In the writing business you need to have a plan for finding the income you need because you're the one responsible for keeping the flow going. Since I've taken on the mantle of an indie publisher, I've been doing double duty both producing new writing and also designing the books and stories for publication. I can't believe I'm doing it, but I know that much of what I do is laying the groundwork for future income. It doesn't deal with the deficit today. It is up to me to find the sources for income in the coming months.
I've just released a second book, Remember The Ride: The Story Of North Vermillion Girls Basketball's Sensational Four-Year Run, back on January 16th. That book is starting to sell. We had a decent release for the book but I believe the sales will continue to climb on what is a popular local story. Beyond that, I have three additional books that will see publication during the first half of this year. One of these is an epic fantasy novel that I have been planning to bring out for some time now. The other two are nonfiction books that I've been doing with co-authors.
Seems like a full load doesn't it? But I'm not done yet. I have plans this year to produce not only a ton of stories (per my short story challenge) but I also hope to get a few novels under my belt too. The big lesson I'm learning as a publisher is that the more books I have available the better my sales will be. Many--perhaps most--publishers work on the premise of earning modest amounts of an ever-expanding list of available titles. This doesn't include the trend in publishing that focuses only on the home runs--the bestselling writers--and forgets about the much larger midlist.
There are a lot of prospects going forward but I'm still looking for paying work. I have to start now even though I have some money yet to show up. Also, it means I'm spending a little time selling Remember The Ride, just letting the locals know it exists. Getting it out there in front of people so they have the opportunity to buy it.
In other news, I published a collection of the first five short stories I published lat last year. It's called Five Stories: Volume One. It is an ebook and can be purchased for Kindle, Nook, and on Smashwords (for iBooks, Kobo, Diesel, Sony, and other e-readers).
I will be updating again when I've accomplished some of these plans. I'll keep those reading posted. It's a great time to be a writer. I looking forward to taking a piece of the pie.
No comments:
Post a Comment