Thursday 7 April 2011

Three muted cheers

Well, I suppose there might be space somewhere for a very muted cheer, or three. I have finally managed to get "77" on the Amazon and Smashwords websites and for sale. Why, though, does the process have to be so complicated? And why, in the end, was it more a matter of luck than judgement that the desired end was reached? Now comes the job of marketing. Again, the question: how the hell is it possible to make one book stand out from the rest ... and with the message, "buy me", emblazoned across it? Is any effort justified by the result? Or is it nearer the truth for me to say that I am far more interested in the writing than the selling? I dunno.

I know how frustrating it can be to have a book turned down by the mainline publishers time and time again - I've been there - but, on the other hand, is it really desirable that anything can be published on the net regardless of its value? The reading public are bound to find it ever more difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. Will the end result be that readers return to books that have been published in print my the mainline publishers ... and in an e-format?

At the moment I can, if I am vain enough, bask in the glow of having my favourite work available for purchase online but what, really, have I gained? Surely nothing but a sop to my vanity and an anodyne to appease the anger and frustration of repeated rejection. Somebody please tell me that I have it wrong ... that recognition is just round the corner.

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