By Drea Stein
Like many new authors I . I spent a lot
of time reading blogs, books and interviews about how to sell lots of
books.
I spent time blogging, tweeting and Facebooking. And not much
happened. And then I found the secret sauce. Now it hasn’t quite
made me into the next Danielle Steele but the “before’ and ‘after’ picture of
my sales is amazing.
What’s the secret? Well it’s two-parts. Part One: Write a great
book. Part Two: Write several of them. At least three.
That’s it. You’re probably saying well, duh…but how do you write a
GREAT BOOK? Let me clarify. You need to write a book that’s good enough so that
people will tell others about it…and then go buy your next book.
Perhaps you’re still stuck on the Great Book part. By this I do
not mean the Next Great American Novel, though that is a lofty goal. I am more
of a genre woman myself – mysteries, romances, suspense. When I focused
on really writing a great book in a genre I made my life as an author much
easier. Why? Well, a genre has a built audience of readers always looking for
new books, new voices. A genre has some discernible conventions that I believe
help a writer get from the beginning, through the middle and onto the end,
especially a new writer.
But why do you need to write more than one? Well think of your
first book as your loss leader. This book – which must be GREAT – goes out into
the world as a gift. Keep the price low, give it away, and encourage sharing.
You want as many people as possible to read this book and talk about it…and
immediately buy your next one. It’s your second and third book that
will help you pay the bills.
So how do you write more than one book – after all writing takes a
long time…or does it? There’s a reason writing is also called a craft. The more
you write – and especially the more frequently you write, the better (and
faster) you get at it. If you wrote 2000 words a day for 30 days, you
would have a book in a month. Commit to writing five days a week for
an hour and half…Arrange your life around it and get going. Don’t look up until
you have a book…preferably two, better three. Then you’re allowed to go out and
Tweet and Facebook away.
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Drea Stein is the author of three romance novels, two of them part
of the Queensbay Series;The Ivy House,and Rough Harbor. She really doesn’t have any interesting
hobbies…since she’s always trying to write more. She lives in New Jersey (the
southern part) with her high school sweetheart, three kids, two fish and a
guinea pig. You can follow her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DreaSteinAuthor
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