I’m certain all have you have
heard the phrase “Together we stand,
divided we fall” before.
How profound is that? I found
it a few months ago while I struggled to market my books without a budget to
speak off. It made me think. Yes, there are many groups on the internet to
which you can belong where you can post your books. You can pay for advertising
on Google, Amazon, Facebook and Instagram. There are other platforms and people
promising you the earth, but is it working?
I thought I was alone when I
saw several posts in the Facebook group of the Romance Novelist Association
(RNA) and The Writing Gals, where authors were ready to give up. Sales have
dropped, and it felt for many as if it wasn’t worth it. Yes, I admit, I felt the
same.
I had to do a lot of
soul-searching. Why am I writing? For the money? For fame? We had a hectic few
months and I felt I couldn’t justify the expense of paying for editors and
cover designers anymore. Not if I have to look at the income versus expenses.
Was it worth it?
My conclusion was, yes. It is
worth it because I’m not writing to get rich. I write because I have to. I write
because I need to. I write because I love it. I just need to work smarter. And
for me, smarter means not working alone.
That had been the turning
point for me.
It also made me realise that I
can make changes and I can help others. That is when indie authors of Southern
Africa group were born. The purpose of the group is to learn from each other
and help each other promote our books. Our aim is to find our readers, here in
South Africa and abroad. It is difficult if you only publish online. The South African reader public is still traditional and
prefer to still hold a book in their hands. I’m the same—or I had been.
Travelling with a case of books is ridiculous so now I read online. Still, there
is a book or two I prefer to hold in my hand. Mine, specifically.
Most of our authors met
through the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa (ROSA). This group does
not want to take authors away from ROSA. We urged new members to join ROSA if they
hadn’t done so. ROSA is aimed
In the group, we have
established authors who had published through big and smaller publishing
houses. We have experienced self-publishing authors. We have debut authors and
authors who had published a book or two through a traditional publisher and are
now self-publishing their next book. Considering we have such a fast range of
experience in the group, it is therefore understandable that the more
experienced authors would give advice to the newbies.
Did it work that way? No. And
there are reasons for that. I find it fascinating that the newbies are the ones
who didn’t mind trying new things where the more established authors are
following their trusted methods. That’s great and it is understandable because
they had already built up a following the new authors need. They are there to
tell the newbies no, don’t waste your money on that, or I found that work for
me or that didn’t. That’s what we need. Exchanging ideas and information. I think the more experienced authors find the enthusiasm of the newer authors inspiring.
There are still many things we
need to figure out but each week we learn and we grow. It is amazing that there
are others in the same boat who go through the same struggles I do and if I
have questions, they will give advice.
We share information and we
network. We promote each other’s new releases and celebrate each other’s
successes and commiserate when things don’t go that well. We are learning as
we go along, exchanging ideas and trying to find new ways of doing things.
There are obstacles. Our
biggest obstacles are to find our readers. For indie authors to get their books
into a bookshop is difficult. None of us has the money to pay for distributors.
Indie bookshops are few. We rely on the few indie bookshops willing to take us,
book fairs and markets and there are a few of those in which we can take part.
I can already see us arranging
our own book fairs. We couldn’t wait for others. We need to take
action ourselves. And we can’t do it alone. Come, join us, support us, and help
us grow.
If you want to find out more
about us, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Our website should run soon.
https://francinebeaton.blogspot.com/
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very interesting post.this is my first time visit here.i found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion..thanks for the post! exhibition stand builders
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