As others have pointed out, many successful authors publish far less than that.
Before I began self publishing, my ambition to write included living the often idolized “writer’s lifestyle.” I imagined writing for three or four hours in the morning, having a leisurely lunch followed by a nap; later, a walk or some form of exercise while my subconscious chewed over the day’s output. In the afternoon, editing or reading until dinner--this is not pace one would associate with running a business or marketing enterprise.
In view of the above, along with the idea of writing a book a month, recent discussions on extreme productivity, rapid release strategies, and writing quality, I’m wondering how many of you are NOT striving to treat your writing as a business nor out to make a killing. Rather, you’re writing your books at a comfortable pace and earning a satisfactory income with a minimum level of marketing (?).
When I first landed on KB, I was surprised at all the marketing talk, the unrelenting advice to treat writing like a business, the 10,000 words-a-day manifestos, the fawning over Chris Fox (I don’t want to write in a genre! I don’t want to write to market!), the idolatry of a few mavens writing stuff I would never, EVER read. Instead of finding a literary, writerly crowd, which I had expected, It felt like I’d stumbled into an Amway cult.
I ignored the advice offered on KB aside from creating a mailing list and running AMS campaigns. After a few misfires, it was enough to get my books read and build an audience.
Two plus years into self publishing, AMS consumes fifteen minutes a day at most, usually in five minute bursts. I send NLs when I release a book. So much for marketing (or the business side) of my writing life. If sales sag, and they frequently do, I raise a few bids on AMS.
Productivity-wise, the “writerly lifestyle” I’ve outlined, which is more or less my lifestyle now, allows me to publish two to four books a year, which seem to produce enough income (currently about the median annual salary in the U.S.). I try to write 1500-2000 words a day (including initial editing).
Though occasionally I have 9,000 word days, if I pursued that pace daily my books would be crap. The writing would be okay, but the novels would lose their complexity, logic, and flow. It’s when I’m not writing (not writing those extra 7500 words) that my books really take shape and form a satisfying whole, thanks to those intrusive flashes of insight that occur while I’m far away from the keyboard, even when I’m asleep (when my mind cuts and pastes or adds twists to the day’s output).
I have no envy of the book-a-month crowd, nor of their books nor of their readership, but I respect their work ethic. Web marketing is a tough business. It’s not a lifestyle I would choose to embrace.
