she can get a bite on a project, I’ll put everything else on hold and write that one. I also have an “in” with a screenwriter for Netflix; I’ll go through the same process with her, pitching ideas and working on the most commercial (for me the best art is also the most commercial: the one that has the broadest emotional relevance and cultural significance).
I can very quickly test and throw out my best ideas. Enough to get funding and support, presell, and go bigger.
Remember, to sell your work, you must be able to communicate its value. If you made it for yourself without considering the market, you won’t know how to talk about it or describe it to other people.
This is why most books fail.
6) Hiring (the Wrong) Editors
I’m including this one because of some horror stories I’ve heard recently about editors. The problems with editors are many: it’s difficult to find one you trust, who is also good. Editors may think they’re awesome because they don’t see what they don’t fix.
There are a lot of failed authors turning into editors to feed their writing addiction. Most are self-employed or have their own company, so they have full control. I’ve heard of authors going through multiple rounds of copy-editing and proofreading and still getting negative reviews for typos.
I’ve heard of editors disappearing after getting paid.
Experienced authors know that nobody catches everything, and even traditionally published books with several rounds of editing still publish with typos. But of course you want your book to be as clean as possible.
The problem is, in most cases extra polishing will not improve earnings.
Editors Can’t Fix a Weak Story
I started an editing company when I was getting my PhD in Literature. The most frustrating thing was, although I could significantly improve the project, I couldn’t rewrite it from scratch. I couldn’t fix the core issues with plotting, pacing or organization. The core product of a book is the content or story.
Editing makes a book easier to read, and possibly more enjoyable. It’s a good idea to hire a professional, but it won’t necessarily sell more books. Which is why, for a first time author, it might be a mistake to pay for help.
I also don’t believe in setting a cost-to-entry barrier. I don’t like telling authors they shouldn’t publish at all unless they can afford to spend thousands of dollars. Instead, I tell authors to focus on writing great books; self-edit as much as possible; study your craft. Nobody will do the hard work for you.
If you’ve just finished writing the book, put it away for a while, come back to it later. Get feedback from beta-readers (actual fans of your genre, not just your neighbor or mom).
Don’t ask other writers. Don’t join an expensive MFA program. They’ll focus on improving the flow and cadence of the individual sentences; you need to be looking at the actual story or content itself, not the words you used to tell it.
7) Designing a Clever Cover
I’m only now starting to appreciate the power of design, even though I’ve been a designer for almost a decade. Design communicates trust and professionalism.
A great cover design immediately tells your audience that this is a book they need to read.
Great design can boost perceive value and purchasing desire, before they’ve even read your sales copy. Basically, you don’t need to convince people to read your book or tell them why they’ll like it if you have a great cover that already gets them to open the book.
My first book (the one that failed) had a terrible cover. I painted an actual oil painting, then scanned it, messed around in Photoshop. Not only was it ugly, it was also far too busy and distracting.
A great cover is clear, not clever.
Most authors make the mistake of wanting the cover to communicate what’s inside the book, but that’s not the cover’s job: its only purpose is to lure readers close enough to even read the description.
That said, spending a lot for a cover isn’t always a great idea, especially if your book isn’t especially marketable. If you do hire a designer, try to listen to what they’re saying, instead of just telling them what to do.
Why it’s best to buy a professional cover
Amateur designers will make what you want, which is probably something fresh and different and surprising.
Great designers will make something similar to, but better than, the other bestselling books in your genre.
Even after all these years, I still screw up my own covers all the time—usually because I’m too close to my story, and I get bogged down in details or recreating the world in my head. Often after I launch the book, if it doesn’t sell I’ll search for a cheap premade instead, and it’ll work better.
The cover needs to attract people who haven’t read your book yet. It’s not about the details, it’s about the genre and emotional impact.
One last comment: even though I make book cover templates and tutorials so authors can DIY, the main danger there is they’ll make something they love and then be unwilling to change it. Don’t get too invested in your cover.
Get the best you can afford, learn the basics so you know what disastrously common mistakes to avoid, and be willing to change gears if it doesn’t work. (The easiest way to test is to just upload a new cover and run some Amazon ads, to see if you get more clicks).
