One of my favorite writing teachers is Dean Wesley Smith. If you’re a fan, you might have heard of the analogy he uses to explain the concept of copyright to writers. He likens stories to “magic pies”.
Each story is a pie that you can slice (license) into different pieces. These pieces then “magically” reappear in your pie once the term of their license is expired.
You, dear writer, are the one in control of where and how you license your Intellectual Property (IP)!
And while this is amazing, and wonderful, I’d like to point out something else Dean says about discoverability.
Build More Doorways!
From his book The Magic Bakery, chapter 8
“Every story is a door into your work”.
When I read that, I pictured the scene in Monsters Inc. where we see the hundreds of doors leading to children’s rooms all across the world. If every child were like Boo, the “factory” would be overrun in a heartbeat!
The point is the more doors (a/k/a stories) you have leading to your Magic Bakery, the better.
I’ve read in other places where he’s said the best way to find readers is to write the next book, but I guess I needed to know “why” he recommends that, especially in terms of discoverability.
In my day job as a content creator for businesses I understand the importance of marketing, so I struggled with the idea that I needed to focus more on writing more stories than marketing the ones I’ve got.
So I let myself get swept up into marketing advice that, while it might be good, it doesn’t serve writers who only have one or two pies…and maybe a pastry or two in their Magic Bakery.
Bottom line, the more “Magic Pies” I whip up, the more “doors” to my Magic Bakery and the more readers who will find my little store! Love this analogy…
Time To Get Baking Up A Storm!
Now that I understand the “why” behind the good advice he offers writers, I’m not worried that I should be promoting what I’ve written. That said, I do need to dust off the shelves a/k/a redo covers, and maybe blurbs, then take a look at where I’ve got my stories placed as they may be on the wrong “shelf”.
Other than that, it’s write the next story. Which I am doing, and will continue to do, because the ONLY way to fail is to quit writing…which I won’t do.
So, if you’re struggling with the fact that your books just aren’t getting read, take a look at Dean’s book (or his blog, he wrote on the topic there first) and see what he says about discoverability AND copyright…this is key if you want a career as a writer.
