Fiction Unfocused

Changing things up for my own peace of mind...

Good morning, friends, and happy October!

Our moving preparations continue apace. I spent the weekend in Missoula with my oldest daughter, which doesn’t sound like moving prep until I tell you that I delivered a carload of her stuff that was still languishing in my house. I used the delivery as an excuse to spend some time with her, explore the city, and take a drive to Anaconda to visit a yarn shop. It was delightful to enjoy my daughter’s company and visit this lovely shop--and yes, I did come home with yarn, but really, since I delivered as much stuff as my Honda CR-V could carry, I came out ahead in that bargain.

It’s not hoarding. It’s a post-apocalyptic life skill.

Anyway.

Last week, I mentioned that I’d have some updates on my pursuit of fiction. I’ll start with reiterating what I mentioned a few months ago--that is, I’m planning to steer myself back toward commercial writing again and make that my primary focus. Now that our moving plans are firmer, I have a better idea of how and when I’ll approach all that--and also what it means for fiction.

And what it means for fiction is...

I’m done promoting my work.

Throwing in the Towel

I have been at this, off and on, since 2010, roughly speaking. I was there when Amazon first opened up this whole new world of indie writing. I published my first novella, Silver Thaw, in December of 2010, and I hoped it would be a gateway to an audience that would be interested in Ravenmarked and subsequent titles. I tried going the traditional route, but to no avail--the market didn’t want my novel.

I kept going. I entered Ravenmarked in a contest on Fantasy Faction, where it came in second, but still didn’t really get traction. I revamped my website and tried posting almost daily on various social media, but that didn’t work. I tried seeding Little Free Libraries with copies of my book, and I attempted to find an audience on Substack, and...

None of my efforts have boosted my sales significantly.

Now, one could argue that I never gave these things enough time, or that I should have tried something just a bit different, or that I could have pushed myself to publish more frequently. Or one could suggest that my big break might be just around the corner, and if I just publish the next book, I’ll hit a tipping point and start making real money. One could even say that if I devoted my time entirely to this fiction endeavor, I would write and publish faster and find that elusive audience.

Maybe.

But one could just as easily argue that the traditional publishers, one- and two-star reviewers, and the disinterested readers of fantasy have a point about my work.

And maybe it’s just time to admit to myself and to my threes of fans that I am never going to make money from fiction.

Aside from an occasional deposit that will almost cover a cup of coffee, fiction is always going to be an expensive hobby for me.

Like knitting or crocheting, but with more crippling self-doubt.

Why I’m Bowing Out

My reasoning includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. The awful social media environment: Every indie author marketing plan involves a whole lot of social media, and I am unwilling to participate in that. I did have high hopes for Substack, but I think it’s hit its “enshittification“ phase, thereby joining Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and pretty much every other social media platform. Aside from the way the platforms skew toward advertisers and big names, they’ve also become so glutted with other creators that it feels basically impossible to gain traction unless I start posting almost non-stop with the most click-baity things I can think of, and even then, there’s really no guarantee. I’m not willing to sell my soul to social media to make money from selling books.

2. The sad state of independently published works: Indie authors need to admit that a whole lot of indie books are really, really bad. In the early days of the indie revolution, everyone was just promoting and pushing everything because it was all exciting and new and a way to break the hold of traditional publishing, but let’s be honest--those gatekeepers were there for a reason. Most writers--including me!--did not get traditional publishing contracts for a reason. Some of those reasons may not be related to the quality of writing, but be honest--most of the time, it’s the writing. And now with the addition of AI-slop, everything is even worse.

3. The sad state of books in general: But here’s the thing--the indie revolution seems to have done absolutely nothing to increase the quality of books being traditionally published. The last few recent releases I’ve read have failed to impress me, to say the least. Nowhere is the absolute degeneracy of modern writing more apparent than in fantasy (specifically with “Romantasy”), and I just... I guess I just really don’t want to keep pushing my books when it’s obvious they aren’t what sells in the current market. It’s just too exhausting.