8) Haphazard Advertising
For years I’ve relied on organic traffic: which means I build up my own blogs and websites with great content to attract new viewers. I’m happy my audience is growing, and it gives me some autonomy from Amazon.
But I’m discovering how much more powerful (and faster) it is to just send the right people to the right offer.
It’s difficult to advertise profitably for just one low price ebook, which is why the authors who advertise tend to charge more.
The other great thing about advertising is, it’s a much faster way to fine tune your sales copy or hook or pitch. You can even test out hooks with ads and then fix up your Amazon blurb with the version that got the most clicks.
Of course you need to be careful, and it’s easy to spend money quickly and not see results (that’s when most authors quit or give up because it didn’t work for them).
Finding the Right Audience is Key
If you can’t get the right audience to click your ad and buy your book, then you have an insurmountable challenge. In other words, you can’t just keep driving traffic or paying for marketing.
Instead you need to fix your offer, find your benefits, understand your audience and what they really want.
When people ask me why their books aren’t selling, I usually tell them to fix the blurb first (almost everybody’s blurbs could be much better, including mine.) Then fix or change the cover (almost everyone’s covers could be better, including mine). Remember you’re competing against millions of books. “Pretty good” won’t cut it anymore.
You wrote a great book, so you have a duty to your art to get it seen, read and loved. That’s what you made it for.
If you DO have a book that converts well enough, advertising is the gateway to next level performance. I know a few authors who sell well with no promotion; but it’s more common for high-performance authors to be spending money on advertising.
But it has to be measurable. A lot of first time authors have big ideas about how to reach lots of people: a billboard in Times Square, or a thousand T-shirts.
You want to make sure you’re only paying to get in front of the right readers, so you can use language they understand, and it’s so much cheaper to do that online with Amazon or Facebook ads.
9) Ignoring the Bottom Line
My first few books, I wrote for myself. I haven’t really changed my viewpoint so much as deepened my understanding for what art is or does.
If you’re an artist, you should aim to make an impact of some kind. Even though you may never want international fame and fortune, you probably want to make work that matters. Art that other people care about. I know all about being a starving artist, and refusing to cave in to the demands of the market.
I wrote the books I wanted. And painted the things I thought were funny. I didn’t care if anybody else liked them.
But then I had to get a day job, which meant spending less time making the art. I resented the world, the art industry, the publishing industry, because – like that author I met at the conference – nobody wanted to SUPPORT me.
But art is not a limit. Art is not a negative, a void, a drain to be filled. Real art has positive value, which means it has commercial value. We perversely define artists as those who DON’T create for money (as opposed to nearly every other vocation, where skill, experience and quality for a craft would boost your income), based on the idea that great work transcends commercialism.
So I started focusing on the money: what people want to pay me for. This is usually a balance between what I like to do and what people want me to do.
I’m still not great at it. It’s easy to see what authors need, but most of them don’t want to hear it..
Slowly, I’ve found ways to make more money without spending as much of my own time, which means I’ve carved out space to do my serious work. By trying to write commercial fiction and nonfiction (stuff that people actually enjoy and are willing to pay for) I’ve improved my craft while building my audience.
I used to just talk about book marketing or selling books, but I’m learning the majority of authors don’t need help with book marketing. They THINK they do, because their books aren’t selling.
What they actually need to be successful is better books.
That’s something I can help them with: the writing process, getting the work done, and writing more satisfying books that readers love. But in order to attract the people who need my help most, I have to offer the things they’re looking for, and use language they agree with. So recently I’ve been shifting my focus, from “write books that sell” to “write books that matter.”
Even though I think selling books and writing great books goes hand-in-hand, authors are naturally more open to the idea of writing better books; even if my process for learning how to write better books, is through allowing yourself to aim for imperfection progress rather than literary perfection.
10) Failing to Communicate with my Audience
Before I started writing fiction, I built a list of 8500 readers with book giveaways. I’ve helped a lot of authors build lists, but many authors don’t really know who has signed up or why.
There are also a lot of new groups or services now who offer list-building giveaways; which means readers are getting burnt out – especially since most authors only email promotions.
But the value of a list isn’t in the numbers, it’s in the relationships.
