The Hard Part

If only I were two people.

One of me would do all the plotting, writing, editing, rewriting, coming up with new ideas, putting it all in a readable story format.

The other would do all the marketing.

Because goshdarnit, that marketing thing can be a royal pain in the glutes.

It's not that it's so much more work, really. It's just a lot less fun. When I'm writing I can get lost in the story and the flow of the plot and my growing sympathy with the characters. When I'm marketing I have to keep kicking myself, goading myself, telling myself this is NECESSARY AND MUST BE DONE. It's not something with a flow to which I can lose myself. It's a world of hurdles, of new lessons learned, of trial and error and error.

And yes, I said error twice.

That's why dividing the work load between two of me would be nice. The part of me that does all the writing could just work away unimpeded and unflustered by the marketing aspect, letting the other part slave and grumble and puzzle and push.

I saw a Twitter update not long ago that said aspiring writers probably would be better off getting degrees in marketing rather than English or journalism. I suspect that's accurate. It's easier (in my opinion) to teach oneself how to write than to dive headfirst into the marketing world and tread water while hoping the magnum opus you're using as a floatation device doesn't give out.

Thank God for kind folks out there who've been down this road and are willing to show a new guy some of the ropes. If one good thing comes out of my marketing dabblings, I'll have met some great people.

Onward and upward!

Epic Freebie Sales -- Yay?

I should be pretty excited.

Since I made it available on Smashwords a couple of months ago, my fantasy short, "Vessa's Grave" has seen over 50 downloads! Coolness, huh?

Here's the kicker: It's free. So people are downloading it without a moment's hesitation because, if it turns out they don't like it, they aren't out anything. Or it's as simple as liking that they don't have to break out their Visa to obtain it.

As for my short supernatural thriller, "Devil's Creek" -- well, let's just say the vast majority of the downloads at this point are by reviewers. And they get the book free.

Grrr.

Marketing something with any price tag, no matter how low or high the price, is a beast.

I'm sure if I were Stephanie Meyer I would have next to no problem selling my latest OMG-my-boyfriend's-a-vampire story.

So what gives?

Simply, very few people know who Paul Maitrejean is, let alone have read his work. How many people are willing to take a chance on an indie ebook writer when they could click a couple of pages over to buy the latest release from an established author they know and trust? Very few.

A writer needs a reputation to hook readers, but can't build a reputation without readers. Another of the writing career's great Catch-22's.

That's why the freebie is out there. I hope someone eventually likes my writing enough they decide to shell out a couple of bucks for the non-freebie. That's why I'm making my non-freebie available to reviewers. That's why I plug both my freebie and non-freebie. Eventually someone will read it, love it, and rave about it. And gradually more people will love and rave. And from there the numbers could exponentially increase.

And then I'll sell lots and lots of books, and I'll be able to write full time, and everyone will be waiting eagerly for my next great work, and . . . and . . . and . . .

Reality can be a drag, can't it?