When I released my 1st novel in 2011, in that first wave of indies leaving the tradpub path & opting into a new kind of writing career, I thought "this will change not just how writers publish but what they write, what kind of careers they'll have".
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Something I think a lot of people miss: to be a "success" in tradpub, you have to *appeal* to a wider audience. Enough to make money for publishers and a living for yourself (or not) on slim royalties.
With selfpub, your audience can be more narrow, you can "succeed" w/fewer sales/readers.
Of course every writer wants sales & readers! Money is complicated with books because you want to be read and you need $ to survive and those are connected but also: you mostly want people to read your works! But $ is often a way to access *more* readers. They're connected, intimately.
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Of course every writer wants sales & readers! Money is complicated with books because you want to be read and you need $ to survive and those are connected but also: you mostly want people to read your works! But $ is often a way to access *more* readers. They're connected, intimately.
I've had people say "I don't care about money!" (as if it's a badge of honor) and then they set all their books free (or pub online) to have "widest access" and they think that's the way to get "the most" readers. But it's not. It assumes cost is the most important barrier, but it's really not.
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I've had people say "I don't care about money!" (as if it's a badge of honor) and then they set all their books free (or pub online) to have "widest access" and they think that's the way to get "the most" readers. But it's not. It assumes cost is the most important barrier, but it's really not.
(I say this as someone who uses free promo extensively -- free promo works because it lowers the friction for that first try)
But publishing your books on your blog for free or whatever doesn't solve the main problem: discoverability.
Always true but more every day, esp with AI mucking things up.
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(I say this as someone who uses free promo extensively -- free promo works because it lowers the friction for that first try)
But publishing your books on your blog for free or whatever doesn't solve the main problem: discoverability.
Always true but more every day, esp with AI mucking things up.
But here's the thing for my fellow #writers that I beg you to hold lovingly in your hands & take into your heart:
People want your works. They want authentic human-made stories that move them, make them cry & laugh, comfort/challenge them.
THEY DO. They want it even more now, in the age of AI
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But here's the thing for my fellow #writers that I beg you to hold lovingly in your hands & take into your heart:
People want your works. They want authentic human-made stories that move them, make them cry & laugh, comfort/challenge them.
THEY DO. They want it even more now, in the age of AI
I deeply believe we're swinging into an Age of Authenticity, when people will crave the simple, the hand-made, the REAL even more.
So, yes, discoverability is hard (it's always been hard) but you are a creative...so get creative about how you help people find you. They need your stuff.
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I deeply believe we're swinging into an Age of Authenticity, when people will crave the simple, the hand-made, the REAL even more.
So, yes, discoverability is hard (it's always been hard) but you are a creative...so get creative about how you help people find you. They need your stuff.
@susankayequinn I increasingly believe the only sustainable way forward for creative work is to focus on local first and find ways to afford life without needing to scale much beyond your own community. So much trouble has been caused by the idea that you have to go national/global to be successful.
Unfortunately, of course, there are some capitalism things that get in the way of this.
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@susankayequinn I increasingly believe the only sustainable way forward for creative work is to focus on local first and find ways to afford life without needing to scale much beyond your own community. So much trouble has been caused by the idea that you have to go national/global to be successful.
Unfortunately, of course, there are some capitalism things that get in the way of this.
@joshsutphin @susankayequinn this reminds me of something @Daojoan wrote a while back on creating things:
“This logic is tempting, and in certain contexts it's perfectly sound. If you've discovered a real solution to a widespread problem, it would be odd not to try to bring it to more people. But the framework becomes toxic when it's applied universally, when every small creation gets fed into the same evaluative grinder and comes out measured against the yardstick of potential scale.
Because most good things don't scale.
Most good things are stubbornly local.”
The Noble Path
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an indie hacker in possession of a widget must be in want of a business model... Every tool is a startup now. Every script is a SaaS product. Every neat little hack you cobbled together on a Sunday afternoon to solve your own
Westenberg. (www.joanwestenberg.com)
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@joshsutphin @susankayequinn this reminds me of something @Daojoan wrote a while back on creating things:
“This logic is tempting, and in certain contexts it's perfectly sound. If you've discovered a real solution to a widespread problem, it would be odd not to try to bring it to more people. But the framework becomes toxic when it's applied universally, when every small creation gets fed into the same evaluative grinder and comes out measured against the yardstick of potential scale.
Because most good things don't scale.
Most good things are stubbornly local.”
The Noble Path
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an indie hacker in possession of a widget must be in want of a business model... Every tool is a startup now. Every script is a SaaS product. Every neat little hack you cobbled together on a Sunday afternoon to solve your own
Westenberg. (www.joanwestenberg.com)
@darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan
I am increasingly allergic to the "things must scale to be 'successful'" ideology, a concept so universally accepted, it's broken and homogenized everything.
I'm a big fan of local in many many ways. And yet I treasure having connections to people in Germany getting my ebooks (and even print books, locally printed) into their bookstores/libraries/homes (for example). I have readers all over the world. This is also good.
I don't have to "scale" to do that.
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@darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan
I am increasingly allergic to the "things must scale to be 'successful'" ideology, a concept so universally accepted, it's broken and homogenized everything.
I'm a big fan of local in many many ways. And yet I treasure having connections to people in Germany getting my ebooks (and even print books, locally printed) into their bookstores/libraries/homes (for example). I have readers all over the world. This is also good.
I don't have to "scale" to do that.
@darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan
I do think that you can actually make a living doing paperback only sales at local events (or even travel to events, but then there's carbon and other costs to that). For artists, a TON of them are primarily local but then they also have online shops.
Mostly I encourage people to make real connections to the people who consume their art/books and to get creative about how to make those connections. Any way that works, works.
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@darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan
I am increasingly allergic to the "things must scale to be 'successful'" ideology, a concept so universally accepted, it's broken and homogenized everything.
I'm a big fan of local in many many ways. And yet I treasure having connections to people in Germany getting my ebooks (and even print books, locally printed) into their bookstores/libraries/homes (for example). I have readers all over the world. This is also good.
I don't have to "scale" to do that.
@susankayequinn @joshsutphin @Daojoan I think there is profound wisdom to be had in questioning what “success” even means
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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@susankayequinn @joshsutphin @Daojoan I think there is profound wisdom to be had in questioning what “success” even means
@darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan
I find myself having to constantly remind writers that most writers through all of time never made a living from their work and were not considered "unsuccessful" because of it. It's also a gift when you *don't* have to burden your art with making a living for you.
(I say this as someone who DOES make a living with her work but also knows that some of her work sells better than others and that makes things a lot more clear about what this is about)
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R relay@relay.publicsquare.global shared this topic
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I deeply believe we're swinging into an Age of Authenticity, when people will crave the simple, the hand-made, the REAL even more.
So, yes, discoverability is hard (it's always been hard) but you are a creative...so get creative about how you help people find you. They need your stuff.
@susankayequinn I agree, but I also wonder if we'll start seeing a rise of a new impressionism as a reaction to GenerativeAI. Not just a return to handmade, but a new attempt to build something that is undeniably, honestly new and human.
Think of all art forms embracing a collapse of the old rules, like Angine de Poitrine
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@darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan
I find myself having to constantly remind writers that most writers through all of time never made a living from their work and were not considered "unsuccessful" because of it. It's also a gift when you *don't* have to burden your art with making a living for you.
(I say this as someone who DOES make a living with her work but also knows that some of her work sells better than others and that makes things a lot more clear about what this is about)
@susankayequinn @darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan my definition of success is twofold. 1. That what I write moves people, & 2. That my books earn out their production expenses.
So far, i have definitely achieved the first. And in aggregate over 10 novels, have also managed the second.
If I needed to support a household, I'd still be working as a physical therapist. But our kids are adults, spouse & I are retired.
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@susankayequinn I agree, but I also wonder if we'll start seeing a rise of a new impressionism as a reaction to GenerativeAI. Not just a return to handmade, but a new attempt to build something that is undeniably, honestly new and human.
Think of all art forms embracing a collapse of the old rules, like Angine de Poitrine
@craignicol that's old media, offline, repair shops for cassette players and VHS, DIY everything, craft everything, allll the knitting arts, it's been happening for a while and now is accelerating
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@susankayequinn @darkuncle @joshsutphin @Daojoan my definition of success is twofold. 1. That what I write moves people, & 2. That my books earn out their production expenses.
So far, i have definitely achieved the first. And in aggregate over 10 novels, have also managed the second.
If I needed to support a household, I'd still be working as a physical therapist. But our kids are adults, spouse & I are retired.
@LJ I know a few retirees who are writers and I think they find it very freeing!
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I deeply believe we're swinging into an Age of Authenticity, when people will crave the simple, the hand-made, the REAL even more.
So, yes, discoverability is hard (it's always been hard) but you are a creative...so get creative about how you help people find you. They need your stuff.
I'm creative about my writing, but my creativity about marketing doesn't extend farther than the odd "hey, read my books" post
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@susankayequinn I increasingly believe the only sustainable way forward for creative work is to focus on local first and find ways to afford life without needing to scale much beyond your own community. So much trouble has been caused by the idea that you have to go national/global to be successful.
Unfortunately, of course, there are some capitalism things that get in the way of this.
@joshsutphin
True enough, but when your writing is niche, then the chances of local support grow slimThis is not going be a universal solution to being heard above the slop machines
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@violetmadder @darkuncle @joshsutphin @susankayequinn @Daojoan Unfortunately because of whatever forces of the market, if your works don´t infinitely grow, you won´t make money to sustain yourself. That´s what I see as someone outside of those circles
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@joshsutphin
True enough, but when your writing is niche, then the chances of local support grow slimThis is not going be a universal solution to being heard above the slop machines
I think the assumption that the slop machines are *loud* and that you have to be heard above them is not quite what's really happening. What slop is doing is breaking trust -- people aren't sure what's "real" sometimes -- and also (for books) doing a form of DDOS attack, breaking the actual infrastructure (sci-fi zines, retailer hosting) that delivers stories (distributors are also using AI to justify raising costs on authors).
But it's not burying your work...
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I think the assumption that the slop machines are *loud* and that you have to be heard above them is not quite what's really happening. What slop is doing is breaking trust -- people aren't sure what's "real" sometimes -- and also (for books) doing a form of DDOS attack, breaking the actual infrastructure (sci-fi zines, retailer hosting) that delivers stories (distributors are also using AI to justify raising costs on authors).
But it's not burying your work...
...and in fact the answer to all of it is human-to-human recommendations, which is the primary discovery mechanism for books anyway, and always has been. So, in a way, the distrust that AI breeds drives people to seek more recommendations from trusted friends (in person or online) and increases the usage of human-to-human connection (word of mouth)... which is to our advantage. No one's recommending slop! (well, no one you trust)
