Back in 2011 I’d received word from my agent that my first Nick Bracco thriller was being overlooked by several large publishers. Most of them liked the premise of a Sicilian FBI agent using his Mafia cousin to track terrorists, but none of them like the name of the author. Gary Ponzo didn’t ring any bells. Yes, I’d published many short stories, and had been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, but that was an obscure award for literary nerds.
My agent recommended that I create my own LLC and publish
the book myself, something I’d resisted for a long time. This was before Fifty Shades
of Grey sold 100 million copies, and before Andy Weir became a household name
for self-publishing The Martian. Hugh Howie was just getting started with his self-published
Wool series which later blew up on Apple as Silo.
So. I decided to give it a try and posted it on Amazon with
very little fanfare. However, in December of 2011 I’d sold 10,000 copies of A
Touch of Deceit and made it to the front page of Amazon. That was before the Big
5 publishers (at the time) pushed aside all the Indie authors from appearing on
page 1 of the book-selling giant. Money talks.
Fast forward fifteen years, there are thousands of indie
books downloaded to Amazon every day, including hundreds which are one hundred
percent AI books. Every day. So how does an Indie author get noticed anymore
with all that noise surrounding them? Especially without much of a marketing
plan?
I can tell you from personal experience that treating your
readers like valued customers is the most valuable advice I can offer. Create a
landing page for your readers to follow and develop a list of readers who want
to hear your voice every month or so. To this day I return every email
personally. With every newsletter I offer a free copy of one of my books. I pay
attention to their comments. There are many expenses that go along with
creating my series, including editing and covers. Of course, none of this has
any usefulness without writing a unique story with believable characters.
It’s not easy and it’s not an overnight thing, but if you
write a good book and cultivate a loyal following of readers, your chances of success
increase dramatically. And that’s another thing. Everyone’s version of success
is different. For some authors, selling a couple of books a week is a rewarding
experience. And that’s a great perspective. Others want to grow their followers
and for those I would say, keep writing, keep working at your craft, and keep looking
forward. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Be the best version of yourself
and become an artist.
I’ve become more pragmatic about my work and consider
quality over quantity. I’ll take an extra 3-4 months to get the story right if
needed. I’m now working on Nick Bracco thriller #10 and whenever I feel lost in
the process, I simply read my readers emails and the support boosts me into
another level.
Every author has people tell them they want to be a writer,
but don’t know how to start. I tell them the same thing every time. Just write.
Everything else will take care of itself. And if you want to sell 200,000
copies? Write for twenty years and don’t look up. You won’t know what’s out
there until you try.
