MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Quality or quantity? Which one should you choose?

gmw · 06-07-2017, 04:55 AM

After clicking on the link I can see why this was originally posted to the self-promotion forum, the website appears to be self-promotion more than helpful. As for the article, I skimmed as far as the ad "It's a rare book that wins the battle against drooping eyelids", and thought that the same applied to blog articles.

But to treat the subject line seriously (and to assume the writer is serious about the craft - not always a valid assumption) ...

The question is not as simple as it sounds. It is extraordinarily rare that any writer's first attempt, however much they worked at it, turns out to be a literary triumph. Like most trades, writing is one that you really have to work at before you start to get it right. You have to keep trying until you find your own voice, and even then you may not find success. So you keep trying until you manage to get the right book at the right time in front of the right people that will help your voice be heard. (Lots of work, followed by a good helping of luck.)

So if you spend too much time trying to perfect the one book the chances are you will not find success. But, if you spend too little time trying to perfect any of your work then you will gain exactly the wrong reputation, and you will not find success.

The linked blog article uses the word "balance" exactly once. It is, however, the key to the solution. You do your best to only publish things you will not regret publishing, but you won't really "get it" until you do publish. Publish and you will learn what you did wrong. The act of publishing is part of the learning process - for everyone, but for Indy publishers in particular.

So your work does not have to be absolutely perfect, but the work should not look like you've written it one night and uploaded the next. It has to meet some minimum standard, and it is likely that only a (relatively impartial, suitably qualified but still trusted) third party can tell you if this has been met.

But I'm still not done. Let's assume you have produced and published a book of suitable standard. If you actually want to make a financial success of writing fiction you need to keep producing. (Says this writer who has - so far - let four years go between novels...) A book a year used to be acceptable by traditional publishing standards. It is questionable now whether this is enough to remain in the public eye. Unless you are one of the few who make it big, within a very short space of time your books will drop off the front screens and you will be forgotten. You must produce regularly to keep reminding people that you're around and that you have a backlist of books worth looking at.

So quality is important, but so is quantity if you hope to make a financial success of writing.

06-07-2017, 04:55 AM	#5
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	After clicking on the link I can see why this was originally posted to the self-promotion forum, the website appears to be self-promotion more than helpful. As for the article, I skimmed as far as the ad "It's a rare book that wins the battle against drooping eyelids", and thought that the same applied to blog articles. But to treat the subject line seriously (and to assume the writer is serious about the craft - not always a valid assumption) ... The question is not as simple as it sounds. It is extraordinarily rare that any writer's first attempt, however much they worked at it, turns out to be a literary triumph. Like most trades, writing is one that you really have to work at before you start to get it right. You have to keep trying until you find your own voice, and even then you may not find success. So you keep trying until you manage to get the right book at the right time in front of the right people that will help your voice be heard. (Lots of work, followed by a good helping of luck.) So if you spend too much time trying to perfect the one book the chances are you will not find success. But, if you spend too little time trying to perfect any of your work then you will gain exactly the wrong reputation, and you will not find success. The linked blog article uses the word "balance" exactly once. It is, however, the key to the solution. You do your best to only publish things you will not regret publishing, but you won't really "get it" until you do publish. Publish and you will learn what you did wrong. The act of publishing is part of the learning process - for everyone, but for Indy publishers in particular. So your work does not have to be absolutely perfect, but the work should not look like you've written it one night and uploaded the next. It has to meet some minimum standard, and it is likely that only a (relatively impartial, suitably qualified but still trusted) third party can tell you if this has been met. But I'm still not done. Let's assume you have produced and published a book of suitable standard. If you actually want to make a financial success of writing fiction you need to keep producing. (Says this writer who has - so far - let four years go between novels...) A book a year used to be acceptable by traditional publishing standards. It is questionable now whether this is enough to remain in the public eye. Unless you are one of the few who make it big, within a very short space of time your books will drop off the front screens and you will be forgotten. You must produce regularly to keep reminding people that you're around and that you have a backlist of books worth looking at. So quality is important, but so is quantity if you hope to make a financial success of writing.