The Trip Wire

Okay, here's the question of the day: you're a writer. A writer of ebooks. And obviously you want to sell'em. So you begin social networking. Find sites all over the internet that works for you and you make your presence known. You constantly update. You continuously 'friend' for new friends.

The question is this . . . When? When does this active social networking gig begin to pay off? What trip-wire has to be stumbled over before there is a sudden bounce in sales and a sharp rise in fans buyng your books that feeds on itself for a long period of time?

Vincent Zandri and J.A. Konrath come to mind when I think about this. They sell thousands of their books a month. A MONTH!! That's impressive to say the least. Mind-boggling is more like it. It literately just boggles the mind.

So did they do it just be social networking?

Konrath has said repeatedly his previous writing gig with big publishers didn't help him in the least when it came to selling ebooks. Vincent Zandri is not so sure. I asked him that very question the other day on a--get this--social network site and he said he thought his previous exposure had to have helped some.

I have a sneaking suspicion there's more to it than just social networking. Like it has always been . . . and always will be . . .I think you have to be in the right place and at the right time to be 'discovered.' And like always--a huge amount of pure, unadultered blind LUCK comes into play.

Social networking. Hard work. Exposure. And fricken' blind luck makes the successful writer. I can do the first three. It's the LUCK thing that bugs me.

How do you stumble into blind luck?

Luck, No. Two

Talking about Luck again. Two names.

Jean M. Aurel and Barry Eisler.

Lucky.

Jean M. Aurel wrote a book you are undoubtedly familiar with. At least with the title. Clan of the Cave Bear. A tome that is over 1,000 pages in length and hasn't a word of dialogue in it. Straight descriptive writing. A tour de force walk through of the Neolithic world where Cro Magnon man meets Neanderthal.

Her luck? First book--first attempt to find an agent; a done deal. Agent found and agent sold the book practically on their first attempt. For a stupendous sum of money.

Do you know the odds for this happening to a first-time writer on their very first book? Forget about getting hit with an asteroid; laugh off the idea about winning a 100 million dollar Lotto ticket. Think more along the lines of resurrecting the comedy group, Monty Python.

Barry Eisler.

Writer of spy/adventure thrillers. A very good writer. A writer who works hard at his craft. Eastablished. But so established as to say NO to a big time publisher who is offering him a half-million dollar contract? That's what he did. Firmly believes he can make more money self-publishing. Doing it on his own.

And he may be right.

But that's stretching the munificence of Lady Luck a bit, if you ask me. There are thousands of self-published writers out there trying to do exactly the same thing Barry is doing. Writers just as talented as he is. But they'll be lucky enough to buy a cup of coffee and a donut. If that much.

Luck.

Does it come like a thief in the night and decides who she will bestow her graces sight unseen? Or do you make your own luck? If you make your own luck then I'm doing something wrong. Very wrong.