It’s now seven years since I published my first book, ‘Damp Dogs & Rabbit Wee.’
Get me – ‘first book.’ Now I’m talking in some kind of author-type language. Like I’ve got another book in me. Well …
I’ve learnt a lot these past twelve months: I cringe now when I think of the number of exclamation marks I used in my first drafts of ‘Damp Dogs;’ I now understand why many readers dislike the overuse of adverbs; head-hopping can become confusing and overuse of ellipsis (oops – see above) and quotation marks can becoming annoying.
I’ve also learnt to cultivate a thick skin – this being the result of submitting pieces of work to Critique Circle. Boy, can they be brutal? (See? – in the old days, I’d have had an exclamation mark just there. And there.)
But most of all, I’ve realised that to be a writer, successful or otherwise, you need to learn to desist, assist and most of all, persist.
Desist from talking-down your book. Understandably, you will be unsure as to how it will be received. Will it merit many / any ‘five star’ reviews? Will it attract any reviews at all? Authors writing in the same genre are far better and more experienced than me. Those thoughts, and others, can easily lead to the conclusion that the best way to prepare for disappointment is to get your strike in early. Lower the expectations of any potential readers and work from the ‘promise low, deliver high,’ perspective.
Logically, this may be a sound approach. Except that the number of potential readers may have been greatly reduced as a result of the author’s perceived negativity.
Don’t do it. Tell the world how great the book is. Show some belief.
Sheepish modesty may be cute, but it doesn’t sell books.
Assist other aspiring authors in reaching their goals. Whether this is through constructively critiquing their work via online writing groups, or re-tweeting details of their work / special offers, or sharing links to their sales pages on your social media / blogs, it doesn’t matter. Writing is fun, but it’s kinda lonely. Not in a sad way, but it’s good to talk as a wee bird once said.
Mutual back scratching is way better and more productive than mutual back slapping. Be honest with your comments to others, but be positive. And guaranteed, you’ll receive the same benefits in return. Authors are a breed apart, but form a tight-knit, worldwide association.
I know from experience, I’ve had invaluable help from The Inca Project; Scribophile members; the CLOG group on Goodreads; Clean Indie Reads and numerous individual writers.
Show support, and if at all possible, buy their books. Kindle editions normally cost only a couple of pounds. I’ve read more books this past twelve months than at any point in my life since leaving school. And all have been from indie authors, the majority of whom have not yet made it into the High Street stores.
There are some tremendous stories out there.
Persist with your belief. Writing a fabulous book is the easy bit. Telling the world it even exists, especially with no marketing budget at your disposal is another thing entirely. It’s a slog, I know, but a little bit of work, even just through social media can pay dividend.
This past week, I’ve run a low-key promotion in the UK – there will be a bigger effort made in the U.S. market after the Olympics. I spent a total of £10 and that was on a donation basis to a site that promoted ‘Damp Dogs & Rabbit Wee.’ The direct results of that promo were poor, but through my own efforts of persistence, I managed to sell another twenty-six books.
No – it’s not big-time. And no, I can’t yet give up work to become a full time author. But it’s all relative, isn’t it? The fact that the book rose from around 200k to circa 12k in the Amazon Kindle rankings was good enough for me.
I’m not writing for money – just as well, eh?. I’m writing for experience. So that I may learn how to make more of a success of the comedy-fantasy, ‘Soul Survivor’ that I’m currently working on.
Success is all relative. I started out as the hopeful writer at the start of the ‘desist‘ paragraph above. I reckoned that if I sold about thirty books to family, friends and clients, then I’d be happy. So, having sold over two hundred and seventy (when the average for a debut effort from an indie author is, I believe, ninety) I’ve now embraced the mantra from the end of that section.
It’s not rocket science, and it’s all been said before. But after a year, the penny’s finally dropped. With all your invaluable assistance and support, even from just reading this blog, I know both ‘Damp Dogs & Rabbit Wee,’ and when ready, ‘Soul Survivor,’ are / will be successes. Even if just in my own head.
