Write For Yourself Only If You Do Not Want To Sell Your Writing
“Write for yourself,” is the advice everyone around will give you.
But, guess what? This advice only works only when you are not writing to sell.
Writing for selling and writing for writing are two different concepts. There’s a thick line if you never knew this yet!
When I wrote my debut book ‘I Will Without War’ I did not write it to sell. For years I did not market it, never used to talk about it, never approached marketing agencies, never learned ‘it is not how it works.’
I would not say I regret not marketing it.
It was the first and it holds a special place in my heart. But, a book is also a commodity and you must sell it, is what I now know.
I found pride in telling people I got some sales without even marketing it a year back but that is not the case now.
I know when I write my next book, it will be out there being marketed and on charts.
What I am saying is that writing that sells is not just about writing for yourself.
It is for the people you write. It is about your target audience.
If you want to sell your writing, you should know this:
- Value: Your writing should always have value. The Internet is flooded with articles/blogs/ write-ups that start with a strong message but do not sell. The reason? It does not have #value. If you want to sell your work, make sure it adds some value to the people you are writing for. Be it providing them a solution or helping them grow their knowledge, valuable writing is something that sells more than anything.
2. Goal: You can not start a novel without knowing where you want to reach. Similarly, you can not write a newsletter, an email, a blog or any writing piece when you do not know what your #goal is. Knowing your goal is the hook to selling your piece.
3. Emotions: I have said this before and I will say this again: Emotions are the real sell-attracts. Whether you are writing something as short as a copy or a product description to a long-form article, if that does not have emotion, it is not going to work for the audience. People relate to #emotions. They buy things that are built on an emotional foundation.
You shouldn’t be proud of saying ‘I write for myself’.What you write for yourself seldom is stacked into your journal but if you do not demand the selling price, you are halfway towards quitting.
It’s high time you start writing for people!
