Written Word Media's Mid-Year Author Survey ~ Part 2

In Part 1 of my analysis of Written Word Media's Mid-Year Author Survey, I learned that I fall under the Absolute Loser category. I'm okay with that; it doesn't come as a surprise.

But why am I an absolute loser? 

For clarity, I'm going to refer to myself as the survey does, as "Just Starting Out". Let's pretend that is true. ("Starters" are defined as those authors earning less than $500.00 a month.) 

"When we asked, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how are you feeling about your author business right now?” here’s how the average breaks down by stage:

• Just Starting Out (≤ $500/month): Avg. sentiment 2.9 — Common emotions: uncertainty, overwhelm, and “am I doing this right?”

I don't feel any of those things. First of all, there is no "right". Right is whatever happens to work. That leads me to "uncertainty". I'm certain that nothing works, and therefore I'm not "overwhelmed". Had I been asked to participate in the survey, I would have described my feeling as "resigned". 

What they’re saying:

• Confusion and overwhelm is the dominant theme. Many respondents are too new to identify what’s affecting them. AI and the A10 algorithm surface constantly,  alongside widespread uncertainty about what to do. “I’m overwhelmed by all of it and unsure how to navigate all of the changes.”

Despite all the online chatter about the A10 algorithm, I've never once been bothered by it. In my view, A10 utilizes the same metrics as A9, so people should really stop freaking out. It measures clicks and sales and conversion rate, etc. When didn't it? Amazon had to be measuring something. Really, the only piece I can control is my keywords, which I've definitely fiddled with from time to time, to zero effect.

• AI as an existential threat. Starting-out authors see AI almost entirely negatively. They believe that AI content is flooding the market, making it harder to be discovered as a new voice. “Fast buck AI books flooding the market making discoverability almost impossible.”  

Well, sure. So, only beginners worry about that? Embarrassing admission: I only joined Authors Guild so I could download the "human authored" logo:

I think these so-called beginners are trying to justify their lack of sales. Do people buy AI books? If so, how many? This is probably more of a problem in the non-fiction arena, where self-help tips and even biographies can be whipped together by AI really fast. Fiction, not so much. And do they crowd out human-authored books? It depends on how that term is defined. Perhaps if an author has a new release, it could be overshadowed by a glut of AI books, That's where, you know, you need to get reviews. Recruit ARC readers. It's not as if human authors are powerless.

There are two reasons I'm not paralyzed with fear over AI books. I began publishing before AI books were a thing, and my sales record has remained quite consistent over the years (bad). Plus, something will eventually be done about them. I don't know what, but something. Maybe customer pressure. Maybe an instant rejection trigger when a scammer tries to upload one. (Pretty sure AI can figure out a way to remedy it. 😁)

• Financial strain and discouragement. A meaningful minority feel close to giving up. Ads don’t pay back at this stage, promos can feel out of budget reach. “I’ve been self-published for 5 years with 13 books and my sales have never been so low.”  

Well, okay. There you go. The only reason I'm not feeling financial strain is because I stopped spending money. How well I understand what a financial burden it is for authors of little means to try pushing a new release! Every time I spent money on an ad or a promo, I hated myself a little more. That money could have/should have been used for real-life needs. I felt selfish. I tried telling myself that if any of those buys worked, the financial payoff would be worth it to my family. Alas, none of them worked.

Overall, while this survey is interesting, I don't think it paints a true picture of where authors are right now. Granted, with only a small sample size (582), if only one "living the dream" author (earning over $10,000 per month) responded, he/she is going to account for a large percentage of the positive results. 

According to Google:

"Only about 10% to 20% of self-published authors earn more than $500 per month." 

That means that 80-90% are in the same boat as me. I'm actually surprised the number isn't higher. Pretty sure the 10% - 20% of high earners publish romance. And more power to them!

The truth is, an author only has control over three things: cover, blurb, keywords. The rest is a crapshoot. Okay, yes, a bunch of ARC reviews can help, if it's a bunch. But that's not necessarily something we authors can control. We can recruit ARC readers and hope they all write reviews--positive ones. So that, too, is a crapshoot. 

The creative life never results in guaranteed rewards. But we were dumb enough to choose it, so...