THIS IS A bit of a departure from the normal content of my blog, but I have a favour to ask, both for myself and also for every single author whose books you might have read and enjoyed…
I ask because, as you’ll see if you read this entire post, earning a ‘living wage’ is not something very many authors achieve.
(And I also ask because the all-powerful CEO of the Enchanted Rock Press just reminded me that I am contractually obligated to mention my books at this time of year. He’s a hard task master, this CEO. To be honest, I’m not sure I even like him that much! 😉 )
So here we go, the favour:
– If you have already purchased any of the three books above, please leave a review of them on Amazon and on Goodreads (if you haven’t already). For more on why reviews matter, see below.
– Please mention these books to other people if ever the opportunity arises, especially in book discussions on social media. Word of mouth is a low cost, relatively easy but HUGELY impactful way to support any author!
– Please consider gifting these books to others, to someone you know who loves hiking, travel and nature, and who loves to read.
– And if you haven’t yet purchased my books… well, I mean… what can I say?! But now would be a great time to do it!
Finally, the CEO didn’t mention saying ‘thank you’ to everyone who has already done the above. (But he’s an ass, and so I’m going to ignore him.) So, to everyone who has supported my books over the past three years, and who has gone above and beyond in introducing them to others: THANK YOU! True friends – you know who you are. There aren’t words to express how grateful I am!
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And now, a few extra details:
REVIEWS MATTER
Reviews for indie-writers are HUGELY important.
Last week, I had a reader tell me that he bought The Earth Beneath My Feet because of the positive reviews on Amazon. (I’ve had several readers say the same thing). It’s also highly probable that this reader only saw the book because of its reviews. Visibility on Amazon is tied to them – algorithms at work. The more reviews a book has the more likely Amazon is to show it ahead of the 2,000+ books that are published on the site every single day, and the more a book continues to be reviewed the more likely it is to continue to be showed.
Getting noticed by new readers is almost impossible, especially for indie-authors who have little-to-no chance of getting their books into physical book stores or of being reviewed or discussed by mainstream media sources. Reader reviews on Amazon really do help.
So, if you’ve bought any of the three books above but haven’t added a review to Amazon, PLEASE consider doing this. A review needn’t be a literary masterpiece – a single honest sentence could do it. It would probably take less than a minute to add.
If adding a review to Amazon isn’t possible for whatever reason, Goodreads.com is another extremely helpful location. Of course, adding reviews to both Amazon and Goodreads would be even more helpful! (It’s okay to use the same text twice.)
GIFTING BOOKS
If you haven’t bought a copy of my books because they’re simply not for you, please consider gifting them to someone else! (And, please consider gifting them even if you have already bought them for yourself!)
I bet almost everyone reading this knows someone who loves nature and hiking and being outdoors, and who also loves to read. If even a small percentage of those reading this were to gift one of these books just once, and if the recipients were to enjoy and mention them to others, then who knows, perhaps these books might even pass that hard-to-reach exponential growth ‘tipping point’…
THE POWER OF WORD OF MOUTH
Please consider mentioning these books to at least one other person, or even to several people, and not only during the upcoming holiday season but beyond it, too. Whenever book discussions arise in person or online (especially in social media hiking, travel and nature groups) please put in a positive word for my story. Word of mouth is a low cost, relatively easy but massively impactful way to support any author or publisher.
THE COLD HARD FINANCIAL REALITY OF IT
Few author’s make much money. I certainly don’t. In fact, I make so little from it that I’m shortly going to have make a significant change to my working life… and it isn’t towards doing more writing and spending more time in nature, alas, quite the opposite.
(If you are interested in how little even professional author’s earn on average, see this brief feature in The Guardian, here: (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/06/writers-earnings-have-plummeted-with-women-black-and-mixed-race-authors-worst-hit)
Nature is my passion. Writing about this passion is my passion, too! I spent over twenty years and tens of thousands of hours carefully crafting The Earth Beneath My Feet and On Sacred Ground. One of the few negative reviews I received on Amazon was from someone who decided I’d only written two books as a greedy and cynical money grab! Well, this person clearly has no idea how little most authors earn, or how much time I put into mine!
I wrote them because, to put it very simply, nature changed my life for the better. First and foremost I wrote my story in the hope it might have a similar positive effect on others.
And I wrote my books because I had a story to tell… not to make money. But the cold hard truth of it is that to keep writing – as I desperately want to – an increase in ongoing sales IS needed.
THANK YOU
Finally, to be absolutely clear, I ask all the above absolutely without expectations, only in hope.
I ask, knowing that there are an uncountable number of reasons why none of the above might be possible.
And I ask, cringing deeply at the self-serving nature of what I’m doing here, hoping that you’ll forgive me for it and understand! I put so much of my life into my books. I owe it to myself, to Mad Mountain Jack, to the Enchanted Rock Press CEO (okay, that’s me too!), and most critically to my family, to do all I can to have my books seen and read.
And again, and most importantly of all: a huge THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have already bought my books, and added a review, and introduced them to others. I owe so many of you so very much!
