To Market, To Market

 

Okay, then. Every other week.

Seriously, time got away from me last week, what with doctor visits interrupting an assignment with a tight deadline and an unforeseen resurgence of my video game addiction. Fortunately this week timing is better; I’ve got the tests/surgery Friday, then the weekend to recover before the next two assignments come in. In between all this I’ve been squeezing in the second draft rewrite of the former side project, which is now the main project. I need another longhand project. Pens and notebooks don’t come with distractions like games and stuff on YouTube.

Oh, and if you’re ever scheduled for day surgery, in which they send you home after you wake up, make damn sure you’ve got a friend or family member to take you home because if you’re still recovering from anesthesia, nobody else wants anything to do with you. Not Uber, not any social service. Nobody wants to be responsible if you have a reaction to the anesthesia on the ride home. The hospital won’t keep you overnight because insurance won’t cover it. I was lucky in that my neighbor next door was willing to transport me. She’s had run-ins with insurance coverage and understands exactly what I’m going through. After this I’ll have to make an effort to clean up my yard, which I pretty much let go this summer due to work and excessive heat, so they don’t have to look at it any more. It’s the least I can do.

* * * *

On to the blog. Writing the book, or books, or series, or anything is only half the battle. Even if you skip agent hunting and traditional publishing and upload the file to Amazon yourself, you still need to market the damn thing. You can’t just release it into the wild and hope enough people buy it to earn you pocket money. That doesn’t work. I tried that once and the poor thing sank without a trace. In six-seven years I doubt if it’s sold even a dozen copies, even after I lowered the price. If I’m going to earn money from this I’ll have to up my game. Writing better books would help, too.

Marketing is part of the reason I’m attempting regular blog posting. I’m not on any other social media, so I’m starting at a disadvantage. A channel on YouTube would help. Pity I’m an introvert. And not photogenic. And don’t have a very good speaking voice. And have no idea what my content would be. I’ve heard writers used to make Facebook pages specifically to hawk their wares, but does anyone even use Facebook any more? This blog is pretty much it. I may need to resort to clickbait entries to try to entice more readers. Maybe it’s time to dust off my theory about the History Channel’s show Ancient Aliens…

Or I can maybe earn some interest by learning from, and riding the coattails of, a highly successful marketer. I mentioned Eric July and his newest endeavor, Rippaverse Comics, a couple of entries ago. His first graphic novel (and related merchandise) netted him $3.7 million in sales. Issue #2 brought in $2.3 million. First issues tend to sell better because of collector interest, but those issue #2 numbers are nothing to sneeze at. He’s got two more books coming out within the next four months, with sales campaigns soon to be scheduled. Anticipation is already riding high, and wagers being laid on how fast the customers can crash the servers, and how long the system will be down. (Demand for Issue #2 knocked the site offline almost immediately; access was touch-and-go on Day 1, and Day 2 they were down for 20 hours. They brought in new hamsters to run on the treadmills, and after that things settled down.)

Clearly this man knows how to market. How did he do it? What did he do?

First off, Eric July is no newbie. He’s a musician. He and his band have been performing and selling recordings since he was a teen. He started a channel in the early days of YouTube and built a following. He’s been doing commentary on politics, music and comic books for years. His disappointment in the current state of the comic book industry, Marvel and DC’s output in particular, prompted him to start his own company and produce his own line of graphic novels. He kept his viewers apprised of his progress, and waited until he actually had a finished product on the shelves and ready to go before he opened for business. All of this was heavily advertised on his website, through live streams (his own and guesting on others’ channels) and video posts on YouTube and other outlets. Yes, visibility counts.

So does showmanship. July’s a performer, no doubt about that. He’s animated, enthusiastic, engaged. He’s fun to watch. He believes in what he’s doing and he gets others to believe in it too. And it’s working, to the tune of roughly $6 million in total sales so far.

This being the internet, he’s naturally attracted a veritable cult of detractors who are jealous of his phenomenal success, or trying to get attention by attacking him, or just have nothing better to do. He’s even turned their vitriol to his advantage.  Check out this marketing maneuver:

During the campaign for Issue #2, a few of these haters got hold of Issue #1 and posted it in its entirety on the Web so people could read it for free. This is known as “pirating” and violates the terms of service of most legit outlets. It also costs creative folks a lot of money. Mr. July had the pirated copies taken down. His detractors immediately claimed he “couldn’t take criticism.”

