Traditionally publishing? Yes, you still need to do marketing
Today’s Monday Musings ~ The Writer’s Corner comes to us from author, Ari Meghlen. Ari has a wonderful blog with great info for writers at all stages of the journey. This particular blog I felt was an important one to share, especially for writers just beginning to think big about getting their work out there for more to enjoy.
Of course the first key is to write and weave the best work that you can challenge yourself to rise to.
And yes, there’s a lot to do about alignment and timing, but there’s also a writer’s platform and brand that is pivotal to be thinking about and establishing even well before you actually publish your book.
Ari shares about marketing and its importance whether you are self-publishing or traditional publishing.
It’s a myth to think that you don’t have to do any of this if you get a traditional publisher.
I think you’ll find both her blog post and the comments by readers, after, to have some nuggets of wisdom and food for thought. You’ll get a little insight on the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing.
Besides some great writers’ blogs, there are also a lot of books out there about the industry and that have great advice for writers and share about the literary life.
Thanks to Ari for highlighting this. And as she says, ” The truth is YOU are ultimately responsible for your writing career.”
Posted on November 19, 2018, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
Thank you for sharing this information!
you’re most welcome richard!! i’m glad you find it helpful
i know i didn’t know anything about any of this when i self published my first book, but i had somehow created a platform with my other work that supported it without knowing. these days, if a writer wants to traditionally publish, one of the things agents and publishers look at is what kind of platform you have, as that is more appealing to them to know there’s already a built-in audience from the get-go.
Yes Tania even as in my case paying for marketing doesn’t always amount to much either. Amazon have it sewn up for exploiting self publishers e.g. not paying royalties until the sales accrue $100 or more in each domain so it seems a pointless exercise unless you know you already have sales exceeding this amount. In future I will release my work for free on Amazon. May as well!
thank you for sharing your additional experiences with this. i’m curious what platform you used on Amazon? did you publish through CreateSpace? Or a different channel? only asking because i have always received royalties from my first book i published there on CreateSpace in any amount….even if it was just 50 cents.
From Amazon’s website: “EFT Payments do not have a threshold. This means you’ll be paid electronically in full no matter the amount accrued.” It’s only a $100 threshold if you want a check. Like Tania, I always received royalties in whatever amount. I prefer EFT anyway: no need to go to the bank to cash the checks. 🙂
thanks for finding the info laura and sharing it here so others understand how it works too. it was so long ago i signed up on there for my print and kdp versions. i figured there must be a catch.
You’re welcome. It’s actually all KDP now, as CreateSpace merged with KDP. I have been investigating it again for guided journals and certain things for which I would not want any contract with a publisher. If you want total creative freedom, KDP still has much to offer. Traditional publishing has its advantages, too. It just depends what you’re looking to accomplish, but for sure, KDP pays with no threshold unless you want a check. This is pretty common, and many traditional publishers pay quarterly, so depending on your goals, KDP might even work better for some people.
Cool. I don’t know when they merged as I’ve always just received deposits. I know there are different country versions that come through too. I don’t remember doing two separate things at the time, but doesn’t really matter. It was 2011… Brain farts 🤣 yeah Dave gets his royalties quarterly for his traditionally published book. Many options for many goals.
KDP /Amazon. They also refuse e.f.t. between our major bank!
i have kdp and createspace…so must be that they only do it with certain banks, like you shared, if you want eft. i’m sorry to hear that it was challenging catherine. thank you for bringing up more things to think about and look into for writers when even deciding on the route of publishing and receiving royalties. there are many layers for sure, like with most things in life, but we do it because we love it.