Post by account_disabled on Dec 27, 2023 23:18:48 GMT -5
One of the latest articles by fantasy writer Terry Brooks spoke of the end of an era : the author was referring to the end of the Star Wars film saga and that of his Shannara saga (after 40 volumes!), but also to the drastic changes occurred in the publishing and creative writing world . The entire publishing business has changed radically. […] Traditional publishing is alive and well, yet there are so many other choices trying to excel. We know: there are those who self-publish, mainly on Amazon, and those who sell ebooks through their site. Those looking for funds and those holding competitions to publish a book. And then there are all those printers masquerading as publishing houses looking for chickens to pluck. And let's not forget the recommendations they publish with publishing houses ! But how has the writing activity changed ? When the writer just had to write Marketing, when I started, was about writing a book and keeping myself out of the way.
Terry Brooks asked his publisher if he should attend some presentation of his book , but the publishing house replied that it was better for him to spend his time writing another novel - which is what the writer Special Data should do, his only job . Today, Terry Brooks tours for weeks every year, he says. We certainly cannot compare American publishing marketing with the Italian one, even if some writers here participate in the presentations of their books - perhaps this is what they mean by tour. Just as we cannot compare a famous American writer with an unknown Italian author, who could never afford to travel around Italy for weeks at his own expense - or even that of the publishing house, especially a small one. Book tours on literary blogs make up for this problem, although I don't know how well they can work in terms of marketing and actual sales. When the writer must also be on social media And today? Today it is a big problem, because the writer is no longer the one who writes, but is also - and perhaps, sadly, above all - the one who spends a lot of his time managing his blog and his social profiles. “You have to be where the audience is,” say social media marketing experts.
But for me a writer should just be in a bookshop - or, better yet, he should be there in the "image" of the books he writes and publishes. I see it firsthand: managing my blog - which I also need for work, so I can't abandon it - and managing another blog takes up time, time that I could dedicate to pursuing my novel more consistently. Following some social networks, even if only a little, takes up more of my time, time that you can use better. I know that almost everyone thinks that time spent on social media doing marketing activities is absolutely not wasted, but we must also consider 2 great truths (at least personal): I'm not an expert in social media marketing, so at most I can share the articles I write - and we certainly can't define it as a marketing activity. I don't have the money to hire an expert to manage my social profiles (nor do I like the idea of a stranger putting their hands into my profiles). These are also truths of many other people, of many other authors who are looking for a way to make themselves known online.
Terry Brooks asked his publisher if he should attend some presentation of his book , but the publishing house replied that it was better for him to spend his time writing another novel - which is what the writer Special Data should do, his only job . Today, Terry Brooks tours for weeks every year, he says. We certainly cannot compare American publishing marketing with the Italian one, even if some writers here participate in the presentations of their books - perhaps this is what they mean by tour. Just as we cannot compare a famous American writer with an unknown Italian author, who could never afford to travel around Italy for weeks at his own expense - or even that of the publishing house, especially a small one. Book tours on literary blogs make up for this problem, although I don't know how well they can work in terms of marketing and actual sales. When the writer must also be on social media And today? Today it is a big problem, because the writer is no longer the one who writes, but is also - and perhaps, sadly, above all - the one who spends a lot of his time managing his blog and his social profiles. “You have to be where the audience is,” say social media marketing experts.
But for me a writer should just be in a bookshop - or, better yet, he should be there in the "image" of the books he writes and publishes. I see it firsthand: managing my blog - which I also need for work, so I can't abandon it - and managing another blog takes up time, time that I could dedicate to pursuing my novel more consistently. Following some social networks, even if only a little, takes up more of my time, time that you can use better. I know that almost everyone thinks that time spent on social media doing marketing activities is absolutely not wasted, but we must also consider 2 great truths (at least personal): I'm not an expert in social media marketing, so at most I can share the articles I write - and we certainly can't define it as a marketing activity. I don't have the money to hire an expert to manage my social profiles (nor do I like the idea of a stranger putting their hands into my profiles). These are also truths of many other people, of many other authors who are looking for a way to make themselves known online.