Sadly, step three (Profit) requires more steps – and some other intangibles.
Since 2013, I have self-published 17 books in total on Amazon. Five of them are nonfiction and published under Murray “MJ” Blehart, while the other 12 are fiction under MJ Blehart.
From the outside, it looks like there are 3 steps to the writing process. Write. Edit. Profit! Except that’s just not the case.
There are way more than 3 steps. What’s more – profit – has a lot of different challenges to it in addition to any steps one takes towards it.
Today I’m going to share the steps that go into reaching profit. Please note – this is MY experience with this. I don’t doubt others have had their own, different experiences.
One step, two step (red step, blue step)
When I started out writing as a kid, the process was much easier. Sit down and write. Bing, bang, boom.
By my teens, I’d finished 2 books – a 50 page, hand-written, and illustrated sci-fi story I wrote when I was 9. Then, a 36-page, double-spaced typed sci-fi story when I was 13. Additionally, I wrote an award-winning technothriller short story when I was 18 in High School.
There were other stories I started but didn’t finish over the years. And then, I had an idea – and it evolved into my fantasy series The Source Chronicles during my mid-twenties.
From the Source Chronicles and through my Void Incursion sci-fi series, the first and second step of my process was to write, then edit. Step 2a was to send the finished, edited product to an editor. They would do their work, send it back, and step 2b was to edit their edit.
(Sometimes editors change the dialogue and other poetic content for correctness – neglecting context. And, to be blunt – they might also still miss a typo or two).
Sure, step 3 was publish. But I thought it would also include profit! Easy, peasy, right? Of course, it’s not that simple.
Who in the hell am I? I know the answer – and you, dear reader, might have an impression of the answer, too. But as a published author? I’m not a known quantity.
That means marketing comes into play. Advertising, shares on social media, and other elements to get to profit.
Ah, but wait – there’s more!
The pantser becomes a planner
For most of my writing career, I have been a pantser (i.e. one who writes by the seat of their pants). I would sit with my notebook or at the keyboard and start creating.
I wrote 13 of the 17 books I’ve self-published as a pantser. So, there is nothing wrong with choosing this way, per se.
For a long time, I thought taking the time to be a planner stifled the creativity of writing by the seat of your pants. A fellow author friend of mine often shares how she is plotting her novels chapter by chapter, in a lot of detail, long before she starts the full-on writing work.
Then, in the last quarter of 2020, I had an idea for a story. To fully form it, I began a lot of world-building. Which led to the creation of some of the story’s characters. And that led to developing a rough plan.
It wasn’t long before I found myself planning a chapter-by-chapter outline of the first novel for this sci-fi series. Then the second. And in the end, four books were plotted and planned chapter-by-chapter – before the actual writing began.
To my immense surprise, this not only didn’t stifle my creativity – it focused it and expanded on it. The Forgotten Fodder clone sci-fi series is the best-plotted books I’ve written to date.
After an ambitious publishing schedule for 2021 – and putting out 6 novels – I planned more books. The last Void Incursion novel was pre-plotted (unlike the previous 4 books), 4 more Forgotten Fodder novels are planned, and a new 6-novel sci-fi series called Savagespace has been planned out.
While the planning process is writing – it’s not writing the story that will generate profit. This means it’s a whole new step – before my initial step one.
Is there always another step?
The process felt a lot simpler when I could call it Step One: Write; Step Two: Edit; Step Three: Profit? But it was, truthfully, unrealistic.
And now, having been very actively writing, editing, and publishing for the last 3 years, I sometimes find myself wondering:
Is there always another step?
Yes. But that’s not a bad thing.
Because in taking joy in my work – all the steps can and will be repeated for every book I write, edit, and publish.
So yes, there is always another step. But that’s not a bad thing. Because – not to get super philosophical here – life always unfolds one step after another.
To quote Lao Tzu,
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Thus, realistically, there are far more than two steps to profit. For me, it looks something like this:
- Step 1: Idea
- Step 2: Plan and world build
- Step 3: Plan and plot
- Step 4: Write
- Step 5: Edit
- Step 5a: Submit the manuscript to an editor
- Step 6: Get a cover made
- Step 7: Receive back the edited manuscript. Edit again.
- Step 7a: Start marketing
- Step 8: More marketing
- Step 9: Publish!
- Step 10: Even more marketing
- Step 11: PROFIT!
So not 3 steps. Eleven steps. Except, well…that’s not quite the whole process.
Profit is not a step
Sadly, getting to profit requires more steps – and some other intangibles.
The steps can include getting reviews, interviews on blogs and podcasts, other good press, and maybe a few other things.
But – none of these steps mean profit. I can have an incredibly well-reviewed book, a dozen favorable interviews on blogs and podcasts, and amazing press.
And if the sales aren’t happening – neither is profit.
If sales don’t cover the expenses of the cover art, editing, marketing, and such – no profit.
Profit, thus, is not a step.
What’s more – generating sales comes down to intangibles over which I have no control.
What does profit require? I need people to buy my book. Then, I need them to tell friends to buy my book, who also then tell friends to buy – until buzz is generated. Sales continue, and I develop fans who clamor for the next book(s) I write.
Voila! Profit!
There is no set path from here to there in the above 11+ steps above. Profit, unfortunately, isn’t a step.
Why do I go on? Because I love what I do. There are more stories in my head that I need to share with you. And I believe that my work is good, solid, and worthwhile. Plus – with every book and blog I write – my skill as a writer improves.
To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald,
“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”
Why do I do it? Because I feel compelled to – and I love the work. That is my why.
There are 10 plotted stories in my queue presently. However many steps it takes – I believe I will reach the elusive profit.
If you are a creative – aside from profit, what’s your why?
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