Been a few weeks since my last post. I’ve been extremely busy at work. We’re back in lockdown but not all of us are closed. I’m a keyworker and required to work, also I’m a student in IT. I’d spent weeks preparing for my second exam only to reach the venue and be told my exam was unavailable. Another spanner in the works and a complete waste of my time. I had to rebook and unfortunately I wasn’t successful. Failure is a part of life particularly when it comes to writing and selling your books and below I’ll be listing the top reasons as to why you may not be successful with your book. Though I wouldn’t recommend a new author make any changers in most of the aspects I’ve highlighted, as it’s more of a problem with people, media and institutions. I’m just stating a reality that all new writers need to be aware of.
Reason 1: The Genre You’ve Chosen Isn’t Popular
Certain genres do better and over time a genre can rise in popularity then fall. With regards to fictional books there’s a diverse range such Urban Fantasy, Crime Thrillers and Romance. I’d describe my novel as a Planetary Romance, a subgenre of Sci-fi and if it was a movie it’d fall into the same bracket as the hit movie ‘Avatar‘. Originally when I started to write my story I merely titled it a Sci-fi/Fantasy and had no concept of the subgenre Planetary Romance. Sure, I’d read books set on exotic alien worlds but just named it Sci-fi. Absolutely no research into the story, I was writing, was done, a huge mistake that I rectified later. I never intended to publish it, and this activity was just a hobby, something I did when I wasn’t at university or at work. Nowadays the genre isn’t that much of a big seller. I, myself, struggle to find books that fall exactly into that category at my local libraries. There is mostly just wall to wall Military Science Fiction and Zombie Horror, which are currently doing well.
Reason 2: Your Name Or First or Last Name
Your name can be used against you when it comes to almost anything in life. If you have ‘foreign’ non-Western first name or last name then people can turn their noses up at you. The writing industry can be a very snobby business. Publishes may even be tempted to give you a writing name for the sake of giving you a better chance in selling your book and making a profit. Even in the employment world employers will scrutinise your last name and use that as the deciding factor as whether to invite you for an interview and employ you. This is an unfortunate prejudicial fact which has been proven many times. I have a Non-English last name that can be hard for people to pronounce exactly as it’s unfamiliar and I never get offended as I understand how difficult names can be. I used to just title my CV as ‘Winston C’ only to have someone ring me up and grill me over what my last name was. I even conversed this with a friend once, someone of the dominant society, and he even agreed with me, stating they’re probably assuming I’m someone of a certain religion. I know of one writer who used his full name and was fully aware of this pitfall and for one I applaud that. If you’re self-publishing and insist on using your full name, regardless of how difficult people find it hard to pronounce then I say do so. It was my choice alone to give myself a penname and I’m happy with that.
Reason 3: Your Front Cover
A poorly drawn-designed cover can be your downfall. Avoid doing it. Put as much effort into your cover as writing your novel. Your text needs to be legible and clear. Colours have to match and be kept to a minimum, at least 2-3. Too much visual information on a cover won’t work. It doesn’t have to be a work of art yet it has to remain soft on the eyes. An abstract image can work just as well. The imagery just needs to convey well and reflect the type of story you’ve written. Never judge a book by a cover is a fallacy. people will judge. Just remember your cover is what will attract a potential reader to pick it up along with the text. If after sometime you find your book isn’t selling then consider doing another alternative cover. Writers do this all the time. Though I’ve received positive feedback on my cover I may be tempted to do a different cover.
