There’s the easy way, and there’s the hard way.

Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

Don’t forget to click the link to see what everyone else has to say on this week’s subject. It’s at the end of my post.

Tell us about a writing lesson you learned the hard way.

The last twelve years have taught me a lot. The biggest lesson was that the world of writing, publishing and promoting was nothing like any other gig I had ever got involved with.

Coming from the world of international shipping, I had got to know lots of people there and how the whole thing worked. I assumed the writing world would be the same sort of place. I knew it would take me a while to get organised and had no expectations of instant fame and fortune.

I quite quickly found that there are some wonderful people in writer-land who will freely help and advise you. So many of them were authors who, as a newbie, I considered (incorrectly) to be my “competitors” for readers.

I got a lot of help in the early days and have always tried to pay it forward, now that I have a bit more experience of my own.

I’ve also learned that there are more than enough readers to go around.

I always assumed that writing the books would be the hardest part of the process; the rest of it was simply a case of learning how to do things and applying that knowledge.

I wasn’t daunted by the idea. In my working life, I’d had to learn a lot of things and usually managed it. I anticipated a slow but definite increase in sales as my catalogue and marketing skills grew.

To my surprise, writing the stories was the easy bit. Once I had got going, the words raced from my brain through my fingers almost without me having to think about it.

I’d look at the screen from time to time (I don’t touch type), and be amazed at what (and how much) I’d typed.

The various steps of preparing the final manuscript for publishing turned out to be skills I could acquire or delegate. For example, I had resolved right from the start to get my work edited by a professional. I taught myself to use formatting and design software. And I had an able assistant in my wife when it came to cover design.

But marketing is something else.

No matter what I do, I cannot get the hang of presenting my books in such a way that people want to buy them. Or even take copies when they are offered free of charge. I see other people’s achievements on social media, while I’m pleased for them, using their advice or techniques never seems to get the same results for my books.

I’ve taken courses, followed advice, changed and modified all aspects of my books (covers, blurbs, categories, keywords), yet it seems to have no effect.

Trying to work it out has been the hardest lesson I’ve ever had to learn. After 12 years, I’m still learning, with what seems like a long way to go.

I suppose it’s karma in some way, for my hubris in assuming that I could do it.

If anyone has any suggestions, I’m always ready to listen.

What do you think about this week’s subject?

Let me know by leaving me a comment.

While you’re here, please click the InLinkz link to check out what my fellow writers have to say about this week’s topic.

I’ll be back with another post on Thursday, see you then. Meanwhile, have a great week.

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