Monetizing novels is more difficult because there’s a bit of a supply-and-demand problem. Novels don’t just compete against other novels, they compete against all other forms of entertainment — many of which can draw people in more quickly than a novel.

Which is why The Urban Elitist and I are doing this series. Since publishing blew up in December, there are a lot of writers out there thinking in new directions and either we all have to come to the conclusion that writing and selling will be a hobby that’ll make us a few bucks or that it will be a deliberate career choice. It simply won’t be a deliberate career choice until somebody comes up with some decent strategies.

It’s true that giving information away free can devalue it, especially in the eyes of the people consuming the information. On the other hand, people know that this is the standard business model (give away some good information to entice you to buy some other part), so people understand the drill: it’s not that it’s free because it’s garbage — it’s free because it’s bait. Free informative articles can be seen as another type of advertising, and advertising costs the producer money just as writing a good article for a (free) blog costs you time. This new development may be more fair from a market-opportunities perspective: not everyone with something valuable to sell can get over the hurdle of finding the money for a professional ad campaign, but anyone with useful expertise or ideas can post them to the Internet and see what kind of returns (recognition, clients, etc.) it generates.

Monetizing novels is more difficult because there’s a bit of a supply-and-demand problem. Novels don’t just compete against other novels, they compete against all other forms of entertainment — many of which can draw people in more quickly than a novel.

I guess in fictionwriterly terms, that would be…midlist?

Sorry for the redundancy. 😉

See the Symposium in my first book.

I am only a story teller (sic).

One hundred years ago there were thousands of journeyman violinists playing in musical halls, movie theaters and small orchestras. Today, overall, if you play the violin, you are either an amateur or Izak Pearlman.

You either get paid nothing or a lot.

This has shaped my thinking. I have shifted from focusing on marketing to growing my readership. I know it is not realistic to support myself on a low or middle level of success, so I am shooting for all or nothing.

I am now giving away books like crazy. I figure it’s a fine way to do the mid-life crisis thing and a lot cheaper than the red sports car and young blonde. (My blonde is actually recycled.)

I’m thinking that I will never get my book in Celebrity X’s hands, but I might give it to someone who gives it to someone…

I wonder if people are more likely to buy when given a large choice? Would a person feel more comfortable buying from a store that has only one or two or three products, or a store that sold a hundred products? If a book has been “legitimized” in the mind of the reader by its inclusion in some kind of virtual “store,” perhaps it would make the purchase more likely. Just speculating, of course. Self-published writers, in trying to overcome the idea that many people have that they must not be “as good” as those published by a publishing house, might do well to mimic a store by banding together and offering a potential reader more choice. Maybe only a single book, the competitor’s, will be chosen, but if they’d all been out there on their own, maybe none of them would have made a sale.