Not long after, the ad posted at the top of this entry appeared. For roughly a week, Isom #1 was offered for sale for the discounted price of $12 (original price: $35). A percentage of the proceeds was donated to a charity that provides comic books to children in hospitals. Promo code to cash in on this offer was “Pirate.” Nothing else needed to be said. We all knew what he was referring to.

That’s more than just a marketing ploy. That’s style. That’s how you promote your goods even in the face of adversity. That was a win on several levels. There’s much about business to be learned from this man, and you’d better believe I’m taking notes.

First, though, I’d better make sure I’ve got a quality product. While I’m at it, I need to come up with ways to establish more of a presence on the internet. Too bad I’ve always been anti-social, including anti-social media. That’s something else that’s going to have to change. Back to work…

If at First...

 

Welp, here we are.

It’s been just short of a year since I announced I was going to write a romance series (eight books total) at the pace of roughly one book a month over the course of the coming year. Checking back over my posts, that was September 21, 2022.

As you can tell, the writing didn’t happen.

However, a lot of other stuff did. I got punched in the wallet by an unexpected tax bill, followed by quarterly tax payments. Then there was the tooth infection, which turned into an expensive root canal. In between receiving the tax bill and getting the tooth fixed, I began bleeding from my lady parts. That can be scary when you’re a decade past menopause. I’m getting surgery done later this month. Even scarier, my freelance job, which has been covering expenses for me since 2015, began to dry up. Over the last several months the assignments have slowed to a trickle, and I can’t in good conscience look for other employment until the issue with my lady parts has been resolved. Be hell to land a new job only to have to tell the boss, “Sorry, I can’t start on Monday. The bulb burned out on my Easy Bake Oven and it has to go into the shop. How about I start next month? Is that good for you?”

Then there’s that issue with my right eye, the one the optometrist told me has developed a cataract, which began acting up around the same time as the tooth, and I only had funds to deal with one. I never did get the eye looked at.

Definitely should have put more effort into completing the book-a-month challenge last year. Or the year before that. I might have had a bit more disposable income to dispense to the doctors and dentists. Yeah well. You know what they say. Life’s a bitch.

They also say try, try again.

Which brings us to the here and now. At the moment my publisher’s still in business, I still get assignments here and there and there’s absolutely nothing on TV. Between that and all the extra free time, I don’t see why I can’t churn out a 45K-50K sex book every four-five weeks or so. I can also go prospecting through all my old notebooks for straw to spin into gold. Gotta do something on the weekends.

Now all I need is a kick in the pants. Oh wait, my utility bill almost doubled this summer due to me running the AC during the various heat waves. And winter heating season’s coming up. And the annual homeowners and car insurance bills. Reminds me of a tale once told by mystery writer Mickey Spillane. Heavily paraphrased, he said, “I used to take walks on the beach, waiting for inspiration. Then my accountant called and told me the bank account was running low. Man, did I get inspired.” Preach, Brother Mickey, preach.

***

It’s not quite as bad as it sounds up there. I did write a book last year, the one I used as a side project to keep words hitting paper when I kept stalling out on the series. I even finished it. I’m on the second draft now, and it’s going great guns. Now that I know the story and the characters better, I can spot and fix all the problems. It’ll probably mean almost totally rewriting the entire first half, but I’m getting all sorts of great ideas and fresh inspirations. I didn’t even have to walk on the beach. The third draft should be golden. Any time I get stuck on the series books I’ll just hop back to this one, and vice versa. If all else fails, I’ve got another possible series waiting in the wings. It’s still in the nebulous stages, though, so I’ll let it simmer for a while.

So once more into the breach. I will write a book a month this year. I don’t have much of a choice. I’ve never had to live with credit card debt and I don’t aim to start. To keep myself on track, and accountable, I’m throwing myself back into the habit of posting a blog once a week. I promise you, every Monday something will appear in this space. Might be an update, might be a rant, might be an excerpt or even a flash scene. Maybe I’ll post redacted copies of my hospital bills. Let them serve as a warning to others. You might have a good job now and be healthy as a horse, but that can change in the blink of an eye. Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel. Happy writing!