Way to go, you wrote your first book, published it, maybe. What next? There’s a couple of things. Marketing is one option, but it’s not the most important option.
What about sales? How do we get money for our book if we’re not marketing it?
Well, sales are nice, but they aren’t the main goal right this minute.
What is the main goal we should focus on after we’ve written our 1st book?
Do It All Over Again
That’s right, you need to start writing your next book. It sounds so simple, and yet, it’s incredibly easy to get sidetracked by other seemingly more important tasks. Therein lies the reason though. All the “Tasks” associated with writing a book are just that. They aren’t the end goal.
Who ever wrote a book to say, “I want to be a marketer,” (aside from a marketer), but then if that’s the case, writing the book was part of their marketing task list.
Your goal is to become a writer. To do that, you must continue writing.
The hard part is, that you’re not making a living yet as a writer, and that can be very frustrating to know that you might not make back your money on that first book. Don’t fret, I’ll explain my reasoning.
Three Reasons Why You Should Focus More on Writing Than Marketing
First: Especially as you’re starting out, you aren’t good enough to ride the coattails of your first book. Even if you turn into a pro marketer, if you’re just starting out, you still have a lot to learn about crafting stories. This takes time and practice, something you still need more of.
Second: It helps with marketing. Say your book is really good, so you spend a lot of time pushing it. What happens from a reader’s perspective if they enjoyed it?
Usually, they are going to look up your next book. But wait, you don’t have a next book for them to buy and read. They might check back occasionally for the next month or two, but soon, they’re going to forget who you are.
The authors we remember, are the ones who consistently publish books. We become a fan of them through multiple books, and only then can we usually remember who they are down the road a year or two.
Third: Your personal creativity is like a muscle that needs exercise. The more you create, the more creative ideas you’ll get. Creativity feeds off itself. Once you start focusing only on the business side of things, your creativity starts to weaken. Also, if your book is struggling to gain an audience, this can drag your emotional state down.
Now, lets not assume that marketing and business are unimportant to a writer. They’re incredibly important. At the same time, making a business out of writing is more like a game of chess, rather than a game of corn-hole. You need to take a long view.
This might mean that you have to keep your day job a little longer than you were hoping for. When I decided to become a writer/independent film producer, I put together a ten-year plan. I’ll share that with you in another article.
For now, if you want to become a writer, keep writing. That is your number one job. Schedule time for the business end of things, but don’t lose sight of where you want to be as a writer.
We all deal with this. Don’t worry if it’s a little discouraging at first. Part of continuing to write, is that you get to do something you enjoy. Writing itself can be its own reward while you’re building yourself up to be a professional writer. Then hopefully, as your skills and collection of work increases, the profits will start to follow.
By the way, check out my video on this subject at: https://youtu.be/c6vL8zIxAdI
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