This is a follow-up to my previous post (DISCIPLINE), taking a look at the question of readership.
A writer writes, that's a given. But does a writer absolutely need the other half of the equation? Does a newly minted chunk of writing need a reader to make it real?
This sounds a little like the famous reality koan: If a tree falls in the forest, and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound?
(This is not actually a philosophical question, like: "Does the back of your head exist if no one's around and you don't have a mirror?" In a subjective world, Lord Berkeley would like to think God is there to see all the parts you can't get eyes on at a given moment. As for trees and forests, the question is actually about the definition of the word "sound." It does no one any good to suggest the tree won't at least send a vibration through the air when it slams into the ground. Some will say "sound" occurs only when such vibrations are detected by an ear—and maybe interpreted by a brain of some sort, however primitive.)
In my opinion (and I don't think I've inched too far out on the limb), the stuff you put down on paper (or save onto you hard drive or send to the cloud) exists as a real quantum of writing, even if no one ever lays eyes on it.
The thing is, most writers do write in hopes of having a reader, preferably one with sufficient acumen to recognize the genius of their words.
Praise is good, people. Praise, however slight, can act as a spur to further (and perhaps better) work.
Contrarily, if everyone who sees your stuff takes a massive dump on it, that can act as an astringent, drying up your output. Or worse, a goad to reach for a loaded revolver.
(You probably recall the story of John Kennedy Toole, who offed himself when he was unable to get any traction with his excellent and funny book, A Confederacy of Dunces.)
Readers, it seems, come to the table armed with double-edged swords. (Not the best metaphor: slice you one way or the other, it's all blood over the dam.)
It doesn't help we now live in a world where anybody's opinion can be thrown into the public mix. In the old days, if some guy didn't like your book he'd have to write a letter to the publisher to complain—and that takes a pretty advanced level of determination (and outraged anger, maybe).
You could, of course, avoid reading reviews altogether.
But there's a danger there, too. A useful tidbit might be hidden in the pile that would explain a serious lack of sales. Maybe you need to know this. Maybe you could fix it. (Grievous errors of ebook formatting may be driving readers away, the sort of cheap-jack stuff you could easily fix if you knew about it—and were in control of your own publication, as we indie pubbers are.)
Most reader, thank God, don't take the time to chime in, even when it's relatively easy. Robust sales are the best form of criticism.
So, how do you get sales?
It's problematical, since readers are attracted to reviews. A book without reviews of any sort is likely to garner few readers. (Read 'em or don't, reviews still have value.)
One way to get feedback is to give away copies of your book. Those with Kindle books can sign up for Select and hold promotions from time to time. There are Web sites that list freebies. Other sites will pick up on the item and list it, even if you don't ask them to. (They need content to support their ad-based income.)
See my post: [BOOK PROMOTIONS] (Some of this information is undoubtedly out dated.) Or just Google "ebook promotion" and see what comes up.
Elsewhere, you can offer free copies to those willing to contribute reviews. That could get the ball started.
Contacting other authors in your predicament, asking to swap reviews, might work. It might also attract negative attention from Amazon. Those guys are fast to purge a sales page of suspicious, possibly quid pro quo reviews.
Readers are also wary of a big fat pile of five-star reviews. Lot of paranoia out there...
Probably the best method of attracting readers is to post a lot of really good books. If you have a series of novels, making the first one "perma-free" may be a good strategy, but Amazon won't let you do it. (Kindle Select promotions allow only five free days every three months.)
You'd have to put your work up on another site, like Smashwords, and make it free. Amazon Web spiders may discover it there and match the price, though that's not a guarantee.
Folks with their own Web pages are free to sell or give away books (though if they do they can't be a Select author, which requires exclusive ties to Amazon). Hold contests or something to attract readers to your site. See if you can transfer that interest to your books.
As always, it's largely a matter of getting readers to find you, to find your site, to find your books.
Traditionally published books can be found on the shelves of brick and mortar stores. But only for a couple of months.
Ebooks (and PODs) are forever.
It's a trade off.
Just write your books and let them go. It's the half of the writer/reader equation you have the most control over.
Unless you don't.
Good luck with that. Sincerely.
Or maybe you don't care a fig about readers, you just want the money. (Reminding us of Dr. Johnson's dictum: No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.)
If some monster offered you money to own (and utterly suppress) every word you've written to date, and prevent you from writing anything else in the future, including diaries and grocery lists, what would it take to get you to jump at the deal?
