Is it time to switch things up?
I’ve been concentrating on middle grade fiction for the past two years. I’ve got one six book series complete, and the second will be complete by the May 2024. (It’s all written; just releasing once every six weeks.) I think they’re quality products. Solid character work and plotting! The reviews I’ve received are all overwhelmingly positive.
But … Can I be honest?
They’re just not selling very well.
Yes, they’re selling! People are reading and enjoying them! But… well, we’d like to do more than just break even!
Now, we have only recently started doing advertisements, but Scholastic has an iron grip on the middle grade market. It’s incredibly hard to get good sales here. You need to sell to bother an adult and a kid.
We’re working on the marketing end of things. There is so much to learn!
I’m prepping the next six-book series. I’ve got the next two past that relatively well plotted out. But if these two series aren’t selling… At what point do I pivot?
I want to note that the issue here isn’t the quality of the stories. Far from it! And it’s not my level of fun. I’m enjoying what I write!
But if I’m going to support my family, I need to do more than simply write. I need to write stories that sell.
This is one of the harder things with not just being a writer, but specifically an author. I’m not making decisions solely based on what I want to write. I’m also making decisions based on what will sell. The YA market makes some great sales for indie authors. I have the first two books of a YA trilogy fully written. All I have to do is write the third (already fully outlined) and we could attempt to put that out.
But that means changing how we’re doing things, and that’s tough, too! I don’t want to abandon the stories I already have planned!
Sigh.
So… Keep on keeping on, or change it up? Neither answer is wrong. I just need to make a decision sooner rather than later.
I’ll let you know when I do.
Btw, this is also one of the reasons I ask newer writers what their goals are. Writing a book? Go do it! Want to see something published by a big 5 publisher? Want to see your name in a bookstore? Want to self-publish so you can hold something you wrote in your hands? Want to make enough to support your family? All of these are good goals, but they’re different destinations. How you get to each one is different, though there will be some overlap!
So know your goal. I’m not interested in “just” having a book published. I want to support my family — so I need to evaluate where I’m going based on that!
(And if you want to check out the middle-school books, please do!)
Jonathon Mast: Author 