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

--- In [email protected], Joseph Dowdy <joseph@...> wrote:
>
> 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 <smilepoet@...>
> 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 smilepoet@...
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> <http://meshmarketer.com>
> <http://MeshMarketer.com>
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
It is an interesting fact of life that many times a person is gifted in one area such as the arts and totally tone deaf in other areas such as the business world.  A friend wrote a very good book about his own experiences with child abuse but could not sell it.  Writing a good book is only half the battle.  The other half is selling the book.  I showed him how and now it is selling.  It is  not a best seller yet but it is selling.  http://teamebookpublishers.com



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