If my beginning post lands here, please excuse the unfortunate little finger post slip. You opened my eyes to what is costs you and the other authors to have to resort to extreme efforts to get a devoted following. I am 76 and rapidly losing my vision due to macular degeneration. I have loved books all my life. I plead guilty to grabbing a free book frequently because I was close to experience retirement. But now I understand what building for retirement means for you all. I have learned a valuable lesson from your post. Thank you for stating so succintly the delima it has caused in your industry. I mean it sincerely and will change my ways. I don't want to be guilty of affecting a decent change to earn a living while performing a love of your profession. You really can retrain an old dog new ideas if only they will listen not with just their ears but also with their hearts.
Oh my goodness, Linda. What a beautiful reply. Thank you so much.
May I add, however, that there are circumstances wherein free may be a good thing for those who legitimately cannot afford to purchase. I do not mean to discount such a thing. This is a defence of artists, most of whom are struggling; but others struggle too.
I am VERY touched that you would respond to my post with your perspective, which is also eye-opening.
These are some interesting ideas. Recently, I read Digital Marketing for Dummies, and they were still suggesting lead loss as a viable strategy. I do like the concept of it being a way to build trust with someone if your offering is of high quality, and a way to offer a no-risk entry for new prospects.
I do agree that it is problematic for the expectation of art to be free. It feels like there is a devaluation of the arts in general. For example, with AI generated art, there is the acceptance of training the learning models on the hard work of artists, without their permission, all in the name of "free" labor from AI. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I would love to see people value the arts again, and value work from actual people again.
Thank you so much for your response, KM. Loss leaders have been part of marketing forever, I think, but does it not scream "we can't sell it, so here have one on us?" We dug a deep hole, I think. And I agree entirely that there is a devaluation of the arts. We need new ideas around revaluation, and I don't know where they may come from. Grateful for this. Great points.
Well put. I am giving my content away for free because I have given up but it is disheartening that my work, apparently, has no value in the world. Before I released it, it bothered me that I might be ruining the marketplace for writers trying to earn a dime, but in the end, I decided to end the struggle and just get the content out to the public.
You are far from alone in feeling this way. It is INCREDIBLY difficult to get eyes on our work. The proportion of "seen" (or heard) artists is minuscule. And if you publish on Substack for a while, see what happens for free, that is entirely your decision and it's not necessarily a bad one. The market is already ruined. We need to explore different ways. That said, free still sucks lol.
As a reader, a retired person and an author I agree with both your and Linda's perspectives.
As a writer I gave up expecting to earn anything from writing after being taken for a ride by an editor and spending big bucks on first book.
I now write for my family and the few who enjoy my books. I am on among those that will not put my books on sale or give away only because I feel that raises the expectation that all authors should do that.
And as a reader and a retired person I am suspicious of free and frequent sale prices it makes me think it might be an inferior product an can I afford to invest in something I will not enjoy.
But to me a book an invaluable companion that you can take with you anywhere and the author should be compensated. The printed word stimulates the imagination, provides a vehicle for conversation and provides hours of enjoyment that you can revisit like an old friend. Therefore is it worth the price of the book? In my opinion, yes.
It also reminds me of when David Bowie did an interview on TV. The presenter mentioned his new album and suggested that Bowie perform one of the songs. Bowie declined, rubbing his thumb and two fingers together, I play if you pay, being the message. Many people were outraged that a multi million pound worth musician would ask - however, they missed his point. It wasn't that he wanted money, he wanted people to understand that art costs!
Giving free books should be the authors choice. Giving ones time as a performer for free, is their choice. The expectation of free is detrimental to creativity, and only people who never create regularly don't get it.
It definitely means you have to change your mindset to think like a business in terms of Cost of Acquisition and forming relationships.
But it’s not all bad. Artists have gotten screwed over for centuries. At least now the Playing field is somewhat leveled.
It all comes down to value. Show your audience that you can give them value and you’ll be rewarded. Don’t Communicate it effectively enough and you won’t.
