A Book is a Commodity

 

Authors need to stop thinking of their books as art. It's fine to love your own book, to take pride in it, but pride won't pay the rent.

It's less important to write well than to sell well. So, if you want to make money, don't waste time following the muse; just get your crappy book out there and sell, baby.

If you're not selling well, why bother? (I ask myself.) Obviously, I don't write for profit. If I did, I'd specialize in churning out romance novels, where (believe me, I've looked) bad writing makes not one iota of difference. I once believed that if I produced a quality product, people would somehow find it. Sure, I'd need to do a bit of marketing, but word of mouth would propel my novel to success (apparently). That's not how it works. 

It's all about niche. Readers like one thing, one specific thing. If you like fantasy, that's all you'll read. If you like mystery, you're not about to take a chance on, say, literary. I do have a niche, just not a popular one. And my genre doesn't follow a formula. which is a downfall. Readers wouldn't know what to expect, and they're not about to take the chance. Being locked into specific "likes" is a reaction to modern society, I believe. We're bombarded with too much of everything, so in order to have some control over the deluge, we decide upon things we want in our lives and things we can live without. Whereas in my days of visiting the library when I would scrutinize the posted bestsellers list and check out everything that was popular regardless of genre, there's no longer time for that. I only have time to focus on books I know I'll like. What if I waste my time? I can never get that back! Amazon to the rescue! Every book is neatly categorized in order to relieve our anxieties. So, can you blame an author for taking advantage of that? For exploiting it? You can blame an author who doesn't.

Authors like me need a mindset adjustment. Can an author write a story that incorporates all the tropes, while not being trite? Maybe. Although some would argue that trite is good. Authors like me need to stop trying so hard. 

Or just stop trying.