Good morning World.
It never ceases to amaze me how far this blog travels. All the normal countries are represented in the audience tally yet everyday another reader appears from some remote place. Don't get me wrong its great that so many are interested in my inane scribbling and i thank you all for joining me.
So today i am looking at that wondrous breed that we must all encounter 'the reluctant reader.' and their faithful line "oh i never read books"
If that is the case how sad, these people have never experienced the classics or the adventurers of characters made famous by talented writers. Personally i find it incomprehensible that there are so many out there, i believe it is a simple excuse not to look at a self published book as if we are the spawn of the devil.
If that is the case then why have they such a low opinion of us and how do we reverse that jaundiced view?
I do not know how you other self published writers promote your work as for myself i will try anything. I have advertised in magazines and papers. I have looked into Television (far too expensive as yet) and radio (likewise). The national papers left me speechless when they divulged their rates for one advert for one day. So i am reduced to a limited amount of avenues that appear to work. I attend fairs and events all over the county in between i walk the streets leaflet dropping.
If nothing else it seems to be reducing the weight so some good is coming in that direction. yet forever these reluctant readers appear. The young are the worst they don't appear interested at all but its the group i fall into that really surprises me even they are reluctant it seems to try something different. Yet once they have a copy in their hands once they part with their cash and read what i have written invariably i receive e-mails back saying how much they enjoyed the book and when is the next available.
That barrier must be broken down if the independent author is to succeed. Perseverance is our only chance we have to keep plugging away yet to do that takes time and while advertising when do you other writers find the time to churn out book after book. Do tell as i am struggling to complete my prequel and that of my friend. There are only so many hours in the day yet i read recently of an author who wrote a novel in about a hundred days. I can't match that no matter how i try. the draft form takes time the numerous editing takes up more. The quickest i have written a book is a year from start to finish am i slow or thorough? I would rather be sure of my work than produce something of inferior quality.
is that the reason for readers reluctance to try self published work? have i discovered the holy grail is it that so many readers have read poorly written and poorly edited work that we are all tarred with the same brush? i do not deride any author but in all walks of life there are good bad and indifferent. With publishing houses the chaff is separated, in our industry there are no such safeguards we rely on reviews and there is another bane of my life. I would rather have a bad review that constant rave reviews. Only by being told of our faults can we improve our work. All too often i see books with 30 -40 5 star reviews and yet when i read the book i find such poor spelling and grammar and blatant mistakes it makes me wonder if i am reading the same book. Dead Men Lie is up for review read it and write an honest appraisal. I even post bad reviews on my website it is time we all did the same. Only then can we ever achieve parity with the publishing houses.
There you my moan for the day no doubt this will be viewed by some as disparaging but we all have to be responsible. in improving how our readers see us as an industry not simply vanity printers who expect our family to pad out our review section with compliments.
More soon Dave
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