Do You Even Need to Produce Books?
All writers need to have published books - the more the better. Because that's what makes them money, right? Not so fast...
Excerpt from my latest book - now in beta-release (see below…)
Practically – no.
You are wired to write. Or you wouldn't have read this far.
Having a writing outlet is needful. But what you write has never been required to be a book – not since ebooks and print-on-demand have made them ubiquitous. They now never go out of print. Ever.
The days before Gutenberg were the last time we needed to write anything down to preserve it. And before that time of scrolls and bamboo sheets, before even handwriting – it was the well-told legend that cemented our legacy. The so-named “Huna” went so far to embed their stories into the language itself. Epigrams. Parables. Fables.
The well-told story is self preserving – because it's memorable, and remarkable.
That defines the perennial-selling book – one that sells by word of mouth. And having a livable income has depended to this point on having a back list of perennially-selling books – without the need for massive marketing.
For the vast number of books produced today, their quality never rises to this point. They're easily forgotten and so, never mentioned. They follow the life-cycle of the majority of movies these days. Their shelf-life is in months at best. Marketing guru's tell that if you can get your book through the hands of 10,000 readers (they actually open that book, not just stuff it onto their Kindle) – then a small percentage of those readers will recommend it to people they connect with.
Right there, you can see how the untrained or marginally-trained author – who doesn't market well – pretty much explains the situation Author Earnings' report covered at the outset of this book. The more books are written cheaply and quickly, the more likely they are to disappear. And so the advice to write for the “most popular” genres and ensure you fit their “tropes” is a recipe for arriving at the poor house.
Alternatively, any good writer can make a good living these days with quality paid newsletters. Substack or ConvertKit have led the way this this concept. Readers discover your quality of writing, subscribe, and then convert to true fans who support you as a patron.
With a publishing calendar and a regular posting, you can edit together one or more books every year and so preserve your legacy. Using a Kickstarter release, you can promote that event to your readers and double your income on every word you write (that makes it into the finished book.)
This is true for fiction and doubly-true for non-fiction. (The book math favors 1-2,000 word newsletters each week, and needing only to produce a single Kickstarter every year. Very doable.
Meanwhile, your other writing output can be put to use independently of those newsletters, or to supplement them. If you're as productive as Stephen King with his 2,000 words each day, then cranking out twelve 50K novels a year is possible. Release these as a three-part series four times every year.
But the more usual production of an author taking three months to produce a decent book is still rewarded.
Again, that Kickstarter gets your book off to being known and receiving sufficient income to produce the exclusive hardback collectibles. Meanwhile, the monthly subscribers are keeping you in enough income – so your work running Kickstarter events is just icing on the cake.
After that, work on getting each book into the hands of 10,000 readers and your book's income is more assured.
All you have to do is to write effectively, at a pro level.
Again, weekly newsletters are great training. Collecting, editing, and publishing one perennial-selling book per year is more than enough, as long as you're making a livable income from all your output.
In this model, writing-publishing-marketing – with appropriate editing – can be done at the writer's own speed and choice of published format. As long as they can make a suitable living for themselves. All of which depends on their own technical skill and persistence.
It's funny to recognize that fulfilling the writer's wired-in need, with any way that pays them enough income to continue, is also a legitimate answer to the question this book raises in its opening pages.
Currently still in beta-release until I get the backmatter, blurb, final cover, etc. figured out… Oh, we’ll be publishing this week!