Sarah R Painter - Stop Worrying; Start Selling

Most of us get into the author business because we love writing. We dream of being published, of having our work read by passionate readers, and, perhaps, of becoming as successful as our own favourite authors. The dream includes being wined and dined by a supportive publisher and agent, of seeing our books on the shelves at Waterstones and our local independent bookshop, of giving talks at literary festivals and being interviewed for the cultural pages of newspapers and magazines.

Of course, those dreams are specific to me. They are the myth of author-hood I grew up with. If you are younger than me, you might have different associations to the image of successful author, but Im willing to bet they dont centre around learning how digital marketing works or how to design a website with good SEO.

Writing books is a romantic, creative, pastime. Its also a craft and a job, but not one which automatically qualifies you for the bit that comes next... The bit after youve written The End.

If you are anything like me, you went into the publishing world with the expectation that the selling part of the equation was going to be handled by the sales and marketing team at the publishing company. The professionals. While I have been very lucky with my publishing experiences and have been assigned a PR person and been given plenty of promotion by my publishers, the fact remains that the lions share of this work falls to the author.

This means whether you are looking to publish traditionally, independently or a mixture of the two, you will need to get a handle on how to find readers and entice them to buy your books. Unless, of course, you dont care about making money from your writing and are happy to remain a hobby writer. Which is, to be clear, perfectly fine. You just shouldnt bother reading this book.

If the idea of reading a marketing book makes you come out in a rash, this book will ease you into the subject in an accessible way, giving you an overview of marketing methods and strategy, along with an understanding of how authors can use branding to help them develop a readership. While specific tactics will be mentioned, it wont go into the nuts and bolts of each technique, as apps, advertising platforms, and social media sites all change over time. What doesnt change is the overarching strategy, the game plan, if you like. And thats what Im going to focus on.

This books main focus is on giving you an understanding of the underlying principles, empowering you to make your own decisions about the ever-increasing range of possibilities which you will encounter.

Instead of giving you another set of must do items on your never-ending list of marketing stuff, I will give you the tools that will enable you to cut out the noise and to focus on the one or two strategies that will deliver results.

Finally, I want to change the way you feel about marketing and selling your books. I will delve into your attitude to money (and making money), and the notion of promoting your work, and, hopefully, make you feel a great deal more positive about it.

I genuinely hope this book helps you, but lets be super-honest here. I wrote this book, because I needed to learn this stuff. I needed to change my attitude, I needed to learn the fundamentals which underpin marketing frippery, and the best way I know of really understanding and learning something, is to write about it.

I am still very much a work-in-progress. I am not a marketing guru or advertising genius. Im an author, just like you. I have been published both traditionally and independently for the last seven years and, having built a successful author business, I thought it would be worth sharing what Ive learned along the way.

I have also managed to change my own attitude to marketing. I have succeeded in working through a few of my own issues around marketing, selling and making money from my books.

Side note: I thought I wanted to make money but, five years ago, I still conflated this desire with something a little bit grubby. Deep down, I still harboured the notion that real artists starve or that in order to be a real writer or to produce books of artistic merit I had to suffer (and should not expect nor desire payment for the work involved). I have, thankfully, overcome these notions for the most part, although they still pop up occasionally in the form of resistance to promotional activities or guilt over wanting to make more money.

When it comes to marketing, I have researched and read and tried a fair few things. I have also had some success. I am not claiming to be the best at it all, but I can certainly act as an achievable marker and proof that a little bit of marketing works... I am a multiple Amazon bestselling author and, since going independent and releasing my Crow Investigations series, I have hit my financial goals - consistently making a six-figure income and earning enough to support my family and for my husband to leave his job. Huzzah!

Since this is a book about selling books and making money, I need to make something very clear. I am making no claims that I have this all figured out or that I can teach you a system to make a fortune. I have managed to achieve a measure of financial success which goes far beyond anything I thought was possible, but there are plenty of independent authors who earn far more than I do, and who excel in areas such as advertising. I include plenty of resources at the end of this book for further reading.

Also, make no mistake; publishing is a tricky business. If it was easy to predict what would be a bestseller, publishers would only ever release super-successful books. Its also not a get rich quick scheme.

While I believe its a great business to be in (with a low cost to entry and the prospect of making passive income over the long term), its not one to get into just for the money.

If money is your primary motivator, there are easier and more reliable ways to make it.

This is not a book about scamming the system, using underhand practices, or allowing marketing or selling or business anywhere near your writing process.

This is not a book about writing craft. Your writer self needs to be shut quietly in another room, this book is about what happens after you have written the book. To that end, its also not a book about writing to market. I do include a chapter on this technique - what it is and how you can use it, if you wish, but it isnt my preference and I dont have direct experience, so it isnt something I can personally recommend.