If my beginning post lands here, please excuse the unfortunate little finger post slip. You opened my eyes to what is costs you and the other authors to have to resort to extreme efforts to get a devoted following. I am 76 and rapidly losing my vision due to macular degeneration. I have loved books all my life. I plead guilty to grabbing a free book frequently because I was close to experience retirement. But now I understand what building for retirement means for you all. I have learned a valuable lesson from your post. Thank you for stating so succintly the delima it has caused in your industry. I mean it sincerely and will change my ways. I don't want to be guilty of affecting a decent change to earn a living while performing a love of your profession. You really can retrain an old dog new ideas if only they will listen not with just their ears but also with their hearts.
Oh my goodness, Linda. What a beautiful reply. Thank you so much.
May I add, however, that there are circumstances wherein free may be a good thing for those who legitimately cannot afford to purchase. I do not mean to discount such a thing. This is a defence of artists, most of whom are struggling; but others struggle too.
I am VERY touched that you would respond to my post with your perspective, which is also eye-opening.
These are some interesting ideas. Recently, I read Digital Marketing for Dummies, and they were still suggesting lead loss as a viable strategy. I do like the concept of it being a way to build trust with someone if your offering is of high quality, and a way to offer a no-risk entry for new prospects.
I do agree that it is problematic for the expectation of art to be free. It feels like there is a devaluation of the arts in general. For example, with AI generated art, there is the acceptance of training the learning models on the hard work of artists, without their permission, all in the name of "free" labor from AI. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I would love to see people value the arts again, and value work from actual people again.
Thank you for giving me something to think about!
Thank you so much for your response, KM. Loss leaders have been part of marketing forever, I think, but does it not scream "we can't sell it, so here have one on us?" We dug a deep hole, I think. And I agree entirely that there is a devaluation of the arts. We need new ideas around revaluation, and I don't know where they may come from. Grateful for this. Great points.
Well put. I am giving my content away for free because I have given up but it is disheartening that my work, apparently, has no value in the world. Before I released it, it bothered me that I might be ruining the marketplace for writers trying to earn a dime, but in the end, I decided to end the struggle and just get the content out to the public.
You are far from alone in feeling this way. It is INCREDIBLY difficult to get eyes on our work. The proportion of "seen" (or heard) artists is minuscule. And if you publish on Substack for a while, see what happens for free, that is entirely your decision and it's not necessarily a bad one. The market is already ruined. We need to explore different ways. That said, free still sucks lol.
As a reader, a retired person and an author I agree with both your and Linda's perspectives.
As a writer I gave up expecting to earn anything from writing after being taken for a ride by an editor and spending big bucks on first book.
I now write for my family and the few who enjoy my books. I am on among those that will not put my books on sale or give away only because I feel that raises the expectation that all authors should do that.
And as a reader and a retired person I am suspicious of free and frequent sale prices it makes me think it might be an inferior product an can I afford to invest in something I will not enjoy.
But to me a book an invaluable companion that you can take with you anywhere and the author should be compensated. The printed word stimulates the imagination, provides a vehicle for conversation and provides hours of enjoyment that you can revisit like an old friend. Therefore is it worth the price of the book? In my opinion, yes.
So well said, Wendy. Thank you for your personal view and story, as well as the championing of the arts. Love.
😉
In the words of Trey Stone (Team America),
"Freedom isn't free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don't all chip in
We'll never pay that bill
Freedom isn't free
No, there's a hefty fuckin' fee
And if you don't throw in your buck o' five
Who will?"
It also reminds me of when David Bowie did an interview on TV. The presenter mentioned his new album and suggested that Bowie perform one of the songs. Bowie declined, rubbing his thumb and two fingers together, I play if you pay, being the message. Many people were outraged that a multi million pound worth musician would ask - however, they missed his point. It wasn't that he wanted money, he wanted people to understand that art costs!
Giving free books should be the authors choice. Giving ones time as a performer for free, is their choice. The expectation of free is detrimental to creativity, and only people who never create regularly don't get it.
Alex, that's brilliant and so true. Thank you for the Bowie story too. One of my . . . Heroes.
It definitely means you have to change your mindset to think like a business in terms of Cost of Acquisition and forming relationships.
But it’s not all bad. Artists have gotten screwed over for centuries. At least now the Playing field is somewhat leveled.
It all comes down to value. Show your audience that you can give them value and you’ll be rewarded. Don’t Communicate it effectively enough and you won’t.
It’s a simple as that.
And is brutal as that.