Why Selling A Story Is Not Easy

Book releases are an exciting time, from what I have observed.  Exciting, but not easy.  (I am hoping to experience a book launch with one of my historical romances someday, but until then, I’ll base this on watching other writers.)
 
A good friend just had her latest book released last Friday.  This isn’t her first book, but that doesn’t seem to make the process any easier.  What with asking people for reviews, and doing blog tours, and anything other promotion which might help, it doesn’t seem to be for the faint of heart.
 
But I suspect most authors don’t mind doing at least some of this work, even though authors are required to do more of their own promotion now than ever before.  After all, the alternative is to never publish a book.  And I think most writers live for the day they can share their creation with other people. 
 
This makes me think about a conversation I had with a friend recently about opportunities for writers.  On one hand, with the proliferation of books available now, whether traditionally or self-pubbed,  it is much harder to make one book out of thousands get noticed.  And as I said earlier, much of this work to get a book noticed falls on the author now.  This is why, in some ways, I personally think it may have been easier to be a successful writer 20 or 30 years ago. 

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But on the other hand, there are “publishing” opportunities now which no one dreamed of years ago.  For example, there are many digital platforms online for sharing creative works, audio books are increasingly popular, and the many viewing options on TV now have led to increased demand for stories which can be turned into a new movie or series.  Perhaps it all balances out.
 
Regardless of the format, though, I don’t think authors will ever lose the thrill they feel when they sell a story they sweated over.  Writing a good story takes months of hard work, and I can only imagine the satisfaction gained by having that hard work recognized by others.
 
So, congratulations to my friend and all of the other authors working hard to have their stories noticed.  Well done! 

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