Reason 4: You Have A Black or Non-White Main Character as the Focal Point on Your Cover & in Your Story
Another harsh reality all people, who are in the creative world, should be fully cognizant about. Your main character is a black man or woman fully superimposed on a cover or movie poster will be enough to insight people’s hidden racist attitudes even if your story has absolutely nothing to do with race. This has been proven to be a another unfortunate factor again and again in the media world and across all spectrums. I am an artist and I used to display my work at events down Bricklane many years ago, shortly after I left university. My work was colourful and vibrant, containing many characters of African descent. The event organiser made a silly comment I now consider ignorant, ‘Oh I love all this black stuff’ was what he said once I’d mounted up my work. I honestly didn’t know how to respond to a stupid comment or weather such a comment was worth a response or even worth getting emotional over. This was years ago and I was young and naive but believed the comment was tactless and unnecessary. Why he felt the need to mention the colour of my characters highlights a deep seated racist attitude he may well have had. Other instances across media have been with regards to the film ‘Twelve Years a Slave‘, where on a poster the main black character was shrunken and a white character was blown up. This was also the case in a recent ‘Star Wars‘ movie poster and this highlighted the racism from the media in those countries. Now I say if you do a main character and have an idea of what colour he is and want that portrayed on your cover then do so. Many writers don’t even state the race of their characters in their stories and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that as it’s irrelevant. I have read many books that aren’t at all descriptive or adjectives are kept to a minimal. This of course works and admittedly I’m guilty of assuming the characters are white, which comes as a mental default when growing up under White supremacy. There’ve even been times where the author won’t state the race of the main characters however they will at an insignificant individual. With my story you know the main character ‘Kharman’ is a dark skinned man of African descent and, for descriptive purposes only as my book is quite descriptive and explicit. Kharman’s complexion is only highlighted a few times in the story and the front cover itself can be rather vague as he’s mostly in darkness. By all means there needs to be more books where the protagonists aren’t White American/English males.
Reason 5: Your Story Just Isn’t Interesting Enough or Original
Your story needs to be impactful. It has to have lots of drama and when I say that I don’t just mean violence, swearing and sex. Your story can have none of those elements and still be a good read. The reader has to have a reason to care for your charcter and what they are going through. The problems they need to solve. Try to come up with something not done before. Read a book and consider what you would make different if you yourself wrote it.
Reason 6: It’s Too Long
A book that’s too long or has too many pages can turn a lot of people off. Likewise books that are long can also be best sellers. Just be aware of this. Consider doing hard edits if you feel your book drags along unnecessary. You may need to delete certain scenes, whole pages for the sake of being interestingly sound and economically savvy. I’ve had to do hard edit and they’re not at all fun. A long story can be more expensive to publish. Think from the prospective of the reader. Do they really need to be bogged down with mundane detail?
Reason 7: You’re Unknown or New to the Industry
Another stumbling block. You’re completely unknown and don’t have a network of professionals who can elevate you forward. Don’t let this other factor discourage you. If you’re self publishing then you need to put in the work yourself. Even a post on social media about your story or the front cover is a start. Consider putting adverts up and links to where people can get your books. Join author pages but do not spam especially in the comments section. People hate that and you may get blocked. When you go out to socialize talk a little about your story but avoid telling them too much if it hasn’t been published yet. once it has you can tell people as much as you want but still maintain a level of not revealing too much and don’t allow the conversation to be dominated about a particular book your working on. Sometimes we can gleam ideas from other people we’re interacting with.
Reason 8: Competition
You’re competing with thousands of authors. It’s just like when you apply for a job or join a dating site. Almost everything is a competition. The viewer is wondering why they should pick your story over another. An employer is wondering why they should view your CV over someone else’s. Again they could simply skip your CV due to their own hidden prejudices, which is more of a problem with them than you. In life you’re even competing against yourself to do better, to be the better person you was a year before.
Persevere
Now these are my reasons as to why you may not be able to sell as many books as you like or not sell at all. Am sure there are more. It’s not to discourage you but to give you an idea of what you’re up against and the draconian biased attitudes and prejudices of a lot people and businesses. By all means if you have a name that is uncommon or non-Westen then don’t feel you need to change it or that your cover features a person of colour. Representation is key here and the more diverse stories and characters we have the better. You fight this by remaining firm and only change aspects of your story or the makeup of your character when you, yourself, want to. Don’t allow an unfair biased system dictate to you what you must do.