Seriously

One of my early blog posts asked the question are you serious about writing. By that I meant are meant are you willing to do what it takes to write and publish your work. My view at the time was that writing is for sharing -- something I still believe -- and that in order to share a story or poem or written piece, you must publish it.

However, I'm not sure how many other writers share that view. I say this because I've begun to research out to many area writing groups looking for people with published work like me. I am looking for them because I manage to convince my local library to host an author event in the spring. So now I need about five people to come and talk about their work.

So far the results from reaching out to writing groups has been a bust. No one has expressed interest. So I began to suspect that writers in writing groups are not serious. They are writing for themselves or perhaps are few others. But they don't ever plan to publish. That's fine, of course, and confirms my view that belonging to a writing group is not for me.

Ironically, however, I've had to join several groups so I could advertise the author event coming next spring, not that this has done me much good...

And it still leaves me with the issue of finding writers with published books who want to participate in the author event I'm trying to get off the ground. 

I suppose this time of year people aren't thinking about the spring; they are thinking about the end of the year, holidays, family, presents, food, and all that stuff. That doesn't make my job any easier but might explain why I've gotten no response.

Perhaps a more direct approach is in order. I can use social media to find people ask them directly. I also plan to post a notice in the library hoping that any writers that use the institution will see the notice and respond.

And in the meantime, I'm planning to attend local gatherings put on by others to research how I might attend them in the future as a seller and not a buyer. I went to a book fair in Groton, MA last week, for example and gave my information to the organizer in case they want to do another fair in the future.

And amidst all they I've got novels and stories to write and revise. No wonder I'm tried. 

Wrote a book? Try selling it.

The big discovery this week is that traditional publishers aren't my only roadblock; traditional booksellers are too. I made this discovery while trying to arrange a book signing for my novel. In the process I learned a few things:

* It is nearly impossible to garner interest in a new unknown fiction writer; you can advertise but people will ignore it and not attend the signing. Apparently they want to be sure the event is worth their time and that they are not wasting their money. 

* The booksellers will buy books for the signing on consignment but will not advance money to pay for them; this means the author must foot the bill, not something I can do easily.

* The bookseller will alternatively buy books for the signing from the publisher but they have to be returnable. My publisher, as a small press, does not accept returns. 

* The sum of all these points means that a new author cannot, in all likelihood, arrange book signings to promote his or her book This leaves very few avenues open.

So I'm back to square one and spending time thinking about what I can do for now. Frankly, I think the best thing I can do to promote my work, at the moment, is to keep writing and release more of my work to the public.

Sold Out ... Temporarily

The new this week is that my novel, after being in Amazon for about a week and a half is temporarily sold out. I'm sure those sales are family and/or friends. And I expected this sort of spike initially. The question is can I maintain it.

And quite honestly, I don't know. But I've begun focusing on book signings, which means identifying book store in the area and asking if they host such events so I can get connected with them.

Aside from that, I continue to revise Book 2 slowly, revise one short story in the hopes of releasing it soon, and developed the plot for Book 5.

I am still waiting for my free copies of my book and I have any to hear any details from my publisher on the launch event they said they were planning -- despite having explicitly asking about it.

I'm guessing they will not host such an event.

Regardless, I'm plugging away at all the things I can hoping to make some sort of difference in promoting my book.

Keep writing everyone.