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SPECULATIVE
FICTION WRITER
PAUL ALLAN COMSTOCK
Speculative Fiction Writer
The Art Of Writing
Promoting What You Write
Publication and learning how to write is the
easy part of becoming a professional author. After that is when it gets
tough because that is when you have to start working at selling what
you write, and selling it consistently if you intend to pay the bills.
It is true that once you get that first
professional sale, that it is easier to sell your future works, but
that is only part of it. You have to market yourself, as well as your
stories and novels, and most writers have to learn how to do that. But
that's what an agent is for, right? All I have to do is get an agent,
you say, and then all I'll have to do is to write.
This is where most beginning authors fail to
understand writing as a business. It is true that agents will go to bat
for you and try to get your novels sold, as well as get you the best
deal they can, but they won't do much beyond that. By beyond that, I
mean that they won't help much in the way of getting your book
purchased by readers, and if you write only short stories, most agents
won't even help get those sold to publishers. Luckily, there's not much
to promote when it comes to short stories, though, so you only need to
worry about promotion for novels.
An agent is nothing more than a car salesman
for novels, and the good ones are worth the money, but they don't
promote your product, they only sell it. It makes sense when you start
thinking of it that way. You become like Ford, or GM, or Toyota,
responsible for designing and making the car,and then shipping it to a
dealer. From there, the salesman sells it, but they haven't promoted
it, other than to present it to prospective buyers. It's up to the car
company and dealership to promote the car so people will want that car
and ask to see one.
This promotion of the product is what sells
the car, and it's what will sell your novels. Sure, some cars will be
sold off the lot just because they're there, but more are sold with
advertising. Once a novel is out on the book store shelves, publishers
and agents aren't likely to do very much in the way of promotion unless
you have a name they can promote. This generally never happens with any
first novel unless there's some hype about it for some reason, so that
means that the promotion of that novel will be up to the author, and
good solid sales for an author's first few novels is critical to future
sales. If an author has a poor sales record for their work, publishers
and agents will take it as a sign that readers just don't like the
author's work, and the more novels published that follow with poor
sales, the worse this perception gets, valid or not.
Promotion can best be done though a variety
of things, like book signings, appearances on radio and TV talk shows
where possible, and through the internet by blogging or forums. These
are only some ways some previous authors have succesfully promoted
their books, but there are probably many other ways as well. But, you
say, all I want to do is to write. My book is so good and attractive,
that everyone will want to read it, so I don't have to promote it.
Being out on the shelves will be good enough, and it'll sell itself.
This attitude has sunk more good books and
writers than anything else. It's a mistake to think that a book will
sell itself. Just think of the last time you were in a book store. How
many novels were on the shelves, and how many did you look for? You may
have browsed, looking for interesting titles and covers, but the only
books you proabably looked for were from your favorite authors, or
someone you'd heard about. If you want to sell your novels, then you
want to become someone readers will search out when they are at the
book store.
Copyright © 2006 by Paul Allan
Comstock. All Rights Reserved
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