What have we learned about the business aspect of writing a book and then publishing it? The answer to that question is we are still learning, but with each day we find a new adventure, a new lead, a new possibility to push the dream forward just a little more. The main thing we have learned is none of this is possible without you, the reader. Everything we do is genuine, but we try to make sure what we do is relevant, current and something the reader would find interesting.
Tomorrow will mark 6 weeks since we launched the website and the social media for the book. Since then, things have just taken off in ways we had hoped it would, but honestly didn’t expect until much further down the road. Yesterday evening around 5:00pm we reached 15,000 views to the website, with this evening hitting 15,700 viewers; an amazing accomplishment considering this is coming from an unknown author, whose book is due out in the next month or so.
How did we do this? Surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and what you are doing is the first thing. The second is having people around you who know how to fill in the gaps for you in which you have yet to learn and then researching everything you can on every aspect of the business. I also would have to say not being afraid to take a risk, not letting an application like Pinterest, Twitter or any other stop you from going out and working on it until you have it figured out. A lot of this, actually the bulk of it, is trial and error.
The next thing is building hype about your project. This shouldn’t be too hard to do if you believe in it yourself. When you have committed to something, put your heart and soul into it, then it shouldn’t be hard for you to actively talk about it. By actively, I mean every day. You have to be present in social media, putting something out every day, talking about yourself, your life, your project. You have to not be afraid to let people in but you do have to grow a thick skin because not everyone will believe in you and your work the way you do.
The first time someone said something negative about my book I was inwardly crushed. The first thing that went through my mind is you don’t get me. But that was pride and ego. Not everyone has to get you and not everyone has to get your work. It would be nice if they did, but reality is a mean bitch sometimes. But stay strong and keep moving forward. If you believe you are putting out something meaningful to you, then eventually others will also see it. Not everyone, but that is ok.
This is one of the exciting things about writing, whether it is literary work, screenplays, self-help or even blogging. You have genres in which you can choose to write and you can switch in and out of those genres as the story ideas come and go in your mind. If you are like me, you have two or three ideas for a book each day. Time and reality doesn’t let me write like that, but keep a journal of those ideas so they are not lost.
So get your laptop out, turn your desktop on or put pen to paper. It doesn’t matter, just get to writing. Learn your social media apps because they will be your best friend when it comes to getting the news out about your published book. Never give up hope and never let a story stop you in your tracks. If it isn’t working, set it aside and move on to something else. You never know, two years from now that story may spark something within and you can pick it back up and start where you left off.
This is the fun part of writing; the creative process. But creativity doesn’t have to stop with the writing process. Channel that creativity into your social media campaign. Put yourself out there. If you want to build a business in writing you have to not be afraid to be vulnerable. I don’t say this lightly either; it still crushed me when I had someone unlike my Facebook author page. But again, it is a lesson in growing a thick skin.
Have fun, be creative and let you inner voice shine!
Have a peaceful Friday night!
Johnny Bryan Ward
Tomorrow will mark 6 weeks since we launched the website and the social media for the book. Since then, things have just taken off in ways we had hoped it would, but honestly didn’t expect until much further down the road. Yesterday evening around 5:00pm we reached 15,000 views to the website, with this evening hitting 15,700 viewers; an amazing accomplishment considering this is coming from an unknown author, whose book is due out in the next month or so.
How did we do this? Surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and what you are doing is the first thing. The second is having people around you who know how to fill in the gaps for you in which you have yet to learn and then researching everything you can on every aspect of the business. I also would have to say not being afraid to take a risk, not letting an application like Pinterest, Twitter or any other stop you from going out and working on it until you have it figured out. A lot of this, actually the bulk of it, is trial and error.
The next thing is building hype about your project. This shouldn’t be too hard to do if you believe in it yourself. When you have committed to something, put your heart and soul into it, then it shouldn’t be hard for you to actively talk about it. By actively, I mean every day. You have to be present in social media, putting something out every day, talking about yourself, your life, your project. You have to not be afraid to let people in but you do have to grow a thick skin because not everyone will believe in you and your work the way you do.
The first time someone said something negative about my book I was inwardly crushed. The first thing that went through my mind is you don’t get me. But that was pride and ego. Not everyone has to get you and not everyone has to get your work. It would be nice if they did, but reality is a mean bitch sometimes. But stay strong and keep moving forward. If you believe you are putting out something meaningful to you, then eventually others will also see it. Not everyone, but that is ok.
This is one of the exciting things about writing, whether it is literary work, screenplays, self-help or even blogging. You have genres in which you can choose to write and you can switch in and out of those genres as the story ideas come and go in your mind. If you are like me, you have two or three ideas for a book each day. Time and reality doesn’t let me write like that, but keep a journal of those ideas so they are not lost.
So get your laptop out, turn your desktop on or put pen to paper. It doesn’t matter, just get to writing. Learn your social media apps because they will be your best friend when it comes to getting the news out about your published book. Never give up hope and never let a story stop you in your tracks. If it isn’t working, set it aside and move on to something else. You never know, two years from now that story may spark something within and you can pick it back up and start where you left off.
This is the fun part of writing; the creative process. But creativity doesn’t have to stop with the writing process. Channel that creativity into your social media campaign. Put yourself out there. If you want to build a business in writing you have to not be afraid to be vulnerable. I don’t say this lightly either; it still crushed me when I had someone unlike my Facebook author page. But again, it is a lesson in growing a thick skin.
Have fun, be creative and let you inner voice shine!
Have a peaceful Friday night!
Johnny Bryan Ward
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