Consumer of Self Publlishing
My wife
recently downloaded a number of Romance novels to her kindle. So, how did she
decide which ones do download?
She chooses
free novels. Because of the number of writers who are trying to promote their
works, there is no shortage of free works to download. My wife knows full well that if she wants to
continue in the series, she will have to pay for the next volumes, but doesn't
care. Since the first volume is free, there's nothing to lose. If it's no good,
she simply switches to another free novel.
I have
heard an interesting comment from her considering self-published works she's
read. She has said she found a series she likes, if she can ignore the errors. Many
authors can't or won't put out the money for editors. However, when the author
publishes without an editor, it's very noticeable in the final product.
So, what
are the lessons of her experiences?
First, since writers are so anxious to get their works to the forefront,
they are willing to offer a part of their portfolio for free. It may be heart
wrenching to work for a year on a novel just to give it away for free, but that
may be the price of getting people to sample your works. More important, you
need to find a way to get your novel noticed. Since the first things a
prospective reader will see of your novel are the cover picture and the blurb,
they have to be eye-catching. Your novel could be another Twilight or Harry
Potter, but if you don't have the attractive cover or blurb, no one will want
to read it. Finally, in order to stand out (or at least keep in line with professionally-published
novels), it should be well edited. If not, it needs to be awfully good or the
reader will have a tendency to quit for another of the legions of novels out
there in self-published land.
My wife
is only one of millions of Romance readers, but I don't think her consumption
habits are different from most readers. There's
no easy route to success in publishing. Then again, if there were, everybody
would be a novelist.
