Authors as Entrepreneurs

[mattlynn]

We tend to think of authors as fairly reclusive characters. The word ‘bookish’ summons up images of fairly self-absorbed, introverted characters, with a slight detachment from the real world. And from the authors I have met, I would say that is, in the most, a fairly accurate characterisation. Some were larger than life – Dickens, perhaps, and certainly Hemmingway – but they also led largely artistic careers.

Now, however, something is changing.

Authors are becoming entrepreneurs.

The books industry has changed. Even when you are published by one of the big houses – Headline in my case – you still need to do a lot of marketing of yourself to make sure your book finds an audience. You need to build a website, get on Twitter, and give talks. There is no point in expecting the publisher to do it all for you.

And, more and more authors are turning to Kindle as well. They are bringing out their own books, and promoting then themselves, either entirely on their own, or in conjunction with traditionally published books. They are in effect setting up small businesses.

One consequence, however, is that the books we all read will be increasingly produced by people who are as much entrepreneurs as writers. That may well not be a bad thing. A lot of fiction in the last half-century has been very inward-looking. It doesn’t have much of the energy and involvement in the world of Victorian fiction.

But it certainly means that the types of books that get written are going to be very different.

- Matt Lynn
-[Promotional link removed - MODERATOR]

[Keryl Raist]

I'd say it's a change for the better. But then again, I like being a creative business person.

[VydorScope]

While it is currently true for me, I hate it personally. I rather pay someone to do the business stuff and let me just write even if it means less cash in my pocket. I love to write, thats what I want to do. I have worked sales (both retail and otherwise) and I am not very good at it nor do I enjoy it.

[J. Strnad]

I don't mind promoting, especially when it's hanging around ebook forums and spouting opinions, which is what I'd be doing anyway. But it does seem wrong to not be writing.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I don't mind promoting, especially when it's hanging around ebook forums and spouting opinions, which is what I'd be doing anyway.

It seems to work better for some than others; my efforts at "hanging about and giving opinions" haven't resulted in an upsurge of interest in my books, or in significant sales. I'm also not great at promotion, and with a day job and a tight budget, don't have a lot of time or money to throw at the problem.

[Steven Lake]

mattlynn: You are correct. Today the market is a lot different than before. But at the same time our world is far more interconnected. So ignoring the social media and self promotion aspects is death to an author, regardless if they're with a big house, or self published. Authors aren't seen as being incredible people propped up on gilded pedestals anymore. People see them as average joes with a rather exceptional talent. So they're no longer "unreachable" like they used to be, thus you as the author are expected to come down to the readers level and interact directly with them. Trust me, I've been trying to beat that fact into a lot of new author's heads, but not enough seem to be getting the picture.

As for me, I'm finding that 3rd party marketing seems to work better for me, as I'm not the hands on marketing type. Probably because I've had issues with social interaction for years. Being a geeky introvert it makes reaching out to potential readers rather difficult for someone like myself.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by mattlynn

Now, however, something is changing.

Authors are becoming entrepreneurs.

I'm not sure whether the change is as drastic as all that. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jack London self-publish? Christopher Paolini certainly did, as did a number of other authors whose names later became household words.

Amazon has lowered the entry barriers for self-publishers and the internet has provided far more sense of community than they've ever had before, but authors acting as entrepreneurs is most definitely not a new occurance.

[G J Lau]

I decided to self-publish after reading several agent and publisher blogs which stated that as a small author I would be expected to do my own marketing. Well, geez, if that's the case, then why was I bothering looking for a publisher when I could just use Smashwords and KDP?

Whatever skills I have as a writer, I have even less as a marketer. Still, one of my four self-published e-books does pretty well, and I get some sales of the other e-books every month. The key seems to be writing something people might actually want to read. And Amazon does a good job of helping people find that book once it starts to sell.

I'm writing a novella at the moment. Talk about marketing hell. Too short for a novel; too long for a short story. Nobody wants to deal with them. Oy! But you have to write what you have to write, and this is a story I believe in, so I'll put it out there and let it join all the other teardrops in the ocean.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

But it does seem wrong to not be writing.

This has always been kind of a weak argument to me. ALL jobs have drudge parts. If it's a hobby and you are just doing it for fun, okay, but if it's a job, then the drudge parts are just part of the whole process. I am a great teacher, but I dislike playground duty, for instance. I'd rather be teaching. And yet, it's part of the job so when my turn comes up, I do it. To say you prefer the writing part is totally fair, but to say that it seems 'wrong' to do anything but purely write is, to me, disingenuous. The marketing is the drudge work. Every career has it.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

I'm not sure whether the change is as drastic as all that. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jack London self-publish? Christopher Paolini certainly did, as did a number of other authors whose names later became household words.

Everyone was self-published until the early 20th century, or so.

