my experience (and new investigation) into "Publicity"

[Michael Coorlim]

It doesn't get (much) easier when it's your day job. I released my last title in January, and sales have steadily dropped month-by-month. Through a series of misadventures and side projects, it's taken me seven months just to get to the point where I have a finished draft of the next book (started and shelved two other titles, incorporated a production company, started a podcast, geared up to start making audio drama, etc).

So now I get to watch my monthly income gradually dwindle while I fight the urge to rush the next title out the door.

 

[FibonacciEddie]

Hi Michael, you make a good point, I guess relying solely on writing for income is pretty stressful.
(It would be impossible for me to achieve)

 

[FibonacciEddie]

My worry about the sort of promo you mention is whether it hits your target market? Or just people after a bargain who may not ever read it? Only word of mouth only works in the relevant cycles, if that makes sense.

It's a bugger - we need to write to succeed, but we need to work to eat....

Hey Jo

you're probably right about target v bargain
but then again, to win the lottery you have to buy a ticket... so even if a third of the buyers read the book then I feel I am moving in the right direction

I also wonder... apologies for Sunday morning philosophy... if I was to be given £100m would I write better (due to the increased time available) or worse (due to the distractions that the money would afford me)

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Even £1m would totally screw you up.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

if I was to be given £100m would I write better

I'd buy a Victorian Mansion or small castle (in Limerick / Clare), have live in staff, have some of the family that wanted to live in a wing, have a live in editor and secretary / clerk and just self publish at 99 c.
Maybe a pony or too with a Groom.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I also wonder... apologies for Sunday morning philosophy... if I was to be given £100m would I write better (due to the increased time available) or worse (due to the distractions that the money would afford me)

Depends on your willpower and motivations, but you know what, I'm willing to give that experiment a go if possible. I think I'd be a brilliant writer if I was given £100 million.

(I'm not too much of a distraction person, always need long term writing projects and other things to be on the go...)

 

[Michael Coorlim]

I can honestly say that I write because I love to write, and it's my leisure activity of choice. If I were to become independently wealthy, or if the United States implemented a basic minimum income, and my survival was no longer tied to my works commercial appeal, I would continue to write. The nature and character of what I wrote would change and I would most likely become a bit more experimental because I would have the luxury to do so.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Having a sustainable passive income would likely make it easier for me to write. I wouldn't have to worry about where my next paycheck was coming from.

I write for the fun of it. At the moment, if I'm not working, I'm writing, and if I'm not writing, I'm watching TV shows -- but there isn't enough shows I like to occupy even half the available time I'd have to myself.

So yes, if I didn't have to go out and earn my wage, I would definitely write a lot faster because it is what I chose to do with my free time regardless of income.

What would change is the location and way I went about writing it.