If you want to eat, or more to the point, if you want to make a living out of it, you will have to put yourself out there.

But, first, a sobering statistic: very few writers make an adequate living off their writing.

We all can be like James Patterson, and those who are always on the top 50 best-selling list.

I’ll admit I want to have that New York Times Number One bestselling author title, but realistic enough to know that there’s a lot of hard work between then and now.

Now I’m just content to write.

But, seriously, writing is as much about marketing as it is writing, and unless you have a publishing contract, you are in charge of your book’s marketing campaign.

And it isn’t easy.

A lot of so-called helpful people are only too willing to tell you how easy it is, for a price.  The thing is, what worked for them, if it worked for them, doesn’t necessarily work for you.

Quite often, it’s different genres, so their success was in cosy mysteries, and if you write true crime, you’re facing a completely different market.

Then, if you were to analyse the success of that particular advice offerer, which I did in one case, you might find they have no presence or sales, except for the material they are selling.

It’s a rarity indeed that a person who isn’t in the same type of market can offer any meaningful advice.

I have tried paid for and free advice, not that much of the free advice was very helpful, and a lot of it didn’t work

Even trying to give your books away for free, the sites that might see you move a dozen, perhaps twenty copies, don’t equate to the large sum of money these ‘promotion by giving away free copies’ sites demand is hardly worth the effort.

Is there a perfect plan?

No.

Is there a way to find out how to market successfully?

I like to think there is.  The thing is, I haven’t quite stumbled on the formula, but when I do, I will be happy to give it away for free.