Written Word Media's Mid-Year Author Survey ~ Part 1

I don't recall being asked to participate in Written Word's 2026 Mid-Year Author Survey, but that's understandable. I haven't used their services in a while. Regardless, I always enjoy reading the results, in order to either commiserate or to wallow in self-pity.

The responses in this one were broken down by income tiers, which labels me as "just starting out", since I've earned less than $500.00/month (way less). It's rather disheartening to be considered a beginner. After all, I've been publishing books for nine years. I think they need a separate category titled, "Absolute Losers".

Reading through the results, it becomes clear why I'm a failure. I don't do any of the things that "growing authors" identify, though to be fair, I've done a couple of them, but only to a minor degree.

1. They're writing significantly more.

I wonder if I'm a slacker or just a dullard. My latest novel took me about a year to write. How many novels do these folks churn out in a year? Do they abandon everyday responsibilities? Do they write from a checklist? It could be that I'm just slow. I don't move ahead until I'm completely happy with what I've just written. I'll tinker with it, ponder it, consider different scenarios, obsess over every word--every conjunction. "Should it be 'and' or 'but'? Which one best conveys the message I want to send?" How do other writers do it? I'm serious. I can understand, though not relate to, just getting the words down, but won't that prolong the editing process? And yet they still turn out multiple books?  

2. Their newsletter is a priority, not an afterthought.

All while writing multiple books? Do these people ever sleep?

You know how I feel about newsletters. Enough said.

3.  They're investing in paid marketing.

The biggies are Amazon ads, Meta (Facebook) ads, and the broad term, "promo sites". Been there; did those. "They’ve figured out one or both platforms and continue to invest." That might be my problem--I've never figured them out. Not that I haven't tried. I completed David Gaughran's comprehensive tutorial on Facebook ads and I followed his instructions to the letter. I might have sold one copy. 

"The era of publish and pray is over. Publish and promote is what’s working." I never pray to sell books. I reserve my prayers for things that aren't selfish. (I get that "publish and pray" is an aphorism, but still.) 

Since my novel was published a year and a half ago, I've had plenty of time to experiment with all the paid promotion choices. Either I've done it completely wrong or my book doesn't sound interesting. Or both.

4. They’re monetizing their catalog through box sets, translations, and audio.

Oh, come on. 

While I'd love to turn my novel into an audiobook, why would I pay between $2,500 and $5,000 for a professional narrator? I haven't even earned back the $295.00 I paid for my cover! Not to mention I have neither $2,500 nor, of course $5,000. Our air conditioner is on its last legs as I write this! Know how much a new air conditioning unit costs? Who are these people? And I won't give in and go with AI narration. I did that for my other books because it was free and it didn't actually matter (no one's ever bought one), but this novel is my baby. I refuse to cheapen it.

I did, however, go with KDP's translations. Again, it was free. I suppose these "growing authors" pay for human translation, though. Again...$$$

The closest I've even gotten to a box set was combining my eight novellas into two ebooks/paperbacks. That's rather stretching the term "box set".

5. They treat AI as a tool, not a threat.

I get that. I've recently developed a cautiously friendly relationship with AI. AI, to me, is like hiring a smart but untrained employee. You know they'll catch on quickly, but you still have to teach them how things are done. 

According to the survey results, authors are..."using it for ad campaign design, cover art, translations, and narration."

I have no idea how well AI would design an ad campaign for me, but for something like Facebook or Amazon ads, there's nothing to design, really. It's a series of checkboxes. This must be referring to some other type of ads.

Cover art? No. AI cover art is a real taboo, with good reason. 

I'm lost as to how AI would work for translation. Do you paste your entire manuscript in? KDP will do it for free, so this seems superfluous. 

Narration must be exclusive to a paid AI service. My free Google AI doesn't talk. But again, KDP can do that. I've definitely employed Word's text-to-speech feature, something I highly recommend for editing, but it can't pronounce certain words correctly, especially unfamiliar place names.

What I have used AI for is long-tail keywords, help in refining my blurb, instructions for querying libraries, help with my bio, book comps. (Comps is a biggie for me. Some promo sites such as BookBub want comps and I had zero clue.) 

 

There's more on this survey to discuss, but I've already gone past the point of brevity, so another post will be forthcoming.

Someday I'd love to be asked to participate again and have positive experiences to relay. 

Alas.