Life is difficult enough for an author. Firstly, you lock yourself away from your family whilst you write and everyone has to tiptoe around you. Next you jump through hoops to get you book accepted and published. When you have done all of that, the very least you can hope for is that somebody will recognise its’ value and buy it! After all, you deserve it. But what happens if they don’t? What happens if, after all your long hours and hard work, you are met with silence? The book is sitting there but not selling? You family, who have supported you whilst you were in purdah, are hungry for your success. “Have you sold any yet?” they ask eagerly. It is so difficult if the answer is “Not yet.” If only they would shut up about it!
Faced with this situation, authors can start doubting themselves. Maybe the book isn’t good enough? Maybe the cover is putting them off? Maybe books like this don’t sell at this time of year? We search for answers. We beat ourselves up with the things we might have done differently. We put on a brave face.
I have some good news for you! The problem is nothing to do with your book. I am willing to wager that, with all the effort, all the checking, and all of the creativity you have put into it, it is absolutely fine. It is just waiting for it’s perfect reader to trip over it. The only trouble is that they are searching for it somewhere else. The good news is that this is easy to fix!
I have heard many people complain that you cannot make money from books. It is certainly true that many people don’t, but I believe that this is mainly down to not having a business plan and a knowledge of the marketplace. Your book is too important to rely on Hope as a sales strategy. People are buying books in greater number then before, BUT in different formats, from different media, and from different channels. As an author you need to know who your perfect reader is, what it is that they really need, and where they are looking for it. This may well be different from where they were looking in the past.
At a time when parts of the global book market are under pressure, the data suggests younger audiences are helping drive renewed momentum, with social media platforms now an increasingly important source of book discovery. Spending among 16 to 29-year-old readers in particular has risen significantly in recent years, and more than half of 16-to-39-year-olds say that platforms such as #BookTok have motivated them to read more or buy books. Three books are sold every minute on TikTok! Is your one of them? In fact, if you look at Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, you will find books on sale there as well.
No author can be expected to know how all of the moving part of the book trade interface together. What are the most profitable books you can sell? Which book can cost you more money to produce than you will received form a sale. Knowing this is fundamental to the success of your author business. You need to know how this stuff works!
I believe that every author needs a Business Coach who is knowledgeable about the book trade and can help an author to make good commercial decisions.
If you are in business, you cannot rely on luck. There are many powerful tools out there, the majority of which will cost you nothing but you do need an experienced pair of hands to guide you.
Your book is important to you. It is also important to the world. If the Universe has given you the talent to write it, it will also give you the clarity to successfully bring it to market. But success is down to the action you take rather than the knowledge you have. To know and not to do is not to know!
People have a strange notion that the world owes them a living and a publisher, is going to ride in from the sunset with a cheque in their hands while you abdicate you responsibilities and hand over your book to them. The person who invests the most will always make the most.
You can make money from your book but you need to earn it! Unless you PLAN for your book to be successful, you are planning for it not to be. You need a business plan and a strategy to achieve it. Don’t let ignorance steal the success that your book rightly deserves!
Chris Day
Publisher and Author Coach