Roll up your sleeves
Hello Dear Readers,
I usually try to keep things really upbeat here and positive, but today might be a little bit of a rant, so brace yourselves.
I want to talk a little bit about sales and marketing. (Boooo… hisssss) But not in the way you’re probably thinking. For most of us in any creative industry, or anyone who is self-employed, marketing is one of our least favorite things. We just want to do the thing, not have to spend extra time marketing the doing of the thing. It takes a special kind of human to enjoy working in sales and I for one am not that type of human. But that is not what this post is about.
I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media by newly self-published authors lamenting low sales. I am not unsympathetic. You put all this work into making something amazing and you publish and you put it out there into the world and then…. nothing. Maybe a sale here or there… maybe nothing. Unless you have really spent a lot of time putting yourself out there, building some hype, or gone viral and have a gigantic following, for the very vast majority of us, we will experience the miserable void of apathy after self-publishing.
One of the publishing coaches I worked with actually said that he felt like this was one of the most difficult aspects of self-publishing. Not the time spent writing, not editing, not layout, not any of that, but the apathy the world seems to show towards the amazing thing you created. I have to say there are days when I certainly agree with him.
I think between the time I published my first book and now my mindset has shifted quite a bit. Again, I would like to emphasize that I’m not unsympathetic and my sales aren’t spectacular by any means. Most months I don’t sell any books. And these posts I am referring to range of whiney to downright deplorable. I don’t care to hunt through everything and find the post, but one author made a statement along the lines of “For fuck’s sake, can one of the 30,000 followers I have buy a god damn book?” (Not an exact quote, but close enough.)
Time for Tough Love Tiff to take the wheel, and she’s here to tell you that if that’s your attitude, put your big kid pants on and get over yourself. The world does not owe you anything. Your followers do not owe you anything. With the internet, advances in self publishing and print-on-demand, social media, and AI, all creative markets are super saturated. It’s easier than any other time in history to put your work out there and share it with the world which means it’s simultaneously harder than ever to be heard above the noise. But whining about it online is certainly not the attitude that will further your cause and gain sales. It is wasted energy and I would venture to say it just makes you look bad.
I’m not saying you can’t be frustrated. I’m not saying you can’t vent or commiserate with people who have been through or are going through the same thing as you. Dustin, Phil and I do this on Discord from time to time. It helps to get it out of your system. What I am saying is that doing so on a public forum in order to elicit sympathy and garner sales is tacky and if anything it drives people away.
Have I ever posted something publicly wishing I had more sales? Maybe? Hopefully not. I don’t keep track of everything I’ve ever said, although I do generally try to be mindful of how I present myself online. I genuinely want to be supportive and uplifting of others. I’m sure most people are just frustrated and wanting to express that frustration. But when you are swearing at people who follow you and acting like an entitled, spoiled brat by demanding they buy your latest release I have nothing uplifting or positive to say to you.
Alright.
Well.
I warned you it might get a little bit ranty. But now it’s over and we can move on.
So, also, in typical Fliffani fashion, I don’t want to end on a sour note. So what can you do in order to avoid turning into an entitled little internet goblin? Here are some things that have worked for me. Maybe they’ll help you, too?
Shift your focus or your expectations. Do I want to sell a million copies of my book? Absolutely I do! My power persona is “MCT” or “Million Copy Tiff”. However, especially at this point, I’m not focusing on sales. (more on that in number 4) I did nothing to hype my book before it launched, I don’t spend much time on social media if I can help it, I’m literally a nobody with hardly any followers, so why should I expect sales? People don’t know about me or my book(s). There are literally millions of books on Amazon, how can I expect them to find mine in the middle of all that? For right now, that’s all totally ok. I don’t mean this in any negative way. If I’m not expecting to sell a ton of books then I’m not disappointed when it doesn’t happen. Quite the opposite, when I sell a copy or two in a month it’s a wonderful and pleasant surprise.
Work on your backlog. What is a backlog? All the other books you have released. If someone does read one of your books, and they liked it and want to buy more, do you have more on the market ready to go? This is I think one of the better pieces of advice I have gotten. Don’t worry as much about how well your first book is selling, worry about getting your next book written. I feel like I really should have done a lot more of the this the first year after I published my first book and now I’m playing catch up. Don’t make the same mistake I did by waiting. Seize the day!
Spend some time improving your craft. Is there a class you can take? Is there a workshop you might want to attend? Perhaps there is a book on the topic you want to read? Take some time to do things to improve your technical skills. I find it is sometimes refreshing to try to learn something and play around with a new skill rather than pushing myself to produce something that needs to be sales quality. And when I do get back to writing or drawing or whatever, I know my work will be better for having taken some time to work on my craft.
Consider your marketing strategy and research methods of making it sustainable. Marketing is, in my opinion, exhausting. It means you not only have to make the thing but you now become a content creator which entails wearing so many different hats. But there are ways to make that easier. Consider a program like buffer which allows you to schedule posts in advance. Take some time on a Saturday or Sunday (or whatever day) and get all your posts set up for the week or month. I will admit I have yet to do this, but once I am ready to start pushing for my next book launch, I’ll be doing this. Set-it-and-forget-it is the kind of marketing I like. Then I can spend my energy working on the things I would rather be doing.
Practice Gratitude. Whaaaat? Did I really go there? Yes. Yes, I did. Whenever I’m feeling sorry for myself or particularly down and out, I think about how thankful I am for the sales that I have had, for the kind reviews people have left on my book, and for the ability to even work on my craft in my spare time. I take a moment to be thankful for my writing friends and mentors and for the few wonderful dedicated readers that I do have. (You know who you and I love you very much.) It’s really hard to be grumpy when you’re being grateful. Because science. But also, it’s just a good practice to observe from time to time.
I say this last part with quite a bit of hesitancy, and don’t want to add it to the official list, but for some people it might be the right fit. Consider getting a coach or looking into a consultant to help you with parts of the process that you are unfamiliar with or could outsource if you’re able. I have worked with several coaches over the past few years, a publishing coach (just to help me get my first book across the finish line and avoid any big mistakes), a personal coach (to help me change my mindset around self-doubt and establish good self-care habits), and I consulted briefly with two different marketing coaches (The first one’s advice was to write more books, then come back and see her, the second one told me to use buffer to automate social media posts and then spend my time writing more books... So I did eventually get the hint, and here I am, working on trying to get some more books out this year.)
I could see how some people might say that both the marketing coaches were a waste since they didn’t actually help me sell any books, but on the contrary. I think they are the best kind of coaches because they told it to me straight and didn’t try to sell me on services that I wasn’t ready for. They were more invested in my long term success and establishing good habits for longevity, which I appreciate. If this is the route you want to take, tread very carefully here, because I feel like more than ever there are a lot of predatory people wanting to “market your book” but really they just want to take advantage of you and take your money. Maybe I should write a post about how to find a good coach?
At the end of the day, the advice I have heard from the most successful independently published authors and artists and marketing coaches is to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Be consistent. Keep going. Especially when you’re getting started. Don’t waste time lamenting out loud on social media.
Maybe you’re way past that and you’ve got a big backlog and you’re ready to start hitting the marketing. That’s awesome! If so, then I need YOU to be giving ME advice when I get there. But for now, I’ve just got to do the work.
I don’t have any pictures of me giving you a heart, so I’ll just leave Jason Momoa giving you a heart here instead, he’s much better looking than me anyway. 🤣
Till next time dear reader, don’t be afraid to get in there and use some elbow grease. And of course, always remember that I believe in you! <3 Tiff
