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I was a bit confused about how authors are supposed to bootstrap themselves into a following according to this article. Putting aside the long tail of book outc
by derbOac 3y ago
I was a bit confused about how authors are supposed to bootstrap themselves into a following according to this article. Putting aside the long tail of book outcomes, do publishers really expect an author to already have a readership somehow?
I'm genuinely curious. I have no experience with this area outside of academics, which is a bit different. I guess a blog makes sense, and I've always been aware of marketing efforts, but the idea of expecting a new author to already have a readership seems like a chicken and egg problem.
- gumby 3y agoLike VCs: "It's not clear that your supposed market exists. Come back when you have traction". Later: "Sorry, we prefer to get in at an earlier stage than you are."
- handoflixue 3y agoNo clue if this is actually what publishers mean by that, but there's plenty of people self publishing their work online - fan fiction probably makes up the majority of it, but there's plenty of original work out there as well. I'm not sure writing a web serial necessarily translates to ideal novel authorship, but it does at least suggest someone who can attract readers and meet deadlines
- joseda-hg 3y agoI've been made aware of fiction authors that publish in free platforms (Say Wattpad) that use their existing following to publish either new stories (less common) or physical (Maybe improved) versions of already online books