How many hats can I wear - two.
When I decided I wanted to write a book, I had no idea what came after the writing and the editing. I tried querying some agents, thinking I could get a traditional deal and settle in to cash the checks. I wanted to be the new John D McDonald or Lee Child. Everyone asked me how I would publish and if I'd gotten any traction with agents. I decided to go down the self-publishing rabbit hole and write a series about things I love: scuba diving, sailing, and the Caribbean. Then I tossed in some romance, a pack of bad guys, and a sprinkle of gunplay, and there was a book. Now I've done it 23 times.
Once the manuscript comes back from the editor and I get done swearing about the changes, I settle in to really polish the turd and finally upload it to Amazon. Then ... crickets. Where in the hell are my giant checks? What? Advertising, you say? Huh? You mean I can't just toil away all day at the keyboard? I have to make social media and blog posts, advertise on Facebook, Amazon, BookBub, etc., schedule deals and sales, manage receipts, and ... I need a beer. This is hard work.
Then, there is the almighty Zon in the sky, dispenser of paltry checks and taker of advertising dollars - they make more in advertising than in sales now. Did I mention the Defense Department contracts?
Zon likes to hold onto your money—for three months. They follow the same tradition as the other digital publishers, Draft 2 Digital, Kobo, Google, and Apple (plus so many more). They hold the money back until sales "settle" or "quantify" or whatever fancy word they want to use at the moment.
The Pay Off
For three months, you wait with bated breath for your money to roll in while they do what with it? I know banks will loan out the money in your accounts to make money, but what do the booksellers do with it—pad the balance sheet, use it as collateral, or spend it on a fancy yacht?
While you twiddle your thumbs for the cash to appear in your account, you have to be careful not to violate the terms of service, sell your book in another location, pay for a review, have too many reviews at once, too many sales at once, or something else that upsets the algorithm.
In the financial world, an advisor often tells you not to put all your eggs in one basket. This is what an author does when they enlist in Kindle Unlimited. We are totally dependent on Amazon to provide for us. I know authors who love KU and are making a million a year (Don't ask about their advertising budgets. It will scare you.) I was never one of those guys, but I'm an above-average author who made over one hundred dollars a month on a book. Yes. I often spent more on advertising than I made. I was in the hole. I never made money using Amazon's advertising service. Never. Even when I paid someone to run the ads for me.
About three years ago, I decided to get out of the Amazon rut and broaden my horizons. I moved all my books out of KU and listed them for sale on as many platforms as I could find. I also opened a Shopify store and sold directly to consumers. At the time, the trend was to give away the first book in the series and hook the reader into buying. I gave away A LOT of books, but buyers were scarce. I stopped using Shopify and returned to the old way of pushing discounts through paid sites and advertising on all the big book platforms. I spent a year spinning my wheels.
Back to what works for me
Earlier this year (2024), I decided to open the Shop store again and, this time, get serious about building a bookselling business. My goal was to write and dabble in selling. What I needed to do was sell and dabble in writing. I realized I needed a focused plan and a spreadsheet to help keep track of everything. I found a mentor with precisely that: a system to build a selling business and a way to keep track of the changes I needed to make to succeed.
I am a person who will try it my way, do or die, until I realize I suck and need help. I had to focus on building a business. Not only did I follow my mentor's plan, I went out and found other systems to complement what I was doing. I had to learn new skills like building a stellar Shopify store, integrating my email system into the loop, finding apps to increase sales, and making Facebook ads that resonate with readers and purchasers.
The best part of doing all this hard work is that I get to see its immediate benefits. The ads drive customers to the sales landing pages, customers make purchases, and Shopify loads the money straight into my bank account. My income has increased thanks to everyone who has bought my books. I won't say my stress levels have changed because I'm always working to get the next book out, improve my writing, write better stories, sell more books, help other writers, spend time with family, check in on my hobbies, and get enough sleep.
The conclusion
So, (deep breath) the many hats of an author means I spend half the day writing and the other half as an advertiser. That's what I tell my friends now when they ask what I do. Oh, I'm in advertising, and I write the occasional book.