Sometimes as writers we expect people to fall in love with our books just because we really believe that there is an audience for them. To us, our writing and our books are our babies. And you may have a genuine work of art on your hands, but as I am learning, without a good amount of advertising, your work is nothing more than air.
Fortunately for writers today there is a thing called social media. Now most people assume that social media is as simple as opening a social media account and watching it grow, but this too takes time and energy. When one of the wonderful women in my critique group suggested to me that it was going to take an additional 20 to 25 hours a week to run my book business, I scoffed. Now as I have dived into this realm of advertising I am realizing how right she actually was.
I think that the main thing I have learned over the years is that you must really take your book business serious. In the same way you wouldn't just open a restaurant and expect people to be drawn to it simply because people are bound to eat sometime, you ought not treat your books this way. If you opened a restaurant you would have a grand opening, send out flyers, post it online, and generally promote yourself and your dream.
Fortunately for writers today there is a thing called social media. Now most people assume that social media is as simple as opening a social media account and watching it grow, but this too takes time and energy. When one of the wonderful women in my critique group suggested to me that it was going to take an additional 20 to 25 hours a week to run my book business, I scoffed. Now as I have dived into this realm of advertising I am realizing how right she actually was.
I think that the main thing I have learned over the years is that you must really take your book business serious. In the same way you wouldn't just open a restaurant and expect people to be drawn to it simply because people are bound to eat sometime, you ought not treat your books this way. If you opened a restaurant you would have a grand opening, send out flyers, post it online, and generally promote yourself and your dream.