Promoting Own Writing

The other day I had a very interesting chat with one of my good friends in Scotland about writing in general, and how best go about gaining a following of readers. Essentially, to sum up the chat, my friend said that as a budding writer I’m going about this all wrong. The fact that I have three works out already, one through Lambert and the other two through e-Quill, and a fourth on the way is irrelevant. My friend said that it’s about the readership, having a following of loyal fans who would willingly download my stories and do so regularly -- and then, with a large enough following, I can start submitting my stuff to the big publishers and the rest will be a happy ending. The fact that I have found a publisher and people are forced to pay for the privilege of reading my stuff is essentially the wrong way about it.

Ok, rest assured that I’m not about to disown my friend for telling me that going about this all wrong. After all, he raised a very valid point.

How do I go about attracting new readers?

While I doubt that the average punter would want to spend over a hundred bucks on a thesis turned into a book, available through such places as Amazon in Canada (amongst others), a part of me doesn't see any problem for someone paying up to $7 or so to download a story. As it is, the most expansive that e-Quill charges is $5.10 Australian -- of course, it depends on the story's word count. That is pretty reasonable for an e-book in my opinion. But, according to my friend, me being a complete unknown and publishing through a relatively new e-publisher (where he indicated that there are plenty of them about, many of which being nothing more but one-hit wonders), I'm doing it all wrong.

Ok, fine.

Time to put on the thinking cap.

I've gone with e-Quill Publishing primarily because they will endeavour to promote themselves, and the guys behind the outfit aren't some happy clappy wannabes. They are treating it like any business venture, and taking advantage of the e-book revolution and doing so by promoting some of the emerging writing talent such as T.S. Lawrence, Loren K. Jones, Michael and Barb Caffrey, Nigel Gillson and Dennis W. Wilder. It also has a sense of community, something that is very important for an art form that is solitary in nature.

As for free offerings? For a while, the Scene of Tranquillity was offered as a free download, and there had been a considerable amount of downloads -- making it one of my better "sellers". The fact that it was promoted to be purchased for a $1 was a decision done in consultation with myself and the guys behind e-Quill. None the less, wherever you look throughout e-Quill's website and the products available, you will notice that there are free samplings available. Besides, Baen Books has a similar deal as do a few others.

I think that, by the end of the day it depends entirely on what and why we write. I write because I have an over active imagination, and currently see this as a full time hobby that gives me a little pocket money. For me, it's writing original fiction set within the futuristic military fiction, science fiction and political thriller genres (though I'm hoping to attempt a few other genres along the way). Fan fiction only goes through Sixth Fleet RPG and soon through USS Pendragon RPG, as I find it far more enjoyable to collaborate in a set universe (also a good practice ground for writing styles, and meeting people). At the same time I'm applying for full or part-time employment.

However, my friend made a good point. There are benefits to showing off full stories for free, and am in the process of having a couple stories available through Written Games.

How do you do it, promote your own work? I'll be happy to learn other ways. . .