From the Archive: I'm not a brand...

This post originally appeared on my Wordpress site on 2nd March 2024

Here's a little insight into what it's like being an author at my level...

1. I'm not a 'brand'. I'm too old and too ordinary to be a marketable brand, so that automatically counts against me as far as agents and publishers are concerned.

2. I write literary fiction. That's not a genre that sells as much as some others, so that automatically counts against me as far as agents and publishers are concerned.

3. I don't have the budget to spend on marketing myself beyond social media. Very few writers do. It might be annoying to see us constantly promoting our books, but if we don't do it ourselves, no one else will, apart from a few lovely people who do it out of the kindness of their hearts.

4. One negative review can crush us, but one okay-to-good review can elevate us beyond belief.

5. It's incredibly difficult to keep motivation to write with all of this in mind.

6. We don't compete with each other. One author's success is everybody's, with one caveat...

7. Celebrity authors, promoted beyond all reason so that there's no room for anyone else on the shelves, make it even more difficult. If you like Richard Osman, PLEASE investigate other comedy / crime writers, for example!

8. We don't mind putting the work in and doing talks, signings, having tables at book fairs etc - in fact, we love it. But most book festivals are manned by gatekeepers. It's very hard to get in. Almost every city has a literary festival now, but very few have a hall with tables where authors can sign and sell their books. By contrast, EVERY comics festival gleefully mixes professionals with amateurs, traditionally-published with self-published.

9. My latest book was indie-published. It was easy to do, and to make it as professional-looking as my previous, more traditionally-published novel. It sold in the dozens rather than the hundreds, then tailed off. It has stopped selling, even with the e-book at £1.99. Then I made it free for five days. 34 copies downloaded. Nothing since. I did it through Amazon KDP, which I'd rather not do, but there's no denying Amazon haven't made it easier for us. Amazon's just a printing service really. Money does go to the author that way. For those who don't like Amazon, I set up my own online shop to sell physical copies. Not one sale in nearly 4 months.

10. None of this is to complain at all, just to draw some awareness to these facts:

a. Getting published once does not guarantee you will get published again;

b. There are so many of us indie-publishing now that the quality is really no different and, in some cases, better than you'll find 'traditionally' published;

c. It is ALSO hard for traditionally-published writers. They still have to put in the graft, and I'm not jealous at all, because a contract with a big publisher is hard-won and well-deserved. I have friends who are that level of author and they're awesome (one in particular, but I won't embarrass him here). Very few will get rich writing novels;

d. If you like an author's work, PLEASE tell them, rate them on Amazon or GoodReads, and tell other people. Word of mouth works.

We are at a turning-point in art and culture, where AI-generated pictures and books, 'trained' on raking the internet for examples created by human beings. If you use MidJourney or ChatGTP, you are encouraging the further theft of intellectual property from human beings. Not just the Stephen Kings and Van Goghs of this world, but everyday writers and artists who are lucky if they ever earn much money from their work. Every image or written piece 'created' by an AI program uses existing works, and those creators do not receive a penny in return.

Life is hard without art.

Please support the people who create that art.