Jody Hedlund wrote a great blog post about how authors struggling with the call to write more than one book a year.
While I would love the luxury of spending an entire year fine-tuning every single word in a book, making sure it was absolutely the most perfect thing ever, I have to work on a tighter timeline.
Part of that reason is that I am self-published. I don’t have an agent or publishing house behind me, helping promote my books. I’ve got me, myself and I – and on occasion Captain Cavedweller.
When I made the decision to self-publish a year ago, I knew marketing was going to be a big part of that decision.
That’s why I decided to start out with three novels and a short story from the get-go. I read enough information, did enough research, to know that four stories would sell much better than just one. I even made the short story (which is an introduction to the characters in the three novels) available for free, as a marketing tool to help get my name and writing style out there.
Had I written only one book, I honestly don’t feel like I would much success at all.
Even though playing with numbers isn’t my most favorite thing in the world, simple math shows me that every time I publish a new book all my book sales increase.
Based just on that, I have a compelling reason to write fast and furiously. I have also set some goals that are really making me stretch and squirm. My goal is to publish 10 new books this year (counting my non-fiction Savvy Entertaining books). I realize that number is crazy and ridiculous and out there. But sometimes you’ve got to just dream bigger than you thought possible.
So far in 2012 I’ve got five books published and one more coming out at the end of this month, which will bring my total for one year to twelve.
Are my books works of literary wonder?
Nope.
Will they change the world?
Nope.
Are they perfect?
Nope.
What I do hope they are, what some of you have told me they are, is a fun escape into a world of clean fiction where you just feel good hanging out for a while.
And I’m okay with that.
