If you want to write a book or have one already that isn’t selling let me give you some insight.  If you are doing it to make money then I have some sage advice from Thomas Edison.  

This week I received a proof of two books I published through Amazon’s CreateSpace program.  I am excited about it.  It looks great.  It was a side project that I had to do like a drug addict needs a fix.  I gave up sleep and money I didn’t have to do this.  The story is one of many I have in my head that needed to get out.  A really good friend of mine who is also addicted to creating helped me make this happen.

Derek is a gifted writer that works great with me.  He can do what I have trouble doing.  Together with the concept, composition and design we have made two short stories called Solomon Love.  I didn’t plan it but would love to make this a series.

I do hope also that I can find people that want to buy the book.  In my dreams this will be a successful series that becomes a movie or graphic novel like The Walking Dead or Harry Potter. 

When Tower Records and Borders bookstores closed I weeped.  It is said that people did more looking than buying.  As a writer I thought, “there goes another instance where what I do is not esteemed in my era”.  The phrase ‘starving artist’ comes to mind.  If nobody is buying books why should I write them?  I write because I love doing it.  This is not the way of success.  

Successful writers have a sales plan.  Everything is selling.  Just like with any product, you need to know how to sell it before you create it. 

“I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others… I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.”  Thomas Edison

Here’s what I learned. 

If you want to make money on your book you need know five things.

• Who you’re going to sell it to.

• Who the end user is (sometimes the buyer and reader are different).

• What price point you’re going to set it at.

• How you’re going to distribute it.

• What you’re going to do to promote it.

The answers to these questions will help you write a book that people want to read. If it’s not marketable, it won’t sell. 

I hired a sales coach that helped/hurt my feelings with almost everything he said to me.  It helped me because I learned.  It hurt because it made me realize how much time and money I have lost over the years.

I have come to realize also though that everything isn’t money.  Sometimes you have to do things that make you happy.  Writing does that for me.

Now that you know, what are you going to do?

My short stories are about a runaway slave that is “rescued” by a supernatural entity.  He becomes immortal and hides in plain sight as a blues musician.  His secret is uncovered when he becomes the target of a corrupt police officer and unleashes his dark side to protect himself.  It also involves others and the world that was once the thing of myth becomes reality for those who encounter Solomon Love.