Skip to main content

Indie authors - friends or competitors?




Your book might be a bestseller. Imagine how you sold a million copies worldwide. You are enjoying yourself on the beach after you earn a lot of money.

Sound like a dream? This statement is far from reality and it will never be true for the majority of indie authors. When I said I sold ten copies last month, some authors said it is a dream for them. 

Speaking about the interaction between authors, many times it sounds like competition or rivalry. 

Authors will request you for friendship on social media. 

But, what are their intentions?

They ask for likes for their pages and for that they need a big number of friends.

They ask for readers, and you might be a potential reader.

They ask a group to tag their books and spread the word.

Recently, I got a friend request from an author who published his statistic, a report about million KENP reads. Should I be honored? I don't think so. It happens that popular authors want a wide reader base, and they want to attract other authors who read their books.

Some authors look down on fellow authors. I am five years in this world and I can't be a beginner. I got tired to ask people to read my books, so now I am advertising with various results. 

It would be great if you can only publish a book and your copies will sell, but it will not happen.

When you publish a new book, people will say "congrats" and "great", but mostly they will not buy it. Only a small circle of your supporters and those who liked your stuff before will buy your books. Others will expect a return from you.

This circle is unprofitable, you can't gain success by buying and reading others' books in hope that you get an audience in return. You must build your own reader's community.

Are we competitors? In some way, yes, but we should not sabotage each other.

What kind of author's pranks happened to me before?

The author reported my book title as inappropriate, even though it was metaphoric.

The author marked my three books with two and one stars because I did not read his book.

The author left a bad recommendation mark on my site because I had a conflict with him.

The author blocked me because I asked him to give me his book for free (after I bought the previous one.)

So, are we supporters or rivals, it depends on which angle are you looking for.

I can prove my value through my books. Making better blurbs, new covers, and valuable content, it will bring me a new audience. This is the only way I will focus, not on others' pranks.

There is an old quote:" A good horse raises the dust." So, if you see me as your threat, probably it is true. 


Comments

Eva Pasco said…
Like you, I hope to write readworthy books, kicking up the dust that way rather than jumping on any bandwagons.

Popular posts from this blog

6 signs that your readers don't read your book

Your book is live. That day came, and now you need an audience, a reader's community to show interest. What you need are readers who will read and review your book. The author feel excited like a student who went to the exam and waits for his mark. In this situation, you are not afraid of negative reviews. What is the point? Sometimes, your readers are not reading your book. They pretend they read, instead of this they are scrolling pages and write reviews, thinking they are doing a favor. A real reader will need time to read book. It is not fast eating and swallowing, there is much more in reading books. It demands your time, focus and attention, also understanding. That is why I read 20-30 books per year, I can't do more. A book review can talk much about reader. If the review is short, it could be a sign that a book is not read. Maybe I am wrong, maybe a reader did not enjoy so he left only a note. How to know your book is not read? There are no sign of reading pages in your...

Audio version: The curse of Dark sunrise

You can listen to chapter by chapter of my horror novel every Monday on YouTube.  The curse of Dark sunrise is dark, mysterious insight of life in the cult. https://youtu.be/CFaplrM-cz0?feature=shared

My new audio book

My audio book is published.  Listen to the horror novel by awesome narrator.    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DGV77N2J/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&dib_tag=AUTHOR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vwl5YpTimtGZw0dFXSNu3GPY4qiyaMxzEfUjVZhhtVjzQ3JeHZTe4JfF1abQxfdsvDihAw5vRs_TkZ2h7I9Tw0J3HMEbJ8CVSXAs1avd7CBUdlgdHKZEirNp4cr0JkuH.-m7tabpsp-EUgCsiDi3tXBC9MLz7DeNxS5_sEklPIZA&qid=&sr= Free codes you can get from my publisher Red Cape Publishing.