Today three copies of '13: The Anthology' arrived at my doorstep. The postman handed them to me and I went all fuzzy on the inside. It was a regular amazon packaged, erm, package, the same amalgamation of cardboard and sticker that I've received so many times before, except this time our book was inside, and inside the book was one of my stories. Printed. In an actual paperback. For real. Jeezuz.
One thing I
can tell you is that it doesn't feel real. I mean it is, it's there, right in
front of my eyes, and there's more than one of them, and it's a cool feeling.
But there are some other things going through me too.
One, my Christmas list
is finished. Two, where have all these semi colons come from? I hate colons at
the best of times. Not colons actually, they're cool, like two massive rounded
self-assertive beings standing side by side, knowing why they're standing, and
having a very strict purpose in life. But semi-colons are just a joke. And now
they're plastered all over my narrative.
No, I didn't put them there.
On a serious
note, I do have a few words of wisdom to say to the aspiring writer today. Not
in a 'I'm in print and therefore worthy of imparting advice upon you, you shit'
way, but a 'We're all in the same boat, let's row together' way.
Seeing
yourself in print is important, it's when you get the same feeling as when you
pick up a paperback for leisure, rather than when you're looking at your
hundredth draft on a screen, or even a finished product on a kindle. It's
Different and gives you a new perspective. Reading my story again, despite only
feeling a yawning numbness at this point from having read it thousands of times
in the redrafting process, made me see new issues that I can now improve on. As
I say, it put me into that relaxed Ah, paperback! mindset, and I know
when I'm enjoying a paperback, when I get that jolt of dissatisfaction in a
story's pacing, or dialogue, or whatever else.
That’s that
for the redrafting advice. I guess I should talk about marketing and all that
jazz. I’ve done my share of promotions so far, and will do more when I figure
out the battle plan, but so far I managed to get us a review in Soundsphere
Magazine - link here (but only
because I’ve been writing for it a while, and am good friends with the editor)
- and did a crazy Twitter interview. The latter was an odd experience, and
didn’t raise a great deal more interest, but as many authors will tell you,
doing it benefited us more than if I hadn’t bothered at all. Maybe the
anthology sold two more copies, maybe less. But I know for a fact that a few
people checked it out. So I say, worthwhile!
It was pretty
cool seeing my name on there. I started to get a glimpse of what I’m beginning
to realize is the best way of marketing: to spread the word casually amongst
the readers and creative people who care and are genuinely interested in the
life and projects of aspiring authors.
They are the
ones who will check it out and recommend it to their friends and online peers.
They are the ones who will spread the word, tweet you, and essentially promote you. Not because they’ve been told to
either, but because they want to. All you have to do is make them aware.
Try
convincing an average reader that your book is worth their time. Most don’t
care. Most just want to stick to their favourites, because let’s face it,
everyone loves their comforts, and delving into a novel/short story by someone
they’ve never heard of takes them away from that comfort. To a more pessimistic
extent, I’d argue that the vast majority of human beings are small minded and
unappreciative. The ones who aren’t are probably your family. But they only do
it because you tell them to (and because they love you, of course) It’s sad but
true. So social networking is vital. Yep, I’m sick of hearing that too. But it
truly is. It’s relaxed, and you can reach millions of people. Not in a
heartbeat, but over time.
And Twitter –
Past Me is going to get pissed off at what I’m about to say – is a goldmine.
Maybe the most useful tool at your expense-free disposal. Sign up now if you
haven’t already. Yes, it’s boring, lifeless and soul-destroying at times, but
it’s useful. Think about it. It takes seconds post a Tweet, and you have many
possibilities of gain. Most of my Tweets go unnoticed and uncared for at the
moment (I think. I don’t actually know how many people they’re reaching, and
how could I measure that anyway?), but sometimes they catch on.
I tweeted
about the paperback recently and a guy with 4000+ followers retweeted it. Will
any of those followers see it? Yes, many will. Will any care? Probably not, but
the message did spread, and people have more chance of discovering the product
than if I had kept my mouth shut.
Beyond this,
it’s hard to see what will happen. The internet is eternal and maybe this book
won’t start pulling in the riches until after I’m dead, maybe not even then, or
ever, but you never know, luck may strike.
So do I think
the paperback will catch on, and bring in a thousand readers? No, I don’t. It’s
out there on Kindle for under a quid, or just over a dollar, so when people see the comparison they're much more likely to buy the cheap version, and those who don't have a Kindle will be pulled into that defiant frame of mind we've all felt at some point, pre kindle ('Kindle's cheaper than paperback? What the hell! Fuck that.) But Holding The Book in my hands, putting
it on the shelf, and keeping it close to remind me of the accomplishment…that’s
gratifying. This project will be close to my heart forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment