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

--- In [email protected], Chris <smith@...> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 31 Mar 2011, joseph harris wrote:
> <http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/author-driven-marketing-what-is-an-introvert-author-to-do/>
> where it's asked "What is an introvert author to do?"
> 
> Do something else?
> I am reminded of Loreena McKennitt. She is a self-published, 
> self-managed musician, who owns her own record label. Years ago, 
> I read an interview, where she noted that she had tried to find 
> some way to offload the management portion of the work - ideally 
> hiring a business manager. But she couldn't find an arrangement 
> that didn't make it seem like she was working for *them* rather 
> than the other way around. (*1)

I just saw that article the other day while Googling. Or maybe it was a link from the Wiki page? At any rate, she's still doing her own thing as of a couple of months ago, subbing out only the production of tapes and CDs if I understand things correctly.

> So, she did it - and continues to do it - herself. I really wish 
> I had a reference and not just a memory, because I recall her 
> saying that the managment work took 90% of her time - time she 
> rather would have been working on the music.

So say we all who create stuff, I think. We tend to regard bookkeeping and marketing as the scut work of being artistic.

> So - maybe it's partly a matter of expectations? Perhaps doing 
> your own marketing won't seem like such a problem when you 
> realize that to do it reasonably, it's going to take over half of 
> your time - and take it away from your writing.

Tis true. It's also why the publishers and resellers can pretty much tell us what they're willing to pay us as commissions.
The only thing that has made them favorably reconsider our cut of the pie was the amount of competition at their end when Amazon and many others jumped into ebook selling.
Ed
Ed Howdershelt - Abintra Press
Science Fiction & Semi-Fiction
http://www.AbintraPress.com



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

------------------------------------------------------
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/