Done right, email lets you communicate to readers directly. Which means, instead of just trying to get them to click and buy your book immediately, you can get them to like you and care about you (by showing that you like and care about them).
A lot of authors aren’t willing to do this work, and I get it – it’s tricky to get right. (Or some of us who hate getting newsletters prefer to do it with an interactive blog...Anne 🙂 )
I made the mistake of building big lists without having a proper email autoresponder set up. With a handful of well-written emails, you can turn a complete stranger into a loyal fan and reader in just a few weeks.
It’s a balance between engaging stories, activities and questions, and vulnerable shares. I’m still getting the hang of it, actually, but I’m doing well enough that I get daily emails from people thanking me for sending them my newsletter.
And because it’s all set up on autopilot, those are new readers and fans being cultivated automatically, while I focus on writing more books. By getting to know who your audience actually is and what they want, not only can you write better books, faster, but you’ll have a supportive community to help you launch your new releases – and that’s the best marketing in the world.
Final Conclusions
There’s a lot of sleaze and spam in the publishing world, as well as a lot of dodgy offers and services; but I think the main issue is that authors haven’t figured out how to pitch their book to the right audience. Most authors would rather pay someone else to sell books for them, which is why these predatory services thrive. The solution is not more book marketing; it’s getting to know your audience, studying your craft, and learning enough about publishing to avoid mistakes and scams.
For my part, I’m still figuring out the balance between art, creativity and value, so that I can spend all my time doing what I love, while also providing service readers love me for. I’m also still hesistant about putting myself out there, even though I get positive reviews and feedback. I’d rather just make the work, without needing to promote or market the work. It’s always scary and uncomfortable (for me at least) to ask someone to buy your book.
But just because you’re uncomfortable with it, doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. Marketing doesn’t have to be sleazy: if people love what you’re doing and are satisfied with what they got for the price they paid, you’re providing them a service they’ll thank you for. You could actually argue there is more integrity in marketing a good book, than being silent and letting readers waste money on crappy books instead.
by Derek Murphy (@creativindie ) August 19, 2018
What about you, scriveners? Do you agree with Derek’s advice? I know many of the things he suggests here are not the same as what Ruth and I teach, but there’s room for different approaches in today’s wildly changing publishing environment. I love his saying that “A Good Cover is Clear Not Clever.” Have you made any of these mistakes?
Derek Murphy is a full-time writer of fiction and non-fiction and has had over a million views of his publishing resources and tutorials for authors.
He self-published a couple books a decade ago, did everything wrong, and nearly quit writing when all the negative feedback flooded in. He went back to school, wrote his MA thesis on Harry Potter and his PhD Thesis on Paradise Lost. Since then he has helped over a thousand authors publish their books, and has become an expert in self-publishing, cover design and book marketing.
In the last two years he figures he’s published about a million words. He and his wife travel and write scifi and fantasy novels about mermaids and fallen angels. They also spend a lot of time in cat cafés.
See what he’s up to at www.creativindie.com or follow him on Twitter @creativindie
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Thanks, Derek, for an interesting take. As a former editor, I’ll simply say that finding a good editor is like finding a good mechanic. They can’t turn junker into a Mercedes but maybe the junker will hold out for a bit longer.
Editing is a tough business; often the authors who know they need the most help expect editors to fix everything. I like the idea of focusing on manuscript reviews or critique before/instead of editing to fix the big stuff.
Getting them to like you – one thing I did right in the beginning without realizing it. Until a a bunch of blogger buddies and online friends started telling me they were buying and reading my book (and then books) just because they liked me.
I think only once have I paid for advertising. Everything else I’ve done myself. (I know my publisher has paid for advertising though.)
Nice! I’m still learning… people like me but I rarely ask for the sale, it has to be some balance between getting them to listen enough to hear the offer.
Marketing! Ick. Yuck! I hate that stuff.
I know, right? I just want to write all day and not tell anybody about my books. 🙂
I agree with Point #6. Writing is so solitary that it’s easy to want to commune with other writers and get craft tips. And most of those are pure garbage. They’re passed around by other beginners, and in some cases, by people who actively want to keep their peers right at the beginner level. I’ve seen tips where the writer will actively tell other writers to leave out the setting and the five senses, claiming they are unimportant, and yet, they are an integral building block to your characterization (and also a skill that will start getting you noticed by editors and readers). I had to get off writing message boards because there was so much of this junk every day that it was still contaminating me even though I knew it was junk.
