Thank you so much for the heads up and for all the magic you put into the fandom all these years. You donât know it, but Pull Me Under is what inspired me to write fic of my own, and Iâve never been happier. 𩷠thank you so much for that push!
Any advice for a fic writer wanting to turn it into a career? How do you get brave enough to take the leap? đ
Oh, I have SO MANY thoughts and not enough time to get them into proper shape, so hereâs a rough and dirty version. And keep in mind that Iâm not there yet eitherâhalfway, maybe.
Also, my focus is on self-publishing because thatâs what I know best. (I did only one book with a professional publisher. In hindsight, it was my worst, there wasnât really anything they did that I couldnât have done myself, plus I prefer being in full control of my books.)
Here are the things I wish Iâd known upfront:
It is bloody scary, putting yourself out there. Leaving your comfort zone always isâbut thatâs how we grow.
Make your first book as good as it can beâedit, get feedback, all that jazzâbut donât treat it as this one masterpiece that will determine your fate. At some point, you have to let it go and just publish it. (Amazonâs Kindle Unlimited is ⌠sigh. But it does make it easy for indie authors to reach a potentially large readership.)
Quantity leads to quality. By that, I mean that the more you write, the better youâll get, and the higher the chance that thereâs a masterpiece somewhere in there. Itâs like throwing dartsâif you spend hours lining up that one perfect shot, chances are it wonât go craaaaazy off-target. But youâre far better off throwing as many darts as you can because the more you practise, the better youâll getâand one or two may just hit the bull.
Do the legwork. Research what kind of cover people expect in your genre, what keywords fit your book and arenât so competitive that it wonât ever show up in searches, polish your blurb. Experiment with what works and doesnât. Play. Always remember that you have one second, if that, to convince people to click on a tiny preview of your book and read more about it.
Marketing is inevitable. I used to publish a book, announce it to my tiny newsletter (that I didnât really promote so readers had to actively seek it out), and then forget about it. Itâs only recently that Iâve come to understand that nope, not good enough. You need to get the word outâbuild a review team upfront to get those early reviews, drum up some excitement on social media so people know that somethingâs coming. Attention is a rare commodity, and you need to work for your slice of it. (Iâm admittedly still terrible at this.)
It takes time. There is the odd author who lands one insta-hit and that defines their writing careerâbut especially in the world of indie publishing, thatâs super rare. Most successful indie authors have at least fifteen books out. Building a readership doesnât happen overnight. It doesnât happen in a year either.
Donât take bad reviews to heart. Yes, our writing is personal and it hurts when someone doesnât like it. But tastes differâyay diversity. Seek out constructive criticism before you publish something, but once the book is out there, itâs kinda out of your hands. Some people enjoy pointing out flaws, and Goodreads can be a double-edged sword. If thereâs something constructive in a negative review, great, maybe learn from it. But if itâs simply a matter of tasteâânot steamy enoughâ or âI only read first-personââtry to remember that people are different and move on.
Be part of a community. (This is something I wish Iâd known much sooner.) Whatever your genre, there will be other authors struggling with the same questions and problems. Find them. Find groups that connect authors and readers. Facebook managed to reinvent itself with all those dedicated niche groups, and thereâs one for everythingâbe it authors who take their MM romances out of the Amazon corset, or readers recommending books to other readers. Itâs so nice to feel like youâre not alone in this.
Good luck! And thank you. â¤ď¸
