Snake oil sales

As an Indie writer, do you feel like everyone is trying to rip you off? I’m sure it feels that way sometimes. I know it does for me. You’ve spent months of your life creating this thing, and you’re excited to get it out to the world. What a perfect time for the unscrupulous to strike! I know what your thinking. No, I’m not starting another rant. Well maybe a little, but hear me out!

Liked you, I knew when starting this journey, that it was going to be a uphill battle. I understood that I would have to pay my dues and that I would likely not make a cent. I was even set on investing everything I made, back into the book to build an audience. I even acquiesced to the notion that there would be plenty of ways to waste my money, but this came to a head as I scrolled through my twitter feed this morning and saw an advertisement for a writing contest for Indie writers. The single prize was $5,000 plus all the added value you would receive if you won the award (worth a whopping $750, yes, they were so kind as to calculate that for you). How exciting! Someone is interested in supporting new talent. There’s nothing like a good competition to highlight the merit of your story. What’s this? Cost to enter- $65. Wow. What a fantastic money-making scheme. Have a dream? I’ll give you a slim chance it will come true for just a few dollars (the royalty equivalent of selling 32 copies of Island of Stone).

After seeing this, I started to think back to my own, admittedly short, publishing journey. I can’t even count how many times I’ve run across ways to fork out the cash. You press the publish button, and they instantly come out of the woodwork to either take a bite from your royalties or plain out ask you for money. Just going through my inbox this morning and with a few clicks, I could easily spend thousands.

First off, and I mentioned this before (here), there’s the money-eating python in the Amazon. Sure, publishing is free, and that’s great, but it’s also how they get you. To press publish means nothing unless you do some heavy marketing to get your book out there. Where to start? Don’t you worry, you can buy marketing directly through their helpful tool! How convenient, right? They’ll even make it super confusing for you. You know all about keyword algorithms, so you’ll be fine. What? You don’t have a clue? Don’t worry. It’s not important. Wait, put your wallet away. You only need to pay when someone clicks on your ad. This is just like the lottery. Fun, right?

Boom, a week goes by, and you’ve spent all the royalties you’ve earned buying a scattering of clicks with just enough conversion to keep you going. Are your ads even getting out there? Who knows. Can we trust a company that doges taxes like the plague, exploits its workers, squashes competition, and is run by one of the richest men on the planet? What choice do we have?

Now, I don’t mind paying for marketing, but why not use a pay-by-conversion method such as used by Google ads? At least you’re paying for something! The python owns the site you’re marketing on and they’re already making commission on your sales. Why not help you out? The more you sell, the more they would make. Oh, you would make money too? Never mind. It’s all theirs!

Then there are the marketing websites that promise sales if you pay, the self-proclaimed marketing gurus that love your book and think you’ll be the next best thing willing to push your book out to the world for a fee. There are automated newsletters and emails that will go out to lists in the tens of thousands (of old stolen email addresses). Same for Twitter posting services. People are looking for money to edit your book, design your cover, format, etc. Need reviews? We got that covered too, give us some money and a free book, and we’ll get you reviews. Positive reviews? Maybe. Bad reviews? Absolutely. It never ends.

Stay strong, my fellow writers! Remember why you write in the first place. Put pen to paper and create your worlds. Don’t be enticed by the snake-oil salesmen. Take it slow, be cautious, and calculate your moves. Spend your hard-earned money with care. In time, things will grow. Most importantly, know that you’re not alone. Your fellow writer is here for you. And always remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Cheers!