4. My own human limitations: If I could afford to have someone (or several someones) manage my book distribution, social media, formatting, accounting, and general online presence, I might try to focus on writing and editing and have that person/persons do all the rest to see if it would work. Sadly, I am not independently wealthy, nor do I have one of those time turners Hermione used in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. For my own sanity, peace of mind, and creative spirit, I will focus my limited amount of time, energy, and money where it gives me the most joy: the writing and editing.

I wasn’t expecting marketing and promotion to be easy, but I did hope it would be possible--that I could hit a tipping point eventually where my efforts would start to pay off, that my writing would be good enough to draw people in.

But after fifteen years of trying to get traction, the tires are bald, there’s a funny smell coming from the engine, and I’m tired of trying to get this vehicle to move.

What It All Means

Here’s what my threes of fans may (or may not) notice.

1. I will still publish new stories. I do intend to eventually publish more fiction, and I am--slowly--working on Soultainted. But my publishing efforts will be limited to Amazon and Draft2Digital. Despite its enshittification, Amazon is the easiest and most convenient place to publish e-books and print-on-demand books. Draft2Digital (the old Smashwords) gets e-books into all the main e-book platforms, and it’s easy. More stories are coming after Soultainted, and I will announce them as they arrive, but that’s about it. It’s going to be very low key.

2. I’m cutting back on blogging. I am going to cut back to every other Tuesday for new blog posts. Alternate weeks will be either reposts of old stuff or snippets of fiction. In other words, you’ll still see me every week, but some of the stuff you see may be old, refreshed, or familiar to you. I spend a lot of time writing these posts, and while I enjoy it, I really need to focus on other things right now--first moving, then the freelance business, and, finally, more fiction.

3. I’m making a few changes to the website. Expect to see a few changes here. I’m not exactly sure what they’ll look like yet or when that will happen, but if you notice, don’t worry--I’m not going anywhere. I’m just scaling back for my own peace of mind.

4. I’ll still push my blog to Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Pushing my blog link to these three platforms is super easy and low key, so I’ll keep pushing them out. But that’s about the only interaction I plan to do on those platforms, and those are the only social media platforms I’m going to maintain.

5. I’ll stay on Substack--for now. I have not decided what to do about Substack yet, so for now, I’m maintaining my presence there. It’s likely I’ll delete that one later, though, because it’s kind of a pain in the ass, and I’m focusing on eliminating pains in my ass.

Everything else?

It’s just not worth it. There’s not enough return on investment.

If people find me, they find me. If not... well, I’ll have the commercial writing to bring in some money and add to my Solo 401k.

And the commercial writing will continue to pay for my website hosting, book covers, formatting, ISBNs, editors, and all the other costs associated with writing fiction.

A Reassurance

In case anyone is worried that I’m going to go dark and unpublish again, rest assured--I am not. I am utterly convinced that I am unable to quit writing fiction. I tried that before, and it doesn’t work. In the words of R. A. Salvatore, “If you can quit, then quit. If you can’t quit, you’re a writer.”

So I am still going to write, and I’ll still provide updates here on my website, and I’ll still blog. And my loyal threes of fans will still know when there’s a new title available, and if they care to share that with their friends, great.

If not?

Well, I’ll make money from commercial work for a few more years, and then I’ll retire and spend time with family and maybe finally put a dent in the yarn stash.

And even then, I’ll keep writing fiction, because it’s the one thing I really can’t seem to quit.

Well, besides drinking coffee.

If you read this far, thank you--you are indeed one of my threes of fans. And if you are one of my threes of fans, you probably really won’t notice any changes, because I’ll still be publishing here and writing and managing to push out a new title now and then.

I’ll just be a lot more relaxed about the whole process.

I hope.

In two weeks, I’ll be sharing a review of The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. The TL;DR? Dark Harry Potter with an unlikable main character that still manages to tell an interesting story with a few embedded truths.

See you then.