Tag: independent author

You Need To Turn Off Your Internal Salesperson

If you hadn’t noticed already, this is a post by Levi Jacobs. And, as I’m sure you can tell by this website’s URL, Levi Jacobs is not my name. We’re doing a guest post!

Levi is a fantasy and science fiction author I’ve known for a long time. He’s a hardworking, innovative writer and he’s neck deep in independent author marketing tactics. Without further ado, I’d like to hand it over to him. Levi, the floor is yours.


It’s an old adage in writing that you need to turn off your Internal Critic if you’re going to get anything done. Maybe that’s why the same adage-dispensers advise us to write drunk and edit sober, because booze turns off the critic (or makes him or her more entertaining, at least). And for the most part, it’s good advice. You don’t know how good something is until it’s written (which yes, means you really should finish that novel)—but that’s not what we’re here for today.

Today we’re talking about turning off the Internal Salesperson.

Salesperson? you ask. I don’t have a salesy bone in my body.

Ah—but do you want readers? Do you want somewhere in your heart of hearts to give the finger to your middle manager and boldly earn your living writing stories in your PJs?

If so, you will eventually meet your Internal Salesperson. She is the one who wakes up wondering if anyone downloaded your book, if anyone read pages (this extra torture reserved for those of us with books in Kindle Unlimited, meaning we can see daily how many pages of each book the world has read). And she is the one who will say, tugging at her checkered and elbow-patched jacket, that there is really no point in writing today, since no one’s reading your stuff.

Now if you happen to be selling gangbusters, perhaps you can ignore this advice. Maybe you want, in fact, to turn on your Internal Salesperson (you’ll have to find out what he’s into). But likely even for you, oh Gangbusters-Selling Author, there will come a day when you load up your sales dashboard to find a much lower number than you or your Internal Salesperson hoped for. Maybe even a zero.

And for many of us, that zero has a pernicious way of translating into our word count for the day. Of unlocking the closet in which we have stuck our Editor for those few precious hours that we get to tell stories, and we all three stare at a blank page, saying, “Well no one’s going to read it anyway—they haven’t even read book one,” and, “This is obviously garbage—remember how much we revised Book One? And still no one’s reading it,” and maybe even, “Do you think our middle manager took that middle finger the wrong way? Maybe we could send him a nice email, see if he’s got any work around.”

No, friends, the Internal Salesperson is not your friend. She’s either inflating your ego to the point the Internal Editor can’t get a word in edgewise, or they’re piggybacking on each other to make sure you feel too dismal about your hopes as an author to actually do the work of authors, which is writing, of course.

So what to do? Turn the Salesperson off of course.

Easier said than done, because sales are the best estimation we have for how many people are reading our books, and most of us authorly types are very interested in people reading our books, and smartphones make it oh-so easy to check how many people have purchased said books, and the tab is right there on your computer as you sit down to write. And the minute you click that tab, the Salesperson wakes up, and he is sure to have an opinion. And you haven’t even had your coffee yet.

So, some strategies:

One: Set your expectations low. Set them at zero, in fact. Then, if you’ve had five pages read today, why, that’s five pages more than you were expecting! If someone’s bought your book, the Salesperson is sure to be pleased! Meditate on that fact deeply: you are getting read. You’re doing it. Then go happily about your words for the day.

Two: Don’t look at your sales every day. A watched pot never boils. If you’re the one in charge of running your advertisements, etc., then set a day once a week to evaluate the last seven days and make changes. But this refreshing the KDP Dashboard every 15 minutes? You’ve got to quit it.

Three: Don’t look at your sales until you’re done with words for the day. This is my approach: I get my words in, I sometimes get a little rush of joy when I see good numbers, and when the numbers aren’t stellar, my Internal Salesperson often has something useful to say.

