https://www.amazon.com/Longbourn-Jo-Baker-ebook/dp/B00CQ1D3BY
Five years ago, when I started writing online, I was lucky enough to meet some outstanding writers on Goodreads (I’ve met others since, on Authonomy before it packed up and elsewhere, but here I’m talking about that original base of writer friends).
They were mostly women, varying in age. Some came from my native England, some from the US, and a couple from the Antipodes. Their genre varied, but they all had one thing in common….
They didn’t write formulaic, predictable stories. They broke rules; they used humour; they featured strong female leads (otherwise, I wouldn’t have enjoyed their stories). They were often a bit cross genre, and this was probably one of the reasons why they hadn’t got that elusive contract with an agent or publisher.
They wanted to achieve something original. Yes, they wanted success and sales – who doesn’t? – but above that, they wanted to write with an individual voice and to get readers for the novels that they had loved creating.
In those days, things were a lot easier from the sales point of view. My goodness, back then Amazon hadn’t introduced Amazon Select and Pages Read, both of which have led to a catastrophic fall in sales.
Why, in 2014 my spoof Regency (technically, late Georgian) Romance ‘Ravensdale’ sold thousands – enough for me to take my daughter on holiday to Paris.
It also attracted a good many resentful reviews from readers who disliked their favourite tropes being satirized, however gently, but that is the price of notoriety, and I think most writers, like me, would rather attract sales and public notice than have no controversy, obscurity, and dismal sales.
Incidentally, since the introduction of Amazon’s new sales policies, sales of ‘Ravensdale’ have plummeted. Because it is sinking into obscurity, I have made it free on Smashwords. I have tried to make it free on Amazon, but they ignore me. Here is the Smashwords link for that:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/721130
My own view is, that while it is nice to make money out of writing, that isn’t why I went into it; in fact, that is only the icing on the cake. The reason I went into it, is because I wanted people to read my stuff.
If I – as someone (I hope) at least partially sane – had gone into writing to make a profit out of it, then I’d be writing: ‘The Duke Gets His Breeches Down: Dastardly Duke Series 101’.
That is the way to make high sales and money out of writing.
Most of those writer friends haven’t sold as much as they deserve. But then, if they got their just deserts, they’d be best selling authors.
Sadly, the market doesn’t work like that; the market recognises the price of everything, and the value of nothing, as someone once said. As often as not, it’s not the talented and original authors who are among the most successful.
Sadly, I think some of them have become discouraged about writing. Some are taking a long break from the whole business of writing and the weary slog of publicity, and finding it a relief. Of course, many of them are very busy; some of them still have children, and a job…The wonder is anyone in that situation produces good work at all. But I suspect some have been discouraged by mediocre sales, and the lack of a breakthrough.
I personally, think it would be a great loss if they gave up altogether. Rather, I think that if an author is making a pittance from her writing and it has no visibility on the sales ranks on Amazon, she might as well make her books free.
Smashwords will do it happily enough. The problem is Amazon, who seem to turn a deaf ear when it suits them.
However, they have made my first book, ‘That Scoundrel Émile Dubois’ free. For anyone interested, the new edition, complete with a faster start, is available here https://www.amazon.com/That-Scoundrel-Émile-Dubois-Light-ebook/dp/B00AOA4FN4
By the way, I wouldn’t like to give the impression that all wonderfully original works are doomed to poor sales and lack of public recognition. Many receive the recognition they deserve (though sometimes it happens after the author is dead).
There is Jo Baker’s ‘Longbourn’, for instance. What a brilliant work!
I found it such a refreshing change to read a book set in the UK of the Regency era which is about ordinary people – not the aristocracy (the families of approximately 700 men) or the gentry (approximately 1.5 per cent of the population).
But I will be writing a post about that soon. For now, I would like to say that I wish that all of my original writer friends were back to writing again. I miss them.
2 Responses
Wise words, Lucinda. I never got involved in writing for money – but then, to be honest, if money were my primary motivation I’d never have got involved in writing to begin with. Obviously I’d be delighted if I made something like a living wage out of my books, but for me that was just never the motivating factor. Ultimately, I just enjoy making things up!
You are so right, Mari! I’m looking forward to your next. One of the things I admire so much in your writing is – besides that unerring depiction of character – the seemingly effortless flow of your prose. I say seemingly; I know how much work must go into that.