Since I started publishing my books in 2014, I have seen some shit. I’ve watched small publishers rapidly close and force a whole genre of authors to go primarily indie, trends change, retailers suddenly change algorithms of sales metrics to screw over authors, and of course the rise and fall of various social media platforms. In that time, I’ve had what I consider to be modest success as a writer, and I thought I would share some things that I have watched newer indies do with varying levels of dread. It doesn’t feel like my place to step in and tell people these things aren’t a good idea. Then again, as my colleagues on Bluesky pointed out when I mentioned making this post, you showed up to read this, so I can only assume you want advice from someone who has been at this for 12 years.
- Focus on good writing and good covers– This feels like it should be self-explanatory, but in this day and age, it isn’t. The best places to spend your money as a writer are on good editing and a good cover. If you spend money on nothing else, spend it on those two things in that order. Sometimes, you’re lucky enough to have friends who are more experienced writers who can give you good feedback or help you self-edit your work, and that’s fine. I do that as well, but I highly recommend spending money on a professional cover. Covers are what catch people’s eye on social media and retailer websites, so make sure it looks good and it fits the genre of your work. Look at other people in your genre with good covers and try to find out who their cover artists are, so you can commission them. DO NOT USE AI FOR EDITING, WRITING, COVERS, ETC. You will be [rightfully] black balled by other authors and readers.
- If you have to rely solely on art or other bells and whistles, your writing isn’t strong enough– After the Milo Winter/Age of Scorpius incident, this has been added to my list. Art is great and can definitely help sell a book online, but when you rely solely on art and show nothing of your writing, then there’s a problem. If no one seems interested in your actual writing, you may be showing parts of your book that aren’t interesting without context or you could need to work on your craft a bit. There’s no shame in going back to the drawing board, learning more, and writing a new and better book. There is shame in duping people by luring them with art and knowingly giving them meh, under-baked writing.
- Backlist is king– Nothing sells book one like book 2. They don’t even need to be in a series to help sell your other books. Before you get into doing major marketing or paying for promo, I highly recommend having at least three books. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money. If you don’t have a few books, what happens is that people who are interested buy that one book, and then, that’s it. With promo, the hope is they will enjoy what you marketed, and then, go buy the other books you have for sale. You want the biggest bang for your buck if you’re forking out money for marketing or promo, so hold onto that until you have a backlist. Obviously, still post and talk about your first book, send out ARCs, etc. to get more eyes on it.
- Special editions aren’t worth it until you have a backlist- Please see the previous bullet about backlist. There is no reason to make a special edition of your first and only book, especially at the beginning. A) you have a very small audience of readers who will want this B) no one knows who you are or why they would want to buy an expensive version of your book C) it feels like a vanity project or that you are trying to lure people in with pretty art rather than good writing. Yes, there is a market for special editions, but they are from established authors with many books or traditionally published authors who are very well known even if they have only a few books (like Madeline Miller). You are an indie with one book, and this is a colossal waste of time and money at the beginning.
- Swag boxes and conventions can wait– With the rise of Tiktok and Booktok, I have seen a lot of newbie indie authors try to make swag boxes or special edition boxes. Once again, you have a very small audience, no one knows who you are, and this is a waste of money that could be spent on book 2. The other thing I’ve seen is a lot of people with only one or two books tabling at conventions. If you are really into conventions, have fun, but consider the ROI. Sometimes, the table fees, hotel stays, and travel costs are very high, and if you only have one or two books to sell, there’s a good chance you won’t make back your money. Fancy book boxes and conventions can be great once you have a more established audience or a larger backlist, but early on, the ROI isn’t there for most people.
- Influencers aren’t your audience– Going off the swag box bit, influencers are not your audience. I think part of why people make swag boxes is because they think they can send them to people, and they’ll show them off to their social media audiences. Influencers do this for trad publishes who send lavish boxes, but unless their audience matches perfectly with your ideal reader, you are probably wasting your time and money. The best exposure I have ever had was from normal readers who REALLY liked my books and talked about them loudly on social media. Those are the people you want to court and potentially get onto your ARC team for book 2 because they are almost guaranteed to post about it if they enjoyed your book and recommend it to friends.
- Don’t fixate on virality– I think most authors would love it if we could tap into a large audience, but going viral doesn’t guarantee that the right readers are going to find you. There’s always the chance that your book might be under-baked, and you’re setting yourself up for several thousand 3 stars or lower reviews. Virality also doesn’t guarantee sales. Most experienced authors will tell you that even if a post blows up, you only get a handful of sales out of it, which is great but not worth chasing it. The Milo Winter situation is a good example of why going viral isn’t always the best thing. It’s also like chasing a unicorn. It makes far more sense to focus on writing another good book and then another because readers want consistency and decent quality. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
- Audiobooks sell– Let me start out by saying I know that audiobooks cost a lot to produce, but they are worth it. I am someone who gets audiobooks made for their books usually 6+ months after the book initially releases. It’s a good way to get new eyes on the book, almost like it’s a new release, and I get an uptick in sales. I find they are far more worth it than other marketing strategies and it makes my books accessible to a whole new audience. Some caveats: make sure you get a good narrator who knows what they’re doing and pay them well. I don’t recommend using royalty share through ACX/Audible because it requires exclusivity and you are potentially stiffing your narrator if your book doesn’t sell. I much prefer to save up and pay someone outright for the audiobook production, so I can release it on every platform I can. It’s a far better investment to save money for an audiobook over a special edition.
- If you make promises, deliver or people will stop trusting you– This goes for selling things and for telling people a new story is coming out and then shelving it. If you keep toying with people (accidentally or on purpose), they will stop trusting you. Lately, I’ve heard about way too many people who had to refund everyone for random ideas that didn’t pan out or people who were constantly setting preorders to rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak. If you find you are spiraling, stop, regroup, refund people if they bought something. Being honest and taking things one thing at a time is a much better idea than panic grabbing onto whatever money you make because you fucked up. You’re just making a bigger mess for yourself down the line.
- If you spaghetti fling your publishing strategy, you will burn out– Note the word “strategy.” When you publish, you need to assume that you are in it for the long haul, and that means that you probably will not make a great deal of money in the beginning unless you are exceedingly lucky. That’s why I keep harping on backlist and consistency. Readers don’t expect you to pump out four books a year. They just want you to consistently publish, show them some bits to get them excited, and keep them in the loop. What I have seen a lot lately are people diving headfirst into anything that might make them money, panicking when it doesn’t work, and immediately swinging onto the next thing until they burn out having gotten nowhere. You have to be realistic with yourself and keep your day job or side hustle or whatever keeps you fed because you cannot realistically make a living wage off one or two books as an indie. Talk to more experienced authors about what they’ve done or trends they’ve noticed, set a course and a time period to do it, and follow through with it while writing more books. If you constant flit from thing to thing hoping to make money, you will end up getting no where, being stressed, and having less money than you made because you probably invested in something that didn’t pan out. Giving yourself 6-12 months to do something consistently will work far better than constantly running to the next thing.
Kara Jorgensen 