Why I'm more interested in writing online than querying these days
And what I hope my future writing experience will look like.
Once upon a time, I got eight query rejections in one day.
Eight!
We were visiting my in-laws for the weekend. It was summertime, the weather was more than pleasant, and my inbox was chock-full of “sorry, not for me” emails. I managed to keep a smile plastered on my face the whole time, though.
In fairness, what could I really have expected? I was querying two novels simultaneously and had sent hundreds of submissions for each.
Still, every “no” stung a little, even if I’d come to expect them by that point.
That story reached a bittersweet conclusion roughly one year later (I’ve talked about it in more detail here), and one of those two novels is due for publication soon. So, all’s well that ends well, right?
But of course, the successful publication of a book isn’t the final rung in the ladder. It’s barely halfway up, in fact, because the dreaded ‘M’ word still looms above, leering down with its slobbery tongue lolling from its fang-filled maw.
M is for marketing, and marketing is something I think a lot of writers don’t anticipate until it’s too late.
Suddenly, their book’s out there in the world, idling on Amazon’s digital shelf, gathering digital dust.
I can’t speak too much into this because, while I’ve done a great deal of business marketing and sell products online every week, I’ve never marketed a book. I’ve sold books, but none that I’ve written myself.
That’s a challenge I relish in the near future (my first novel is due for publication soon), and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on what I learn about it along the way.
The way I see it, there are three main ways to make money writing:
Write books and sell them.
Write for an employer who’ll pay for your time.
Write online and get paid by a hosting platform.
I know that’s massively generalised, but you get the picture.
All three are legitimate ways to make money through writing, and all three depend heavily on the writer’s skill, commitment and fortitude.
However, each option is differentiated by two things: control and time.
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