Writers in a changing world
From Rick:
The publishing world has changed over the past few years, mostly in our favor.
With the current coronavirus pandemic upon us, the world has changed in unexpected ways. I hope that all of my readers and their families and loved ones are all safe and staying healthy. I am confident that we will get through this difficult time, but it’s important that, as we do what we need to do in our personal lives, we don’t lose sight of the future.
We cannot know what the future holds or how our lives or how the world might change as a result of present circumstances, although this reasoning always applies, whether in times of crisis or in more normal times. It’s important to look ahead and to try to plan for the future, whatever it may be.
A lot of people are stuck at home right now. For those who normally work at home, probably not much has changed. However, regardless of how much our lives have been upset, one fact remains: More people than usual are staying home. Schools and colleges have closed, and those who cannot get out to socialize or to seek outside entertainment are finding ways to fill the gaps: watching more TV, using their computers more for social interactions, or… perhaps… they are READING.
Writers are finding themselves with more time to write. I know this because the number of submissions to my magazine, Fabula Argentea has increased noticeably in the past few weeks.
While I have no statistics to back me up (or if it’s even being tracked), I’m guessing that online book sales are up because people have more time to read. Assuming that’s the case, then this might be a great time to publish and promote your books.
Here’s an article that gives some suggestions for ways to increase your promotional reach online:
IT’S A WIDE WIDE VIRTUAL WORLD
And here’s a recent article that might encourage you further:
What I found most interesting in that second article is that the current top-selling genre is no longer romance. That one used to hold about 40% of the market a few years back, at least when the traditional publishers were more in the romance picture.
Look at the comments following that article as well. I especially liked the one lady who did the math and calculated that the average self-published author only sold about 480 books each and was glad she’d gone with a traditional publisher. Then look at the person who countered that comment by stating that the average traditionally published author only sells half or less that number in their lifetime. Those of you who still believe going with a traditional publisher is in your best interest, take note.
I’m going to end this short post here and give you some meaty reading material from Kristine Rusch. Kris has recently been posting what she calls her “stay-at-home posts” along with her regular weekly posts. These posts are reprints of older ones from 2009, and they are highly relevant for what’s going on today. Remember what was going on in 2009? (Hint: We were in a bit of a recession then.) Scroll down her site to find those posts. As of today, she’s published five of them.
With that I’ll point you to Kris’ site. She says it far better than I can.
KRIS RUSCH: STAY-AT-HOME POSTS
I’ll see you next week when I continue with my grammar series. But I have other types of posts coming up in the weeks ahead as well.
–Rick