Sunday 26 January 2014

On the shelf

THE journey of most debut authors - whether mainstream published or self-published - is a long and arduous uphill climb. Few are fast-tracked to the top of the world's reading lists and even fewer make a good living out of writing.
So why do we bother to do it?
There was a time when I believed there to be no feeling more satisfying for authors than holding a real copy of their first novel.
The ability to thumb through the pages and recognise parts of one's own work in tactile print creates a significant sense of achievement.
Although most authors would say they write books to satiate a personal need, there is also a necessity to share the work with others. Authors of fiction are storytellers and storytellers need listeners. There is little point in telling tales in front of an empty auditorium.
I've just received another five-star professional review of The Sleeping Warrior (http://readersfavorite.com/book-review/25265) in which the reviewer Danielle Pinzon described it as 'remarkable'. It is little words like this from complete strangers that make all the effort meaningful and there is nothing better than a sense of worth to raise confidence in a writer and spur them on to do more and do it even better.
The highlight of the month for me was a visit to my local library where I saw a copy of The Sleeping Warrior placed in a prominent position on the shelves. Seeing my book displayed for public access can only be described as one of life's true joys.
The success of a product lies in its potential value to the purchaser -  in an author's case, the reader - and the only way to increase recognition is to give readers the means by which to spread the word and share their good experiences. That's why reviews, libraries and bookshops are so important to an author: they provide the physical channel for public access to your book that no amount of social networking can compete with.
Although Amazon is the biggest seller of books throughout the world, its shelves are endless labyrinths of virtual words and books that don't sit in the top one hundred of any particular list will normally fail to get noticed by potential readers. Amazon is also very fickle in that anyone who knows how to manipulate their way to the top of the lists can become an Amazon best-seller for a nano-second and then it's all over.
There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule and I would never seek to underestimate the power of the mighty e-book nor the honest efforts of fellow writers.
I think I'll put what's left of my hard copies to good use and attempt to sell them to more libraries and bookshops: especially the ones with a geographical and genre connection to the book.
I will also try and find more professional reviewers to increase the list of candid, independent analyses.
How that will equate to more readers and sales in the long-term is yet another story to be told.




1 comment:

Rosemary Gemmell said...

That's fantastic seeing your book on the library shelf, Sara! It is indeed an uphill journey and it's great to see you get another such positive review.