I just saw where one of my favorite multiple times best-selling author's discounted her new release. A big name in the industry. And one of my other favorite authors has taken to begging for sales. Another big name in the industry. "Buy my books so I don't have to go to work at Taco Bell." Granted, that's her style, funny, snarky, self-deprecating, but with the news about the industry changing almost daily, and with the big names resorting to indie tactics, it raises concern to those of us "outside of the spotlight."
I recently saw another of my author friends asking her Facebook community, "What's the point? Does anybody actually read my books?"
Writers write for one reason. It's what they do. It's what they love. Whether they are best sellers or middle market or only their friends and family buy their books, they get enjoyment out of the process that they hope to share with the rest of the world. But there are limits.
Writing is an investment. Of time. Of money. Of energy. At some point in time, without sufficient feedback or return on investment, everyone gets burned out and throws their hands in the air, regardless of their occupation. Some days it becomes overwhelming.
Another of my favorite authors stopped writing altogether. She wrote for 20 years, produced more than 20 books, and she was a best selling author. She's still relatively young, and her books are still being re-released both here and abroad (most notably Germany). But no new books. I can't tell you why she stopped writing, although I have several guesses based on what I know about her.
How do you keep your favorite author writing? We need encouragement and support, just like everybody else. I met some friends for lunch one day and one of them bought a book from me. Another one at the table said, "Can I borrow it when you're done? I never buy books." The friend who bought then said she'd pass it around to anyone else who wanted to read it. While I'm grateful for the sale, and I understand when people share their books - hey, I'm a library lover, where I borrow books regularly - but authors gotta live, too. If you love a book, recommend it. If you borrowed it either from a friend or from the library and you loved it, buy it. "Support your local author." Leave a review at your favorite website (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.). Post it to your Facebook page or your Twitter feed or Instagram or Snapchat. Tell everyone you know what a fabulous book you just read. Without encouragement, it's hard to keep on keeping on. Yes, it's what we do, and yes, it's part of our DNA, but the difference in sales might determine whether we write for our own enjoyment or to share with the world.
I send my mom a copy of my new releases. She tells me how much she loves them and then how much her friends love them, because she passes them around. I have mixed feelings about that. She's in her 90s, and most of her friends are in her age group, and they're downsizing, not buying more 'stuff' including books. Or the book club member who brought me one of my books to autograph, thrilled that she found it at a garage type sale for $1. Or the coffee shop owner, where I show up every week, who says she just found one of my books at the library and is loving it and will read the rest. I agree, libraries are great, but any kind of support that helps pay the bills keeps us writing. Word of mouth, reviews do help.
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