Writer 's lament

With the publication of "Shrink: Odyssey of a Therapist" the major work now begins. Writing is the easiest task. You are being creative, you have a need to write, and the exercise is mostly fun, especially with a novel and,following Stephen King's advice, you don't work from an outline and don't know until the end how the story will finish. Editing is pure misery but is time limited. Marketing, probably the
major task, seems forever. I now am in the throes of trying to make my book known. I have decided against book signings. The potential rewards are small unless a major bookstore stocks the work on its shelves, which is hard to arrange. However, the Internet offers a wealth of opportunities to spread the word if you are willing to invest the time. You need to respond to other blogs on a regular basis, using the
comments to mention why the writer might be interested in your work. You need to develop ways to make your own blog read by using resources such as Facebook. While the publisher sends out press releases, it behooves the author to contact local newspapera and radio stations, hoping for an interview. All of these efforts, while necessary, are extremely time consuming with little likelihood of a payoff. To add to the misery, substantial financial rewards are unlikely. In my case royalties are less than $2.00 on a book listing for $30. To sell my novel. which took over two years including editing, I must pay the publisher more than I can purchase it for at Barnes & Noble who is discounting it 20%. This, despite the fact that I was asked to contribute toward initial publication costs. Will I do another novel? Yes. I've had a short novella--a followup of Shrink--accepted by a different publisher, with no up front feess. Probably more problems but it's better than letting the manuscript gather dust in my basement or clog up my hardrive.