I only get copy editing. When I was looking for one, I was astounded at the number of editors who only did developmental editing and basic proofreading and did not do any copy editing. I was also astounded at the enormous social pressure to get developmental editing. I went to a SF con and attended a panel on editing because I thought I might find someone who could do the copy editing. Since it started with a light crowd, the panelists asked me what I was looking for and I told them. During the panel, they singled me out and said, “Everyone MUST get developmental editing.” Really? Needless to say, I didn’t do business with any of the editors. When I mentioned I was looking for copy editing on a FB group I was on, one of the writers gave me a name…to a person who only did developmental editing. The writer got extremely upset with me because I opted for copy editing and hysterically told me I wasn’t “doing the best for my book.” I felt like telling her that I’d gotten personal rejections from pro-rate magazines, so I really did think I knew how to write. Just made me want to bang my head against the wall. But the reason I got those personal rejections is because I worked my butt off on some skills I was weak in and then tackled new skills I needed to learn. I’ve been cleaning up my files, and I could see stories I wrote in 2016–only 2 years ago–and I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned in such a short time. There really isn’t any shortcuts.
That’s so weird, but I guess professional editors make their money from this so they need to be defensive… I actually quit editing because I can copy edit or proofread and still feel like the book isn’t good enough to be successful and readers won’t like it, so I feel bad for the author who has paid for editing but won’t be able to earn it back… so I can see how, as an editor, I might recommend developmental editing first. BUT some authors just do it right the first time, and it’s your business, and service providers need to respect the client and help them within their parameters.
I agree to this whole article.
I had a bad surprise this Saturday. There is a huge book fair going on in my city, Brasilia, Brazil. I went over to try to talk to editors and writers. See how they are doing, what they are seeking. I felt all authors and editors in my country are lost in the last century or millennium. The knowledge I have achieved so far is nothing, but gets me in a professional level that is way beyond theirs.
While we are worried about content, plot and providing pleasant reading experiences, these authors and editors here believe a nice paper for a book is one of the most important things. Pocket books here “don’t work”. Authors and editors believe are not sold because “the readers want a better paper quality.”
An author was mad because the cover artist did not make a cover related to the story. “It did not come out the way I wanted.”
That’s funny. The cover thing is common, but a lot of publishers take risks too – trying to have an interesting cover instead of an obvious one… indies focus more on content than presentation.
I think this is one of those blog posts I’m going to bookmark and refer people to in the future. It pretty much covers everything very well. I’m a hybrid author in a niche market for over 20 years, but I had the advantage of working with publishers before I went into my first indie venture alone. And I have no regrets about going into the indie market. I still work with publishers, but I enjoy releasing my indie books just as much. I also like what you said about publishing services, because I have a small publishing service that I don’t promote widely. I’m not even going to share the web site here. We will take on authors and books that we believe in, and we’ll help them indie publish at very affordable rates. We don’t offer editing or marketing, but we do offer cover design. And we work with each author as an individual. Our most recent release was a middle grade picture book…totally outside of my own genre…and we didn’t charge the author a dime for that one. We believed in the book and we worked out a deal so that we get paid a percentage on the back end. But the author still makes all the calls. We are simply providing a publishing service in that respect to someone who otherwise would never be able to indie publish alone. We’ve also taken on clients who were with small publishers that shuttered, and plenty of them have shuttered. These authors don’t want their books to just disappear after they get the rights back. And it’s always affordable. But it’s not something I advertise and promote too much. It takes a lot of time and care to get these books out and I’m still writing full time myself. And the fact that what we do is so affordable makes it hard to take on too many authors.
Yeah this is unfortunate, there’s lots of small publishing businesses that say stuff like “we don’t charge authors anything!” or “we’re not about the market/commercial, we just want to support great books” – but if the publisher can’t make money, or don’t have an income strategy, they won’t be able to support their authors.
Thank you, Derek for allowing us to learn from your mistakes.
