So I’ve written on this blog before on how I feel about writing for money first. I’m against it. My goal is not to have my writing be about money. If I can get a comfy deal where my writing is mine but I get paid for my books, I’m sure I won’t say no, but my I want my writing to be about writing first. It is part of the reason I have chosen to be an independent author.
Even though I write my books for myself, I do consider my audience from time to time. As an author, I do want people to read my books and I care that they do. But I wonder if we live in that twisted a world that I’d have more readers if I was actually charging people for my work and promoting myself in such a way to gain the appeal associated with publishing for pay.
Do readers associate quality with a price tag because we live in such a capitalistic society?
Or could it be that the best way to get people to not read my work at all is to put a price tag on it?
Would people rather read a free book? Or would they feel better or like the book is worth it if it sounds good and they had to pay for it?
Right now, my novels are free with the exception of one of the first books I published electronically on Smashwords (which I am intending to do some work on anyway).
I keep thinking, Shannon, you have to live. You have to get back on you feet. If you can get paid for publishing all the stories you work so hard on, why shouldn’t you? Every one else is. There’s a smaller annoying voice at the back of my head (sometimes at the front) that keeps saying, You deserve to live better than you’re living. You deserve to be paid for your work. You could be one of these bestsellers and New York Times-whatevers. You write well enough to stand among the authors people make such a big deal about. So why don’t you? We don’t live in a world where you can stand by your morals and beliefs and pay your bills. We don’t live in a world where people will engage your work out of a genuine love for reading and stories. You’re wasting your talents.
Those things do pass through my mind, especially when people look at my like I’m crazy when I tell them I only sell hard copies but my novels are free for people who come looking for them online. I try to make people aware of that immediately because my first goal is not profit. Other Black people and Black readers want to see me succeed but its always so obvious that they don’t think I can do that without being traditionally published or participating in publishing for profit.
What is success? I try to define it for myself. In my fantasies, it’s gaining a solid readership and owning my intellectual property. Like a lot of writers, I wouldn’t complain if money somehow came with that. Money just isn’t my first goal. Can you be recognized as an author without fundamentally tying money into what you create? I’ll keep writing regardless of the answers to these questions. ~S.T.
Sepia Heaven 