Whether you’re thinking about publishing your book or you’re trying to market your current book, you might have come across numerous blogs targeting indie authors. However, you follow their advice, buy their program or book, and yet you can’t seem to get readers or sales.
When this happens you start to doubt yourself and wonder what went wrong? Is your book a dud? Or did you miss something? Maybe all of that money you invested into getting a professional editor, and book designer has been wasted. This can be really frustrating, especially if you invested a lot and it’s your first published book.
If you followed all the steps and wonder what went wrong? Chances are it’s not you, it’s the blogs.
Blogs For Authors
There is no shortage of blogs out there aimed at indie authors trying to get their books into the hands of readers. However, BEWARE, because most of these blogs are LIES LIES LIES.
I’ve come across my fair share of blogs that claim they are there to help indie authors. They also make claims that they can help you make 10k a month! Or that you can use publishing as a “side hustle” and maybe even quit your day job!
Genres like Erotica and Romance are often touted as being a cash crop and easy mode for authors looking to make thousands of dollars a month. Let me tell you this is normally bullshit. Those shifter romance erotica urban fantasy books all written by a saucy blonde named Aidy or Jasmine, aren’t real. It’s called ghostwriting. These books are normally written by freelance writers. They are given an outline and are normally paid around $1500-2000 to write a 50-60k novel in a few months. These are not real writers making thousands, it's normally a company hiring tons of writers to write a single series.
BUT BUT BUT you say, what about so-so who made thousands of dollars? Yes, there are always real success stories. Normally in the YA, Romance, or sometimes fantasy. But those are FEW and far between.
It’s easy to think you’re the next big thing, but you probably are not… Yet it is good business for blogs to make you think that you can be. That is how they make money.
Who Runs These Blogs?
You might look at a blog and see a perky 25-year-old who claims to be an author and marketing wizard and she’s going to tell you all of her secrets so that you too can become a best-selling stay-at-home author who travels the globe and writes your books on a sunny beach, all the while pulling in thousands in passive income.
But normally when you look into it, these people are not real. They often are trying to sell you something. Either a step-by-step process, their own books, or a video series in which they tell you the secrets big publishers don’t want you to know.
Often times there will be a link to their Amazon page so you can buy their book. Their book will usually have low reviews or a few 5-star reviews that are flimsy at best, or a handful of paid reviews.
Then you go from their self-help book to their fiction books and those are usually poorly rated or ghostwritten.
Their job as a writer is to make money off of other writers. Don’t let them. Don’t pay for books that tell you “how to publish on Amazon” or “how to make $75k as a writer in one year!”
It’s a FACT that writing is one of the most poorly paid professions even for highly qualified writers with decades of experience. And sadly, it just seems to be getting worse (THANKS AI). It doesn’t matter if you’re writing fiction or advertising unless you’re a technical writer with a medical or engineering background or if you’re lucky enough to have the right breeding, you’re never going to make millions. You might as well play the lotto.
Yeah, it's sad to think it comes down to luck, but in reality, it does. To be a full-time author who makes a reliable, healthy income you have to be very lucky. And any blog that claims otherwise is bullshitting you. You can turn out books every single week to your heart's content but you’d probably make more money working part-time at the Golden Arches than being a romance writer.
So don’t fall for Shelby’s blog that says she was able to quit her day job, pay off her student loans, buy a mansion, take beachy vacations, and now has a huge following for her urban fantasy short stories because she probably doesn’t exist. If she does exist, she’s a soul-leeching vampire trying to hypnotize you into giving her your money in exchange for her “publishing secrets” which can be found for free elsewhere.
What Does A Writer Do Then?
Lower your expectations. Write because you like it or have something to say. Many writers also teach, do things like content and copywriting, ghostwriting, or just have a wealthy spouse.
You don’t have to write full-time to be an author. In fact, writing full-time tends to lead to lackluster and dull results after a while. Your writing becomes stagnant and your inspiration dries up. Why? Because when you have to rely on your passion for a paycheck it can get draining. But when you keep reading about how every other author is making it but you’re not, it can be disheartening.
I can honestly say that most authors are great bullshitters. They won’t tell you how much they make, but they will boast endlessly about reviews, being in various anthologies, and how awesome it is being an indie author. Yet they will be vague when asked directly how much they actually make vs how much they spend and what their profits are. I’ve been asked numerous times how many page reads I get a day? How much do I make a month? And while I don’t care and I’ll tell them, they never seem as willing to share their information with me. Is this because they don’t want me to feel bad? Probably not. It’s probably because they want to make sure they aren’t being left behind or that you don’t have a publishing secret that they don’t.
It’s good to know that writers are silly people. Everyone wants to make it. Many will fake it till they make it. But most of us won’t. Especially now that anyone can publish and the internet is a slush pile, and it's harder than ever to get a reader’s attention and keep it.
Sometimes you get lucky and things hit. Sometimes they don’t. However, if you’re writing for the right reasons then fuck the blogs and fuck Shelby or Lori or Jasmine or whoever is trying to sell you the keys to the kingdom. You would be better off keeping your $24.95 and investing it in yourself.