What about you? What are your goals as a writer? Do you hope to also evolve into a speaker or teacher, or do you just want to write books and not worry so much about diversifying your skills?
Write Lots Of Books Or Build An Author Platform. Which Is More Effective?
It seems there are two opposing camps in terms of author marketing. On the one hand, there are people who say “Just write a lot of books” and the books themselves will sell the other books and you don’t need to do any other marketing. The evidence for this can be seen in Amanda Hocking’s ebook sales numbers and other writers on JA Konrath’s (brilliant) blog who basically write and distribute ebooks but do little hardcore marketing. It looks like they all do something but don’t focus on it.
On the other hand, there is the “build your author platform” camp advocating blogging, social networking, speaking, podcasting, videos and more. Obviously all this marketing takes away from writing, so which should you focus on?
Read the full post here.
5 comments:
That's a really interesting question. I liked this article because it helped me narrow in on my goals. First off, I don't think a lot of books automatically makes you popular. The most sensational books out there seem to be debut novelists who only write one hit book, and you never hear about any of their others.
I want to write a lot of books, and while that's the most important thing, I'm drawn to author platform because it sounds like fun. I don't want to do as much as the author of The Creative pen, though. I want to keep a blog, go to signings, do readings, attend book conferences, attend other author's events, and so forth. I don't think I'll be a speaker or an advocate of writing itself.
Recently writing anything, even 15-word microfiction. Getting meaning out in words. The larger structures come from the smaller, and we'll see what these.
Oh my, have I been struggling with this lately. The pressure to blog and tweet and facebook when it's not really ME actually reached a point where it stressed me out so much, I had to reorient myself with why the heck I was doing this whole writing business in the first place. And then I remembered: I write because I love WRITING. Not social networking.
So for the last month, I've been cutting back majorly on the online interactions. I don't forcing myself to chat with everyone who opens a dialogue with me, nor do I answer an email as soon as it lands in my inbox, and I try not not worry about building my author platform online. I've focused heart and soul on the writing, and then done whatever comes naturally to me online--and holy crow! It has worked wonders!
I think there's a lot to be said for writing a lot of books to gain a following (I never knew about Diana Wynne Jones when I grew up, but I sure picked up every book by her in my local library), and since writing is what I'm more comfortable with than self-promotion, it's the obvious solution for me! :)
I liked the back and forth on the issue. For me, I have to really work on the writing. I have a blog, but to focus on improving my readership, especially one that will make comments, I would have to put way too much effort into socializing, not one of my strong points. Writing isn't really a strong point either, but one I've chosen to work on. The stories keep niggling at me.
Teralyn: Sounds good. That's one thing I like about doing author events. They make me feel like "an author."
Susan: Social networking can be so draining. If it's not for you, totally skip it. I've been quiet on mine the last several days because I got swamped and had to cut back somewhere.I do enjoy it, but I know how easy it can take over and stress me out. I think you're on the right track!
Jaleh: I think there are also stages of what you choose to do. Early on, there's not as great a (or even no) need to do more than write and work on your craft. You don't have a book out there to promote, so why push yourself? If you enjoy the social aspects, doing them can help in the long run, but if it's not for you, there are other ways to spend your time.
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