Quote:
Originally Posted by anamardoll
*sigh*
That's not what I meant.
Look. I'm writing a book, so I'm a wanna-be indie author. Like the poster that said that zie would rather sell 50 books than 20, I too would rather sell 50 books than 20 because... wait for it...
I don't expect to be able to quit my day job on my book.
Seriously. I'm doing this because I want to write a book and I hope that someone might enjoy reading it. Having 50 readers would be WAY more validating to me than 20 readers because the extra tiny bit of profit in this math problem we've set up ($50 profit versus $120 profit) is NOT going to make a difference to me. Either way, I'm not going to be made rich on my writing.
Then, the REST of my post -- which you conveniently ignored because it would have ruined the snark -- was that even if you ARE in it for the money, a broad reader base over time and with a large selection for them to buy may make MORE money than a smaller reader base.
But, you know, I kind of get the impression that you just wanted to snark. So you have me there -- I expect all artists to starve and be happy about it.   |
I was having a dig because it was partly invited and it was fun but I was also extremely serious... through SF conventions (attending, organising and running), local book groups and managing as well as working for bookshops, I have spent a great deal of time chatting with a large number of authors (a good three figures worth at least), probably more than most and they all have something in common... either very thankful to finally be able to have an income from writing so they can write full time or wishing they had enough income from writing to be able to do it full time.
If you want to write a book then fine, sell it for a loss or give it away to get people to read it but if you want to be a full time writer then you must earn enough from your books to be able to look after yourself (and family if relevant) and that means getting a decent return from the time invested in writing a book. Giving them away isn't getting a return, it's advertising and thus an expense... and as advertising, it is not necessarily the most cost effective... I and many others do look at free titles but they always tend to stay on the TBR pile if wanted, paid-for titles become available thus failing in the reason they're being given away... and giving a false idea of popularity for that free title.
The arguments for freebies, super-cheap titles and other come-ons generally come from those who are not full-time writers but few full-time writers use these methods unless they are very successful and can afford to scatter some goodwill back to their readers...
So equally "sigh"