We were lucky to catch up with Susan Sands recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Susan, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
There are countless ways to approach becoming an author and countless factors involved in “success” and measuring success.
If you ask an author at any point in her career if she’s content with where she is, the answer will overwhelmingly be no. There are always more successful authors who sell more books and sign bigger contracts with publishers. Everywhere a published author looks, somebody is doing it better and making more money.
Signing a contract with a big publishing house is the ultimate dream for many of us. Doing so requires luck, tenacity, and patience (and many more factors that would take all day to list). It may never happen despite years of hard work and effort. Finding a lane in the publishing industry is a journey usually fraught with rejection. Making decent money is even harder.
Most authors aren’t ever able to quit their day job. Seriously. The market is so crowded, and Amazon overwhelmingly controls it. Authors are mostly creatives. Marketing and book sales are not a creative process. There are algorithms we cannot crack. They are ever-changing and complicated. Besides a handful of elite authors who get consistent six and seven-figure deals with big publishers, the rest of us are tasked with figuring out how to market and promote our books–even if we are under contract with a smaller publisher. This is even harder for self-published authors since they are ultimately responsible for a hundred percent of the work in writing, editing, and releasing their work. It takes time and continued learning to help readers find our books in the marketplace.
The publishing industry is crowded with lots of authors and their books. Standing out is challenging on a good day. No author or book is the same, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in book promotion. Even if an author is lucky enough to score an occasional Book Bub ad or feature in a magazine, it doesn’t necessarily move the sales needle.
My publishers spend a certain amount to produce each book. They buy ads, work the algorithms, and get reviews on my behalf. I promote my work on social media, attend book signings and festivals, and spend a lot of time trying to find new readers. It’s a full-time job aside from the writing. I do not make a living wage from the sales of my books.
I cannot explain spending so much time writing when the profits are pennies on the hour. But I continue to write because I’m a writer. I look around at all of my author friends, and we all have that in common, no matter where we are in our publishing journey.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I began writing at forty. As a former teacher and stay-at-home mom with three children who didn’t need me quite as much anymore, I looked ahead into my future and decided it was time to find my passion.
Always an avid reader, I often wondered if I had the skills to write fiction. I bought my first laptop and never looked back despite the challenges. It brings me deep satisfaction to create worlds and stories for readers.
I published my first book with Tule Publishing in 2015. I write Southern romantic contemporary fiction with mystery and suspense.. My tenth full-length novel is coming out in May, with three more to follow.
My stories have humor, heart, conflict, and a satisfying ending. They are set in the Deep South since I grew up in rural Louisiana and it’s what I know best.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
After publishing five books with a couple of smaller publishers, I wanted to try my luck at something new and bigger. I’d let my agent go, so I queried Hallmark Publishing and was thrilled to be offered a publishing contract with them. The excitement over my upcoming adventure was dashed when Hallmark Publishing unexpectedly closed its doors. I was crushed and floundering since I didn’t have another option at that point.
Giving up wasn’t an option, and it’s not unheard of for a publisher to fold without notice in this industry. So, I spent a few days feeling sorry for myself and thinking about what might have been. Then, I plotted a new course. I kept the Hallmark project in my back pocket for later and approached my prior publisher with a new series idea based on the first book I’d written but not published. They took it on, and I’ve written and published four books in that series.
I submitted the Hallmark project to an NYT bestselling author who works with other authors, and we collaborated on the story as a Christmas novella.
The ability to pivot is essential, and I continue to find new opportunities.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Engaged followers are essential to success in social media success. I’ve worked tirelessly on cultivating readers and followers. My numbers aren’t huge, but my engagement is solid.
I’ve used both my personal Facebook page and my author page to interact with readers. I’ve got a good following from my hometown, so those folks actually know me.
I do lots of giveaways and engage with readers groups of all kinds. Engaging on Instagram with book reviewers has been super helpful in growing a following. #bookstagram is a great way to meet book lovers. I’ve grown my newsletter by joining promotions with BookFunnel and Book Sweeps. Multi-author promotions work really well.
I try to keep my website updated with upcoming books and new releases.
It takes time but the rewards are priceless.
Contact Info:
- Website: susansands.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susansandsauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susannsandsauthor/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-sands-b393a7148/?midToken=AQG_WM6XDGWARg&midSig=2anqnoWJotWr41&trk=eml-jobs_jymbii_digest-header-0-profile_glimmer&trkEmail=eml-jobs_jymbii_digest-header-0-profile_glimmer-null-9w4ql9~lrtixpi7~bf-null-null&eid=9w4ql9-lrtixpi7-bf&otpToken=MTcwYzE2ZTExNDJhY2FjY2I1MjQwNGVkNDYxOGU1YjQ4YWM3ZDU0MTliYWI4YjYxNzBjZjA2Njc0OTVhNWZmYWYzZGRkZjg2NDNiNmU3ODg2MjlmZGYyNmEyNWMyMzBmMTZjNzUyNjg3MTJiNTFmMDIwY2JmNCwxLDE%3D
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanNoelSands