Re: a talent for writing doesn't translate to a talent for marketing

This is true and not just of authors. I think we all know the plight of
painters and masters of hard craft such as pottery, furniture markers and
those who build ships in bottles.

I was just reading Ursula K. LeGuin's take on the importance of copyrights
and how they are a relatively recent invention. She says, "writers mostly
lived by finding and sucking up to a rich patron" (
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Blog2011.html#Unfacts) and it would be true as
well that the patron would be the one who would do the word-of-mouth because
their words carry more weight.

This also strikes at the heart of why it is that we have a world of
Microsoft Windows PCs and a world of Apple Macintosh computers and still not
much of a third choice (although I can tell you that I rarely use either
Windows or the Mac for a majority of my work). With quality work comes a
disdain for the profit and loss and in turn the marketing and selling to
your average guy/gal; those who "get it" or recognize the art of it or
demand quality will buy it. With quality marketing and sales comes a disdain
for a high price point because that means fewer sales and fewer sales means
lower profits and you won't be the world's richest man by charging too much
for something that every one should own.

It's a very broad generalization, but it's so true so much of the time that
it should be an axiom of life: Artists don't make enough money without a
head for business and a head for business can't make art without enough
money.

On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 3:28 AM, joseph harris <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>
> [Worth reading for those who want to understand the Amanda Hocking story -
> and why she is changing! And considering the conflict between writing and
> publisity - will readers be the ultimate losers?]
>
> The problem is that a talent for writing doesn't translate to a talent for
> marketing
> http://www.booktrade.info/i.php/32866
>
> http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2011/03/29/writer_sell_thyself/index.html
> '...Hocking ...[has]...complained more than once about the trouble she's
> had finding freelance editors capable of catching the typos and grammatical
> errors that keep turning up in her novels....'
> '...Even if the next generation's "To Kill a Mockingbird" gets published,
> the author's inability to promote it effectively may prevent it from
> reaching the millions of readers who would otherwise embrace it...., I want
> the writers whose work I admire to have as much time as possible to write as
> many books as they wish. ....'
>
> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/author-driven-marketing-what-is-an-introvert-author-to-do/
>
> Joseph Harris is Smile Poet
> Mailing list [email protected]
> http://smilepoet.com [email protected]
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>  
>



-- 
<http://meshmarketer.com>
<http://MeshMarketer.com>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Post a message:   ebook-community [[at]] *
Unsubscribe:      ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *
Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *
Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *
Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *
Administrator:    ebook-community-owner [[at]] *

(* == yahoogroups.com)
-------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    [email protected] 
    ebook-community-fullfeatured-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ebook-community-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/