stage, a global market. Spin-off businesses like
tutors, publicists and agents spring up and prosper.
The writer and writing have always been commodities
to be marketed. The difference now is that more
books are published per day than used to be
published annually.
It is the best of times but also the worst of times for
writers--and especially for those of us who choose
to write fiction.
Difficulties of marketing fiction
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| Books for sale, photo by Peter Griffin, www.publicdomainpictures.net |
In the main, fiction writers write to entertain, tell stories that encapsulate human experience. They have something to say--a message to share. This idea of theme pervades all successful writing.
But if you are writing to make money, you'll be very
lucky to become one of the big hitters on Kindle, no
matter what the marketers and publicists tell you.
You are competing against millions of books, both new and from successful authors' backlists as well as those which are sourced from the public domain, or are written to order.
So how can you make money to fund your writing?
Think about it--money is being made in copy writing,
ghost writing and to some extent blogging or content
writing for websites.
Profit can be made from spin-offs--webinars,
teaching writing courses, even writing lots for others.
But often the best money can be made at home
through networking. Talk to librarians, local schools, clubs, businesses. Discuss courses/ visits and talks on your area of expertise.
Offer to run a reading and writing hour in school or as
an after-school activity, suggest a talk on self-
publishing to attract more people to the library,
promote your services as a business writer,
enhancing staff communication skills or providing new website content on a regular basis.
As a bonus, whatever the result, you'll be gaining new experiences,meeting new people and finding even more ideas and customers for that new novel.
Anne Duguid is a freelance content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and she tries to pass on helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers The photograph is by Peter Griffin and can be found at www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4176&picture=books-for-sale
