I think I can write, but I know I can’t sell – it’s just not
in my DNA, but all jobs require it.
There are people who can sell you any garbage they want to (an
especially prevalent skill set in politics) but I can’t sell anything, even if
I know you’re looking for it. This can be a problem, because all jobs require
selling. It starts at the very beginning when you apply for a job – you’re
trying to sell your services to an employer, and the more adept you are at
selling, the more likely the sale will happen (you’ll be hired) and the more
likely it is that the pay will increase with each negotiation.
I guess that’s why I also hate job-searching – the process
doesn’t play to my strengths.
In addition, throughout your tenure, opportunities will come
up to convince (sell) your employer, co-workers, and customers on ideas and
decisions. This is why salesmen are always in demand.
We sell throughout life – securing a spouse, negotiating what
game we’re playing with friends, what kind of pizza (there is no other type of
food, right?) we’re going to order, what house, what town, what …
After 2-1/2 years of indie publishing without generating a lot
of sales volume, I’ve decided to give Kindle Select a test drive on a couple of
my stories (“Anti-Social” and “Reconcilable Differences”.) I resisted doing this
before, because it means that the stories I put in the Kindle Select program
can’t be sold ANYWHERE ELSE. As Dean Wesley Smith says, it makes no sense to
limit your sales to ONLY Amazon.
However, Amazon puts a huge pool of money out there to
distribute among the eBooks that are borrowed through the Kindle Lending Library
or other Amazon programs – even if someone only reads 10% of one, the author
gets a share of that money. This may work into a more profitable use of “free”
giveaways than my ill-fated attempts at free earlier this year.
We’ll see whether it works – the eBooks need to stay in the
program for 90 days. Who knows – it might bring in a little more money, maybe
even generate a little more traffic to my other publications. Obviously, just
writing isn’t enough – I have to find ways to sell.
Now, I’m not blind to the possibility that I don’t know how to
write anything interesting enough to buy. But as POOR A SALESMAN as I am, the
fact that anyone has bought stories from me… well, I MUST be writing something
worth reading.
Just saying…
<<<>>>
William Mangieri’s writing (including his latest
ePublication: “Close Enough”) can be found in many places, such as:
- His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
- Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
- Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
- Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE
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