I can see what I want on the other side – but still haven’t figured out how to get through the invisible door.
When I was asked if I wanted to contribute a short story about pirates and magic back in 2010, I was ecstatic. Finally, I was going to have a work of fiction published!
Two years later, I got another short story published in the follow-up anthology. There it was, my name included among other authors, available for purchase. This was so bloody cool!
It wasn’t long before I realized that the times had changed, the tools were different, and rather than continue failing to go the traditional route – I could self-publish. I started with non-fiction. But it wasn’t long before I published a work of fantasy – my first love.
In 2014 I published the first novel of my fantasy series The Source Chronicles. Book one – Seeker – was begun somewhere around 1998 and was a longtime labor of love for me. I followed it with the publication of Book two – Finder – in 2015. Other works and some editing paralysis ensued, but recently I began in earnest to finish my edits of Book 3 – Harbinger – so that I might get it off to an editor.
More recently, I have been writing a science fiction epic. The Void Incursion is an ongoing project, and Book Two – Critical Position – will be published on November 9th.
I am striving to put my work out there. So, what is the invisible door? Publicity, marketing, and selling enough copies to make my living as a full-time writer.
Ongoing processes
Let me begin by addressing the elephant in the room. You have to spend money to make money.
That’s true. Editing each book, and having professional covers made costs money. But I am not putting out an unedited work – and I see value in hiring a professional to create an eye-catching cover – because I lack that talent.
These are the easiest expenses to justify. But where and how do you spend money on publicity, marketing, and sales help? What are the best resources? What can I do to push past the invisible door to get out there to a broader audience and increase sales so that I can make a full-time living through writing and publishing?
I am scared shitless about this. Already I have spent some money on webinars, a couple of different coaches, and a person to get me more reviews to increase my presence on Amazon. So far, my return on investment (ROI) is in the red.
I am not necessarily looking to become a best-seller. The success of Neil Gaiman would be awesome – but not my main goal, either. No, I want to consistently sell from 1000-10,000 books per month. I don’t think that is in any way unreasonable.
There are almost 8 billion people on this planet. Of those, 1.5 billion can speak English. For the sake of argument, let’s say, as such, the 750 million people read English. If, again for the sake of argument, one half of 1% of those people are into any of the work I write – that means that I have the potential to sell to 3.75 million readers.
How do I get the attention of those readers? Then – how do I persuade them to try me out and buy my work?
This is my invisible door
I can see the other side. There are people who love my work and eagerly await new books. There are cons that I can attend (post-COVID-19) where I have fans who want to talk about my sci-fi, Steampunk, and fantasy writing.
My non-fiction works also sell better. I start to develop parties interested in webinars and discussions (again, post-COVID-19) about mindfulness, conscious reality creation and applying them to day-to-day life. As such, I become another authority in the self-help/inspiration/spirituality world.
I am not seeking (yet) to become a best-seller, nor to have the draw of a Tony Robbins or Jen Sincero. What I do desire to see is sustainable, ongoing sales, and interest in more creations on my part.
There is nothing unreasonable on the other side of the invisible door. I know that it can be achieved, that I can get over there. Now I need to figure out how to unlock, open and push past the invisible door.
I have 9 books (not counting the anthologies) presently on Amazon. If I can sell 150 copies a month (Kindle and/or paperback) of 7 of those books – that would be 1,050 copies total. That amounts to .00028% of my potential 3.75 million English readers in the world.
I think this is utterly, totally, and completely reasonable on my part. But that doesn’t solve the problem.
How do I get noticed so that my sales increase as I desire them to?
The quest for resources
There are several avenues I can take.
Google is my friend. I have amazing Google-fu. The first thing is that more research needs to be done on my part to explore options and ideas for publicity and ways to increase notice and sales.
Networking is next. I am a part of several Facebook groups where there are other writers. I need to do better with networking there.
This leads to a more personal issue, and this is wholly on me. I need to reach out to other writers directly.
I have connected with several writers with various levels of success in their work. But I think the fear of rejection, my uncertainty, and some self-worth issues keep me from taking this step.
It is clear that I am equally as afraid of success as I am of failure. So, this is the point at which I tend to sabotage myself – and stay in this half-ass place. Sure, I continue to write, and to publish – but to really put myself out to a greater audience is going to take a step outside of my comfort zone.
I have done this before – with not the best ROI. This is another reason why I am uncertain and gun shy. An effort was made prior that didn’t net the desired result. However, while some of that may be on the choices I made and the people I worked with – much of this is really on me.
Rejection won’t hurt. And as the Alchemist said in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist,
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”
Open the invisible door
This weekend I will make a plan to do the thing that scares me, tell my heart that what it fears is much worse than anything that might happen, and act.
I can see what I want on the other side – but still haven’t figured out how to get through the invisible door. I know I can open this door – all I have to do is let go of my fear, breathe deep, and act. There is no doubt in my mind that – when all is said and done – I am stronger than my fear.
The goal is in sight. Only I can take action to help me reach it.
Thank you for being a part of my ongoing journey. Thank you for joining me, and for inspiring me and my art.
This is the seventy-first article exploring the creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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