Amazon has lowered the entry barriers for self-publishers and the internet has provided far more sense of community than they've ever had before, but authors acting as entrepreneurs is most definitely not a new occurance.

No, but given how authors haven't always had much in the way of a community of practice, it might as well be. The same is true for the author's newly re-found ability to bypass the print publishing industry's gatekeepers without having to resort to vanity self-publishing houses.

I wonder how the original circle of Cthulhu Mythos writers would have done if they'd had access to the modern internet.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by teh603

I wonder how the original circle of Cthulhu Mythos writers would have done if they'd had access to the modern internet.

They'd have a theme park and cable TV station now.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by mattlynn

We tend to think of authors as fairly reclusive characters. The word ‘bookish’ summons up images of fairly self-absorbed, introverted characters, with a slight detachment from the real world. And from the authors I have met, I would say that is, in the most, a fairly accurate characterisation. Some were larger than life – Dickens, perhaps, and certainly Hemmingway – but they also led largely artistic careers.

Now, however, something is changing.
Authors are becoming entrepreneurs.

The books industry has changed. Even when you are published by one of the big houses – Headline in my case – you still need to do a lot of marketing of yourself to make sure your book finds an audience. You need to build a website, get on Twitter, and give talks. There is no point in expecting the publisher to do it all for you.

And, more and more authors are turning to Kindle as well. They are bringing out their own books, and promoting then themselves, either entirely on their own, or in conjunction with traditionally published books. They are in effect setting up small businesses.

One consequence, however, is that the books we all read will be increasingly produced by people who are as much entrepreneurs as writers. That may well not be a bad thing. A lot of fiction in the last half-century has been very inward-looking. It doesn’t have much of the energy and involvement in the world of Victorian fiction.

But it certainly means that the types of books that get written are going to be very different.
- Matt Lynn

Don't forget Mark Twain, a favorite of mine and Rudyard Kipling as well. In fact many journalists especially foreign journalists who wrote books were great entrepreneurs. To be a foreign journalist, one had to have an adventurous and outward looking spirit.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

It seems to work better for some than others; my efforts at "hanging about and giving opinions" haven't resulted in an upsurge of interest in my books, or in significant sales. I'm also not great at promotion, and with a day job and a tight budget, don't have a lot of time or money to throw at the problem.

Every modern author needs a website and preferably a domain name. You can put as little or as much into this as you want.

Essentially the site should have a little history of yourself, a little history on how how the books started, and better still some unknown facts and meanings related to your work. You can talk about your plans for the future.
Even more importantly, you can select passages from your work that you think will interest people and attract buyers.

If you take questions or comments be careful if it is readable by the public. You should learn to moderate any messages or questions left at the beginning. Try to collect a list of email or twit addresses so you can send news out to your readers.

Don't worry about traffic. It may come or not, but the point is you will be ready if people are interested.

A domain name can be as little as 10 to $12 a year.
A minimal type website can be free provided by many companies. I got my start over at Yahoo for free. They will provide simple tools to build it.

Later I moved up, so to speak.

So you can start with what I consider the essentials for $12 per year and a little work, or even $0 per year if you leave off the domain name.
I suggest you look at 1and1 for rates if you decide to buy stuff.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

I'm not sure whether the change is as drastic as all that. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jack London self-publish? Christopher Paolini certainly did, as did a number of other authors whose names later became household words.

Amazon has lowered the entry barriers for self-publishers and the internet has provided far more sense of community than they've ever had before, but authors acting as entrepreneurs is most definitely not a new occurance.

A.E. Housman is an English author who mainly published simple and wholesome poems around 1900 about youth in the English countryside and at war for the British Crown. He couldn't find a publisher for his first work "A Shropshire Lad." He then astounded his students and contemporaries at University College London and Cambridge by paying for the publishing himself. It went on to be very successful.
The Edition of Wordsworth I have has "Shropshire Lad," "More Poems," "Last Poems," "Additional Poems." Some of these were brought to light after Housman's death by his brother Laurence.

I will share a bit of Houseman, #54, ...Lad"

"With rue my heart is laden
for golden friends I had,
For many a rose-lipt maiden
And many a lightfoot lad

By brooks too broad for leaping
The lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose-lipt girls are sleeping
In fields where roses fade."

I marvel at the feelings that come forth reading such.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by teh603

Everyone was self-published until the early 20th century, or so.

No, but given how authors haven't always had much in the way of a community of practice, it might as well be. The same is true for the author's newly re-found ability to bypass the print publishing industry's gatekeepers without having to resort to vanity self-publishing houses.

I wonder how the original circle of Cthulhu Mythos writers would have done if they'd had access to the modern internet.

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

They'd have a theme park and cable TV station now.

Action figures! That's where the followup money is.
The new movie "Captain America" is set up to sell distinctive action figures and neat war vehicles.