See you on the shelves of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble.
(Cee Tee)
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Cee Tee Jackson 
This is brilliant! So brilliant, I’m re-blogging it! I got your Damp Dogs…book on the free promotion, it’s in the line-up for the next few weeks. You’re right to say it is your first book. Our word becomes our truth. I will also write many more books. See? (BTW, I’m bad with exclamation points, too, but I only used one here. Almost put one right there, too.) 🙂 I also LOVE dogs. -Pam, in the U.S.
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That’s awesome, Pam.Thank you. 🙂
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I’m with you on the Indie Author trail! Your post says it all perfectly.
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[…] Source: DESIST, ASSIST and PERSIST. […]
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Great blog Colin. Have learn’t something from this, that to sell books, as the author you have to believe in it. I have a negative chatterbox permanently stuck to my shoulder, whispering in my ear, telling me that my book is rubbish. This is not out of sheepish modesty, but as a result of an embedded inferiority complex. I could use a life coach,and you’ve got the job! (oh dear, exclamation mark alert). Desist-Assist-Persist – pure genius.
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Thank you Sue. Genius, eh?
Hey! (And that one’s used in allowable context) – would Princess Eemay lack self esteem? You must be bloody good at writing if you can so accurately portray, through words alone, a character that bears a character so diverse to the one you believe to be your own. 🙂
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Great blog Colin. Desist-Assist-Persist, pure genius and such sound advice. I’ve also taken something else from your blog and that is self belief. I have a negative chatterbox permanently stuck to my shoulder, whispering in my ear, telling me that my book is rubbish. This is definitely not as a result of sheepish modesty, but low self esteem which has plagued me for most of my life. I could use a life coach and you’ve just got the job! (oh dear, where did that exclamation mark come from). Congratulations, you nailed it and thank you.
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Thanks Colin, I’m good at creating strong, confident characters, just not good at being one in real life. It’s escapism.
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That’s enough. Just try some proactive plugging and you’ll see that folk do / will love your book. If a crusty old punk like me can enjoy it, then it’s definitely got universal appeal. You just gotta let people know. (Have you looked at the CIR bog I mention? ‘The Contest’ would fit perfectly for that group. (If I can get some decent reader stats for THIS blog, then maybe we can do something here as well.) 🙂
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Thanks Colin. I’ve tried several times to join the Clean Indie Reads FB group, but all I keep getting is a ‘pending’ response that never gets processed. I know I need to be more proactive and positive, and above all, believe in myself. Have you had any success through Goodreads?
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I love this post!
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The first book means a lot. If it is loved, you already have a good bunch of readers for your next book.
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Ditto, Inese. I couldn’t agree more. I’m looking forward to buying Cee Tee’s next book.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! really … happily … having enjoyed the first book so tremendously that I never noticed the exclamation marks, ellipses, or adverbs 🙂
PS My next-door neighbour and his friend told me to day that they’d be buying my book number two. When I told them it was a middle-grade children’s book about dogs and quite different than my first book (other than the quirkiness, of course), they didn’t mind at all. So I think that once authors have built up a fan base (however small initially) the same people are willing to buy any of your books, whatever the genre or subject matter, just because they like the way you express yourself. I’ve definitely got my favourite authors whose every book I read.
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PPS My English was terrible in my last comment. I should have said quite different “from” my first book and not quite different “than”. Also I typed “to day” instead of “today”. This just goes to prove that authors (who are also trained proofreaders) have bad days.
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It is how it works, I guess 🙂 The first book means a lot. Even if the second book isn’t as impressive, you would buy the third one because you have faith in the author 🙂
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I think that’s the basis of the reasoning behind so many indie authors giving their first / old book away as a free promo, safe in the knowledge that if it’s enjoyed, the reader will shell out full price for the follow-up.
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