This is his territory, you see: he has as little place in the word document as a used car salesman has at the Tesla factory. But out on the lot? The Salesperson is your man. Even if he’s not a particularly wise or informed fellow, his negativity may spur you to action (yes, you will have to tell people about your book to sell copies at first), and often he’ll have some insight about a slogan, or key word, or ad image, or salesy what-have-you that will get a few more people to read your words.

And that’s the whole point. So maybe you do need to learn how to turn on your Internal Salesperson, as well as turn her off. She has her place, as your Internal Critic does.

It’s just that most of the time, that place is locked in the closet. You run this show, not the Salesperson. Run it how you like.

Hope that helps.


Levi Jacobs is the author of the fantastical Resonant Saga, as well as the near-future science-fiction novel ACHE and the forthcoming Water of Night series. He has received the Colorado Gold award in Speculative Fiction, taken first place in The Zebulon Fiction Contest for Science Fiction, and had shorter work published in Spark: A Creative AnthologyJungle Crows, and Perihelion SF. Hailing from North Dakota, with much of his formative years spent in Japan and Uganda, Levi has an MA in Cultural Anthropology and sells fruit in the oil fields to make a living. Learn more at www.levijacobs.com.

Should You Publish Your Fiction to Your Website?

Woman at Laptop on Internet

A few days ago, I published a piece of flash fiction to my website. It was the first—but not the last—time I’ll do it. The piece I went with is called “Large Coffee, Black.” It’s a quick little tongue-in-cheek horror story for coffee drinkers.

Many folks on the internet think publishing work to your website is a good idea. Just as many think it isn’t. After trying it myself, I’m in the former camp. If you’re debating whether or not to publish your fiction on your website, here are a few things you should consider.

Pick a Piece You Really Like

Put a lot of thought into what you’re going to post. Don’t just share any old story you wrote in high school (unless it’s awesome). Choose a piece that you love and can’t wait to share. Make sure it’s something that represents you as a writer.

I chose “Large Coffee, Black” because it was fun to write. A dude falls in love with coffee, and things go from there. It’s pretty strange, but then, that’s part of the reason I like it so much. Also, I think it was pretty unlikely to be published elsewhere.

That’s not to say the quality is poor (I hope!). It’s just that it’s a very strange piece, not quite mainstream enough for a mainstream audience and not quite speculative enough for a speculative fiction audience. I could shop it around for a while and probably never place it anywhere, or I could share it with people who will (hopefully) enjoy it.

Why couldn’t I publish it on my site and also in other online markets? Glad you asked.

Once It’s Published, It Can’t Be Published Again

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but a lot of pro-paying online fiction markets don’t accept unsolicited reprints. Which means they won’t take anything that’s already been published—including material on your website.

Sure, some online markets accept reprints. They always take them at a reduced rate, however, and they’d much rather have original work. Therefore, the requirements for acceptance will be much more stringent for you than they will be for someone whose piece hasn’t yet been published.

Of note: if you’re an independent author, none of this matters. Even if you’ve already published your work on your website, you can republish again on Amazon without penalty. A lot of indie authors do this with serial fiction, or with short story collections.

Be Okay with Giving Your Work Away for Free

The purpose of publishing on your website is not to make money—at least, not directly. Once you hit submit, anyone anywhere can read your piece for no cost. Some people use this as a reason not to publish on a personal site, but I think they’re missing the point.

If you’re selling a product, any product, consumers will be less likely to convert if they haven’t seen said product in action. Writing is the same; most people buy books from authors they’ve already read and liked. It takes good reviews and positive word-of-mouth referrals for readers to try new authors. Or, a good sample.

That’s the beauty of giving away a good piece of writing. Readers can read your work at their leisure, and, if they like your sample, they’re far more likely to check out the next thing you write.

So Should You Post Your Fiction to Your Website?

Publishing on my website was the right thing for me. I came to that decision after a lot of thinking and a lot of reading. If you’re considering posting your fiction on your website, I’d recommend doing some research of your own.

Every writer wants his or her work to be read. So why not publish something and get it out there?

You’ve already heard so much about “Large Coffee, Black,” so why not read it here?

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