Awesome post Derek! I’m sure most of us knew this information already, but you put together all the important points and packaged it up nicely. You provided compelling reasons for each of your points. Am liberally sharing this around social media…
Thanks! I’m usually surrounded by indies and this is common knowledge, but I forget the majority of writers are still chasing trad publishing deals and don’t want to learn anything about online platform building.
Great article, Derek, and love the consistent themes of ‘do the work’, ‘learn your audience’, ‘write the best story possible’.
As a developmental editor, who still does plenty of copy edits, I began concentrating on this foundational level of editing because I kept receiving manuscripts for copy editing that were barely hanging together story-wise. It was so frustrating to have to tell an author wanting a copy edit that their story had fatal flaws. I was continually having to stop edits and receive partial payments because to continue would have been unethical.
Working from the position of developmental editor, I can tailor my editing to best support the manuscript’s current draft status, which may involve some complex issues. I can be flexible in my review and note developmental issues, as well as work within the parameters of a line edit, while also performing a coarse copy edit. A broader editing process like this can result in a dramatically improved iteration of their book that puts them in a good position for rewrites.
I think there may be editors out there who haven’t found their ‘niche’ in editing, so they just do ‘copy editing’, which seems to have a different definition for each editor. This can put authors at a disadvantage, especially if they are working with a very finite budget.
I’m a big-picture person, so the editing stage that best suits me is developmental. I also tend to stick to the guidance that resonates with me, which is Blake Snyder’s ‘Save the Cat’ series. I believe if the core concept and premise is sound and clean, rot cannot flourish.
I hope many, many writers take the few minutes to read your thoughts — everything you’ve brought forth is gold. Thanks again…
Maria D’Marco
It would be so great if authors studied craft and wrote good books on purpose… but it’s too exciting, and when you finish your first book you usually think it’s ready to publish far too early.
Derek, thanks for the home truths and the free book, too. My experience as an indie author has been similar and I want to reemphasize your point about covers. Having a professional cover that looks good and is readable as a thumbnail is essential. It is the most important thing I’ve done to date, other than kicking myself for succumbing to the lure of a publicity service. A $$ mistake which I’m totally over. Mostly.
Two years ago, after doing my own covers for the first 3 books in my mystery series, I connected with a great design pro who created a total concept for the series. Once all the books were re-released with the new covers, sales rose. Not only that, but the new covers were a jumping off point for a website and newsletter redesign.
We’re now working on our 8th cover together. Yes, it is more expensive to get a pro than DIY, but it is an investment in your product and your business of being an author. MUCH smarter than the publicity service. Just saying.
Covers are SO important. It’s crazy how hard authors work when a new cover could double their sales. But, it’s hard to get a good one, sometimes even if you hire someone.
I absolutely cannot live with the statement, “Quality does not define art.” That is just wrong. I don’t know why Van Gogh’s art didn’t sell, but it was not for lack of quality. You could say “Finesse does not define art” and I’d agree with you whole heartedly.
I guess I meant “technical proficiency” because quality is subjective. Someone has to think it’s good for it to be art, right? Although since the 1900s, the definition of art has been new and innovative, devoid from beauty or practicality (art has no function other than to be Art). Which is also why most Art has no Value (is not commercial)… which is my most authors can’t sell books. Definitions can be argued over, but I don’t think it changes the idea that authors should strive to please readers, which I recognize is unfortunately a revolutionary idea.
Thank you for this article, I really enjoyed reading it and found myself nodding away at some parts which I recognise and going “aha” at other parts. Have saved article as it gives valuable advice. Thank you.
Glad it was useful!
I can make a few comments about this. In re: book covers, I believe not only is it important to get a pro if you don’t have the basic skills to create one to begin with, but to get one that will help you flesh out the concept of your story better. I’ve used two, and while the first one did a bang up job on two of my covers (for the same book. very long story behind it), the 3rd cover didn’t exactly do what I wanted it to do. I am seriously leaning towards getting another cover once my finances are in better shape. The other pro that I got for my last two books did a fantastic job that properly conveyed what the books were all about.
