The Author Earnings website has worked hard at 'scraping' data from Amazon's various sites to provide unprecedented detail on sales data. As Amazon now represents close to a majority of print titles sold, knowing what is being sold and by whom is very interesting indeed. The data shows that independent authors represent a large and rapidly growing fraction of book sales on Amazon. There is also ample evidence that having a book listed on the Amazon bestseller lists provides a substantial boost to non-listed titles from the same author. Overall, Author Earnings claim that they identified over 9,000 authors earning more than USD $10,000 per year, and half of that number were earning over USD $20,000 per year. Read the whole report, which goes into much greater detail.
Useful Resources for Australian Authors
The Australian Society of Authors maintains a very useful collection of documents for Australian authors. Some of them are free, others free for their members. Titles include: The Author as Producer, the Author as Brand, Copying payments to authors, Getting Published, Getting Started for Book Illustrators, Ghostwriting Agreement & Contact List, Guidelines to Permissions, Introduction to Digital Self-Publishing, Literary Agent and Author Agreement, Literary Competition Guidelines, Paying for publication and so on. See also the vast collection of resources at the Arts Law Centre's website.
If You Build It, They Might Not Come — Promotional Realities Pt1
Guest Post by Jo Ettles, author.
If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you right? I had no idea when I wrote my first book in 2012 that it would be such a challenging experience in more ways than one. Ever the eternal optimist, I do believe self-belief is a huge part of achieving success. BUT it also takes real work, determination, dedication and commitment to marketing yourself and your books continuously to make it in such a competitive world.
I have a strong background in marketing and it is second nature for me to recognise that you need to actively market yourself as an author and promote your work consistently. You know that old line from the movie — Field of Dreams — “If you build it, they will come”?
Well, it may have worked for Kevin Costner, but if you take that approach, your amazing book might never reach anyone.
I recently connected with some gifted authors who have released incredible books. Each and every one of them wanted to know how to improve their marketing and share their work. Here is some of the information that has helped me get both of my books out into the world.
Author Profile
I think everyone needs to have a professional headshot for their author profile. It is amazing how people respond to a professionally taken image as opposed to one that was just taken randomly at a party or family dinner! Present a professional image to the world and invest in a decent author photo.
When it comes to writing your bio, keep it short and sweet but always write from the heart. Readers want to really connect with you. Be uniquely you.
Goodreads
Goodreads is a phenomenal way to get your books seen all over the world. Create an author profile and list your books as soon as you can. Goodreads runs a giveaway competition for readers. I normally giveaway 3 signed copies of my books every few months and it generates a lot of interest in my work. I highly recommend it.
There is a section where readers can review your work and also give it a star rating. Try not to take it too personally if a review isn’t as great as you had hoped. Not everyone will get your message or your writing but don’t let that stop you from moving forward.
I recently had a review of one of my books and the reader said, that it had motivated her to clean up but I had rehashed a lot of self-help stuff that was already out there and generally, my book would only appeal to an Australian audience. At first, I got my back up! In my book “The Shed” I share a very personal story so it is definitely not rehashed. After a couple of wasted hours trying to make sense of her opinion, I just accepted that my work is not for everyone and if I was going to continue writing, I had to respect everyone’s opinion and take it on board. The following day, I saw a post on the internet by an American man. He had recommended my book on a reader’s forum saying it was full of good ideas and it was a very decent entry into the self- help genre. Balance restored!
See Post 2 for more promotional suggestions from Jo.
On Writing for Teen Boys and Getting Your Book into Schools
Some interesting thoughts from Anne Davies, author of Wrath, listed as a notable book in the Children's Book Council Awards. She touches on the school market and writing with boys and young men in mind.
“Well, I was a high school teacher for a long time and found boys particularly hated reading, apart from”The Outsiders” which was written by a 17 year old American girl (S.E.Hinton) back in the ‘70’s .They made a movie of it — the first movie, I think, for Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon.
Anyway, I thought I would try to write something a bit more meaty but using her principles which boys liked — minimal description, short chapters, plenty happening,every chapter ending on something which you would want to find out,move the action along.I have certain things which I wanted to add — the whole idea of personal responsibility for your actions; how you need to have some “rules” for yourself — what sort of person do I want to be? How can I not be led by others into doing things I don’t want to without appearing a loser? What things do I admire in other people and want for myself? etc.This allowed me to at least touch on Buddhist concepts of being in control of your own thinking. As I say in the book, take over the steering wheel of your mind, without being too overtly religious but trying to convey the necessity of not just floating along being influenced by others or by random thoughts.One reviewer said, the book “gets a bit preachy towards the end for some.” I have to say, I meant to be preachy.
I approached a few schools which had been sent a copy of the book and bought a class set and offered to talk to the kids.I have only gone to two but both have been great, with the teachers saying some kids said this was the first book they had ever read to the end (we’re talking Year 12 here!). They all wanted to know about how much was autobiographical (lots!), would there be a sequel (no, I don’t think so) and so on. The surprise was that girls liked it too. Both teachers were very enthusiastic because the kids had really gotten into it and were happy to recommend it to teachers they knew so it will roll on hopefully.”
Local Author Generating Publicity
The Albury Wodonga paper of record, the Border Morning Mail recently ran a story on Maria Stefanidis and her book "The Sunny Side of the Street". The article details Maria's dedication to her writing and discipline in ensuring her work is of the highest possible quality.