I heard Neil Gaiman read a story once and I remember thinking; “that is how stories should be communicated!” It was splendid and haunting simultaneously.
If you were forced to read Shakespeare in secondary school, I’m sure you found it boring because beyond reading it, we were supposed to become the characters and own those lines in live plays. The same is true for why poetry was boring to some of us when we were younger; we could not relate with the emotions and the unnecessary theatrics.
Every creative work deserves creative expressions otherwise, it is not memorable and does not feel personal to the reader. There is a reason why platforms like Amazon have space for digital books and audiobooks – learner choices.
Some platforms are beginning to find creative ways to make Braille digital for the non-seeing reader. If you want to write books that make you an enigma, you need to start to consider the most creative ways to package the same content.
If you are creating a poetry anthology, there is no reason why you are not hosting a live reading and album recording night where people can absorb those words and go home holding copies of your book that they read frequently to recapture every emotion they felt at your reading.
At that point, a physical book is not a sale to them but a testimonial that they experienced first hand, it is a reminder of the laughter and the sorrows they felt in that room. It is a tough point in their personal story of how they clicked with other humans and reconnected with culture, or the theme of your collection.
Now, put your album on streaming platforms and you’ve just created another stream of income you don’t have to work daily for. Make that one-off event a tour and share all replays to a select audience who are subscribers to your work.
The reason creative work looks tedious is because we make creative work without creative distribution or marketing plans. It’s almost as if we create with the intention of watching our work die out. Therefore, create like someone who is affluent. Create the same work in different formats. Create for diverse audiences and create in different locations.
Staying with our poetry example, now let’s convert your collection into another popular language. Commit to learning that language for six months to a year and recreate this same strategy.
You think you need twenty anthologies but in reality, you need two anthologies that are reproduced in ten different formats with the sole intention of increasing your influence as an author and multiplying your income (some of which must be passive so you do not burn out).
Now, tours might not work for every writer as many writers are comfortable with being invisible. Well, have your recordings privately and distribute them both in public and private. You claim you do not like your voice? Get someone else to voice it.
You want a tour but want to be invisible, get a professional to wed a mini jazz concert and have different performers use your writing as part of the composition. Now, bulk sign your books and have it given to the attendees as part of their souvenirs.
Naturally, traditional publishing will offer some of these services such as multiple book formats, book signing events, Book reading and tours. Yet, I need you to think like a thought leader. Get a professional public Relations firm to build your strategic plan.
If you cannot afford this at the start, get your friends together to help you start in your small corner of the world then ensure you record each of those little events so you can amplify with digital media and create appetite in another corner of the world. I need you to not just be an author but to be a business person.
Finally, do not be afraid to collaborate like we established last month. If all these techniques seem overwhelming, pick one or two and move at your pace. Like I said earlier in the year, “Set a Pace” and don’t be everywhere at once.
I am keeping this short because I want you to read it as many times as it takes for you to know that this month’s article is a comprehensive plan. If this is your first time reading the Affluent Author column, my goal is to help you be influential and profitable as a creative writer. Until next month, stay creative!
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Read – Collaboration – Affluent Authors Column – Liza Chuma Akunyili
