Emotional ups and downs, self-doubt, and writer’s block are the hallmarks of a writer’s life...
Hi there,
I hope you are all well and reading books you enjoy. Did all you dads out there have a great ‘FATHER’S DAY’ last Sunday? Please let me know if you would like to share your favourite present.
I had a nice surprise from my daughter. We were in Staffordshire for the day, celebrating our youngest grandaughter’s sixth birthday. She had recently lost her first two bottom teeth and looked so cute. As we were leaving to drive home, my daughter presented me with my third self-published book, ‘An Educated Guess,’ Book 2, Part 1. I felt quite emotional holding it and looking through the pages. It’s a strange feeling knowing you have put your heart and soul into writing a story and finally seeing it in the flesh after months and months of a rollercoaster ride.
Emotional ups and downs, self-doubt, and writer’s block are the hallmarks of a writer’s life. You are forever questioning whether your book is good enough and whether anybody will want to read your story.
The easy part for me is the writing. The hardest part, however, is promoting and marketing the book. I was naive and inexperienced when I started to write. I thought you just had to enrol your finished book on Amazon, and people would find it and buy it. That’s how ignorant I was. I regret not doing my homework and learning more about how to sell my books.
If anybody had told me when I started writing that I would have to spend a lot of time and energy researching the marketing side, would I have started my novels? The answer is yes. I had a story to tell, which I hoped readers would enjoy. That’s why I write, to entertain.
There are many guides/ information booklets/ videos/ podcasts, and articles on the net about promoting and marketing books, most of which are interesting and probably useful. However, my experience is that many tellyou what to do but not how to do it. You could easily spend all your time reading such information, but your writing would never get completed if you did. It’s a chicken and egg scenario.
Regarding social media, which I’m hopeless at, my daughter is doing a tremendous job. She promotes my books on Instagram and Facebook, and I am so grateful she does it, not me.
My books haven’t been discovered yet, though family and friends have bought them and given me positive feedback. I didn’t expect to be an overnight success. I know it will take time and grow organically. I will have to be patient.
Until next time, take care and happy reading.
Mansel (www.mansel-winter.com)