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From Dave Hayes: Talking to Myself - Part 1
What I Have Learned so far
Anyone can write a book. You don't have to be intelligent. I am living proof of this as I have written four. You pop along to Amazon and upload your finished manuscript that has been formatted in the correct manner and voila, Robert is your father's brother. You have a book. If you have dodgy grammar and punctuation (guilty) then it would be better if you got someone to proofread it first. It's an added expense, but worth it in the long run, especially if you struggle with such things as there, their and they're.
Don't worry about the subject matter. If you want to write a book about the degradation of paint on Russian made tractors from 1970 to the present day, go for it. You are a self-published author. Whatever falls from your mind is all yours. It is a wonderful and exciting world and you are amongst millions of other brothers and sisters penning books and launching them into the world.
So, there we have it. Publishing a book is very possible and fairly straightforward. Selling it is an entirely different matter.
The sad fact of the matter is that the public are bombarded from all angles with entertainment. Hundreds of TV channels, YouTube, Social Media, movie downloads, you name it. Why on earth should they take a risk with their hard earned and depleted cash reserves AND their leisure time to buy something a complete unknown has written? The short answer is, they usually won't.
The world is celebrity driven. We take our lead from people who we have set up (either consciously or subconsciously) as our arbiters of taste. The simple matter is a book is like a box of cornflakes. If you buy from Kellogg's you know exactly what you are getting. If you buy a brand that has been imported, in an own-brand box from a small, European country with the writing in a foreign language, you are taking a chance. Past experience tells us that these are at best OK, but not as good as the real thing. There's your first lesson. You are not as good as the real thing. You are an amateur. 'Oh, but hang on, J.K. Rowling started off as an amateur too, and look at her now' I hear you say - and you would be completely correct. She got lucky. VERY lucky, and managed to find an actual publisher who took a chance on her. Had she been a self-publisher I am guessing that no one would have heard of dear old Harry Potter (except a handful of nerdy friends).
So why bother? The answer to that is as simple as the question. Why not? As long as you manage your expectations (I didn't) and just want a pretty little book that sits proudly on your bookshelves, and maybe those of your friends, then where's the harm? There are worse hobbies. If you are lucky, a few strangers will accidentally discover your book and say nice things about it. Always a thrill when that happens.
I have no plans to write any more books. I have neither the time nor inclination. I have killed enough trees in the name of vanity. If I do break cover and write anything else it will be in digital format only. Far more green and conservation-minded. Part 2 will arrive as time dictates and I can be arsed writing it.