Michael’s answer to “Could you talk a little bit about the "non-writing" aspects of being a writer...such as the need to…” > Likes and Comments

Thanks, Mr. Sullivan. This is very helpful, especially the forum. I love writing, but marketing my book makes my skin crawl. I'm just not very good at it (There's such a fine line between asking people to read your work and being a pest!). But like you said, it's the writer's responsibility to promote his/her work.

I'm also glad you mentioned building a body of work. I think I've been spending too much time trying to get reviews for my first book and not enough time creating that body of work readers can find.

Then again, perhaps I just need to be happy with the handful of wonderful readers who have enjoyed what I wrote and not worry too much about "making it."

At any rate, thanks again for your insights! And for your kindness and stories! I can't wait for your next book to come out!

Rob

You are very welcome. I'm glad I could be of help.

Thank you for this excellent advice! My first book just got published and I keep going back and forth on spending too much time marketing vs. writing more books. You've presented a very logical perspective on the matter and I appreciate that :)

You are very welcome. In general I think it is VERY hard to get any traction with just one book out. My experience is that 3 is a magic number...so once you have three books out you can start to divide your time between new content and getting people to know about your existing content. My rule of thumb is that when writing book #2 and #3 you should spend 90/95% of your time writing and 10%/5% promoting book 1 (or 2 when you have it out). Once you get that magic third book you can move the needle to 50/50 or 60/40.

I have a post about this if you want to read more:
http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/03/...

That's good to hear! My third just came out... and I am starting to see more buzz and traction. Thanks for the encouragement and posts!

You are very welcome. Glad to hear you are getting more buzz and traction...it gets easier with each book.

I hope so. I think that I just need to adjust my goal from "best selling author" to "author of books that a handful of people seem to enjoy." It's much more manageable.

And thanks for putting Riddle in Stone on your "to read" list. That really got a lot of people's attention. I probably owe you a share of the royalties. How would you like your $12.32? Small bills or loose change? :)

Haha...I'm glad to help. The thing with writing is the more you have out there the easier it becomes...so just keep writing and releasing and those "handful of people" will grow.