In re: to copy editors, I also lucked out on the two that I used. The 1st was a fellow writer that I knew who was also a freelancer. While the job she did on the book that I gave to her was good, I realized afterword that I should’ve waited after I’d performed another two-three rounds of editing before moving on to the next step (expensive lesson learned). With the 2nd, I got her based on a recommendation from another editor who happened to be booked up at the time I’d contacted her. With the 2nd, the editing was crisper, made sense, and most importantly, I got both compliments and good critique (as well as valuable writing tips) on my manuscript.
It’s important to find a quality service, which can be tricky. For book covers however, the cover shouldn’t show what the book is about, it should attract readers. A great designer will make a cover that sells the book, which isn’t always what the authors want.
I vehemently disagree about not emphasizing professional editors. I just published my first book, and was discussing it with one of my beta readers, and we were marveling at how incredibly different it is now. When I submitted my book to my publisher, I arrogantly thought that we’d move some commas around and call it a day – after all, I had self-edited three or four times, and I have a good enough grasp of the English language to edit other writers’ work, thankyouverymuch.
I got an indie publisher, and over the course of the next year, that manuscript became almost unrecognizable. They picked up on all my writing tics and smoothed them out, they found consistency in referenced and names, they forced me to integrate all the stuff I just left as appendices in the back. True, I argued and debated the entire time, but stepping back and seeing the finished product, it’s mind-boggling what a good job they did. I shudder to think what my book would’ve looked like otherwise. So I’m now of the firm opinion that editing and cover design are the two things one absolutely should not skimp on, come hell or high water.
Irvin—Politely butting in here to say that issues with references/names can be easily and efficiently taken care via a style sheet. Every book needs one—and every author needs to know how to create one! A style sheet will save you time, money and aggro. I’ve covered style sheet how-tos in this post: https://selfpublishingsites.com/2015/09/style-that-doesnt-go-out-of-fashion/
Yes, this is the main reason to go with a publisher, is that they won’t listen to you – they’ll make what sells because their earnings depend on it. Indie authors with too much control often make poor choices and get what they want.
Fine post. Thanks. I agree — it’s a rare person who can step up to doing the varied jobs of publishing industry professionals all by him/herself. Someone out there might be talented enough to it all alone, but I’m definitely not one of those someones.
There’s so much to learn… I can do a lot of it but still resist some things I’m not comfortable with.
Interesting article. The tips about interacting with readers on a personal level are stellar.
I disagree with two points, however. I have worked with both developmental and line editors, and I have benefited greatly from both.
Also, your blanket admonition not to join an MFA program is too strong. I believe it is good for potential students to weigh potential benefits against costs, but I feel painting all MFA programs with one brush is ill-advised. As you might have guessed, I earned an MFA. In my program we did not merely “focus on improving the flow and cadence of the individual sentences.” We studied the craft and art of writing, we read and analyzed literature, we critiqued our fellow students’ work with an eye to the whole project, and we were introduced to new authors and new ideas. I am a better writer and reader because of my program, and I used my MFA to build a writing tutoring center, which provides me the income and time to pursue writing. An MFA is not necessary to be a writer, but it can be a valuable, enriching tool.
It’s interesting you used your MFA to become a writing tutor; I think there are a lot of people who want to become better writers as their goal, so there is a market. Most of those people would also like to be successful/full-time writers – and the path from MFA to full time writing is not straightforward. If making a living with writing is your goal, I don’t think an MFA is the right path, though I agree there are lots of other benefits. I got my PhD in Literature and while I don’t think it helps me sell books, I’m happy to have done it.
Thank you for the article.
The hardest part for me is the marketing. I write English graded readers for language learners – which is a category perched on the fence between fiction and education. Or fiction for education, if you will.
Although I know who the audience is – all English language learners – it’s difficult to find somewhere they all hang out. They could be Italian, French, Brazilian, Swiss, German…so there’s the double whammy of firstly finding the audience and, secondly, the language barrier of marketing to people who are learning to speak English and are probably googling in their native tongue.
While I have a blog that’s in English and French, because I live in France, I just can’t do it in every possible language..
So, I agree with a lot that’s been said in the article, especially about the book cover because that just speaks to everyone, regardless of their language but find it difficult to “… fix your offer, find your benefits, understand your audience and what they really want”. I think it’s sometimes a little bit more complicated than that, or maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture?
