I hear it all the time:
I don’t want to market my book; I just want to write!
I imagine most people feel that way about the work they love. I doubt many doctors dreamed of training their staff in OSHA standards or that coffee shop owners swooned over the days they could learn about unemployment taxes.
Many writers write solely for the pleasure of it; they don’t care if they get published or if anyone reads their work. There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s a great way to spend your free time.
But for those writers who want to publish multiple articles or books, who want to reach a large audience and earn money for their efforts, writing isn’t enough. Not when Worldmetrics.org reported in 2024 that Amazon sells more than 20 million different book titles.
These days, writing is merely the first step of the first leg of the journey. Whether an author is traditionally or self-published, the experience includes several steps:
- Writing, editing, and publishing the book.
- Finding an audience and getting the book to them.
- Cultivating and maintaining that audience until the next book is available.
When readers have more than 20 million options, it’s almost impossible for them to discover a book just because it’s available. They need to know when it’s available, where it’s available, and why they should buy it.
Today’s bestselling authors understand that. They’re more than authors—they’re entrepreneurs. They understand that it takes more than writing a good book to succeed.
If you’d like to learn more about life as a writer entrepreneur, join me this summer at The Well for learning and fellowship with the creative community!
Award-winning author of hopeful fiction with a healthy dose of romance, Karin Beery also owns Write Now Editing, helping authors turn good manuscripts into great books. She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, aunt, and four dogs. When she’s not writing, editing, or teaching, she and her husband drink too much (decaf) coffee, put up their Christmas tree the first weekend in November, and do their best to live every day for the Lord.
