I've read posts for Indie life for the past few months, and as part of my re-commitment to my blog (which has been suffering from inconstancy this year), I thought it would be a great time to join this monthly blogfest. Indie Life is hosted by the indie authors of the Indelibles as a 2nd Wednesday of the month feature. It seems like a great extension of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, which I found shortly after creating my blog a year and a half ago. Click HERE to sign up for Indie Life.
Writing and marketing with a full time job is tough, especially when that job takes up nearly sixty hours a week with my two hours of daily commuting. One of the top success tips I received from Indie ReCon was to write more books, to not solely rely on the release of one or two books, but to have new books released regularly.
Now regularly is a subjective term. But with having two books released in the past three years, I can honestly say that that's not regularly enough and see where that's not enough to generate continual interest and build my brand without the support of a publisher. I want to write more and have multiple releases a year, but my current workload to sustain my livelihood does not allow me to crank out a book every few months...not even poorly edited trash (which I would never allow myself to do).
I've recently looked more into the successes of authors releasing serialized books and series, novellas or book parts fifty to one hundred pages at a time. With the prevalence of ebooks, this seems to be a growing segment in the marketplace...and an opportunity for someone like me, since I can't write as much or as fast as I'd like.
I don't want to change the format of my remaining books in the Lorne Family Vault, but my new WIP, Project Winter, could make for a fun experiment into the serial ebook segment. With the shortened format I could release three to four serialized books per year, plus some Lorne Family Vault short stories I have planned.
The industry is changing rapidly and there is no one path to success, so I believe this is a way for me to better adapt to my current time constraints and still get the stories I want to write out to the marketplace. I'm curious to hear the experiences from other indie authors already releasing serialized books. What recommendations do you have?
Well, I've already made my forty mile drive and it's nearly 8 o'clock, so it's about time for me to get to work. Have a great Wednesday, and as always, thank you for reading!
Good point about serials. I'm still undecided on them. It does get more out there but they seem to sell best while the series are being released and then sales drop. I still like the idea of them though. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating!
Give it a try! I agree it's tough to write books fast enough to have more than one release a year. My current pace is every year and a half.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely one of those writers who can't pop out books as fast as everyone else. I've discovered I'm a one book a year person. And I love the Indie world. I think it's fascinating, but scary. Probably one of the reasons I'm still trying the traditional route. I don't trust myself to try and do it alone. I've seen so many people have such success self publishing. I respect them SO MUCH.
ReplyDeleteI love how the industry is evolving and presents us so many opportunities. I'm working on a novella myself to squeeze in between novel releases. We'll see how it pans out. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
ReplyDeleteA great post Michael and the advice was good also.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
There are so many paths these days. Serials can work especially if you release them close together. I haven't tried it yet. I try to crank out 2 in my series a year. Keeps me busy.
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to write more than a book a year when you have a full time job elsewhere. I'll be interested to see how the serial thing works for you.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I'm a really slow writer, considering that I've been working on my "draft" for months now.
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Interesting. You might be right!
ReplyDeleteI have just published two re-written shorts to Smashwords and considered doing the same to a few other shorts sitting around. I hoped it might add to the momentum of releases by me in the time between releasing book two to my Supes Series. I really cannot ever see me being someone who writes and releases a few novels a year. I'm exhausted just thinking of it! Best of luck with your experimentation Michael.
Shah X
http://bit.ly/1abAxaR
I've been debating doing a serial myself:
ReplyDeletehttp://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2013/07/what-do-you-think.html
I'm still undecided. But I agree with you, the Indie Publishing world is changing. If we refuse to change with it, we will be left behind. Ouch! Fascinating post, Roland