It can be difficult or more complicated for some authors, but the work still needs to be done. If you don’t know exactly who your audience is or how to reach them, that’s a big problem in your marketing. But you can just target people who like ESL groups or celebrities, or youtube channels – I would also target one demographic at a time with different ads, ie People from Italy / Brazil. Write custom content or ads just for those people. Get specific, use their language, make sure the offer appeals to them. Set up 5 different funnels for the 5 main nationalities who want to learn English. Everything would be more effective.
Thank you for your reply, Derek. And yes, those are all good ideas. Right now, as I live in France, I’m targeting French people learning English. I’m a foreign language English teacher so I belong to all the teacher’s associations and have a lot of contacts with other teachers. I also have my students who test the books and give feedback and the local bookstores who stock them. The problem is just that people don’t really know that these resources exist (globally-speaking). Small steps and a little at a time, I suppose. If I can break into the French market, then that’s already a step forward, albeit a small one.
All the advice here is helpful, but it’s easier said than done. And the worst is none of the above is taught in schools or our parents (and certainly forget movies). So the author is all on its own. Sure, there’s writing groups and such. But most are not professionals who (maybe) don’t know how to give the right feedback. Or worse, they give vague, semi-useless feedback. Art cannot the taught, but the best art cannot be sold if no one knows how to market.
That is me. My last promo was a total flop. And the worst part is I don’t know what’s wrong. I changed my cover, I adjusted the genre, I rewrote the blurb. Did all the marketing advice that exist. I know I’m still new with only one book. But at least someone should have the guts to personally tell me what’s not working. I feel like giving up right now (including pulling my book down but I won’t.) I wish to have an industry mentor available 24/7 but people have lives, so I’m on my own to figure out for the worst. The worst about my book is that it’s the start of a YA series. I can’t afford to suddenly drop because people already paid for the book. I love the story I’m writing but love can go so far if no one cares about my book.
AG– I’m going to jump in here. This is all you need to know: NO Indie author can gain traction with a singleton title. I do not know of one indie author who has. You did nothing wrong and nothing is wrong with your book.
But no amount of money can buy the impossible. I need to write another blogpost on this.
I always tell new writers DO NOT PUBLISH UNTIL YOU HAVE AT LEAST 2 BOOKS IN THE CAN. 3 is better. Then release them close together.
Here’s what you do: Write another book. Then another. Meanwhile, save all your marketing money for bargain newsletter advertising. Then put your first book for 99c or free in order to get readers for book #2 #3 and #4, which you will be working on by then.
Forget about marketing. Write more books!! (And I also suggest you start a blog and use it to network with other authors.)
Alright, I’ll try. I wish there are more advice for millennial writers like me who are (slowly) entering the publishing scene. Especially on how to cope. I know there’s ton of publishing advice but little are specific to millennial writers.
AG–I’ve written a book with bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde called How to be a Writer in the E-Age: A Self-Help Guide. It’s all about how to cope. Yes, we’re old, but we were young beginners once, and we know how it feels. That hasn’t changed much over the years. We’ve kept the price low (3.99) so new writers can afford it. https://amzn.to/2MrH4eN
There are lots of good groups if you can find them; I started the AAYAA (an alliance of young adult authors) on Facebook so you can join that, then ask for feedback on a tuesday teamup post (today) and I can tell you why you’re not selling. It is really hard to profit with just a standalone though, but you could be using the first book to build a platform of readers so your next one will be more successful.
I love reading any blog that fives a hint on marketing. And a free book too. Thanks, Derek.
Great share. Most indies definitely need to read it.
A course like ‘Copywriting for Authors’ would be very much of use for our industry.
I have a good newbie mistake I can add… I have been writing for 10 years. I just went back to book #1 in my 5 book series. Do you know that I never uploaded the NEXT BOOK’S first chapter and link? Can you imagine. After I got myself up off the floor, I started cleaning the entire series up. I fixed all the covers and changed my blurbs too. With book 5 coming out in a month, I’m hoping to relaunch the entire series… properly this time! Nice blog!
Thanks for the great tips, Derek. I wish I had read this post about five years ago, when I was busy making all sorts of mistakes as a new author. However, the lessons are sinking in slowly. 🙂