M.E. Roche is the author of The Nurse-Detective Mysteries and two stand-alone novels, all available on Amazon. She is a nurse with wide-ranging experience across this country as well as in Ireland. You can visit her site at https://www.meroche.com/

Viewing someone’s professional life in phases, I would break it down to the Novice, Middle Management, Top Management, and then, what I call Retreat. I went through those first three phases in my other life before deciding on Retreat, where I was sure I could focus on my writing…thinking there would be so much more independence. How naïve I was, finding myself on that same trajectory. After having that realization came the decision as to where to go next…

As a Novice, knowing only that I wanted to write—and I was initially writing for young adults—I set out to learn how to write for that genre (reading levels, etc.). I did eventually take my characters into adulthood, writing adult mysteries/thrillers, as well as two stand-alone novels., But in the beginning, because I knew nothing about publishing, I had to learn what was involved there. I took classes, watched webinars, read all the classic books suggested to writers, attended writing groups and conferences. Then I went through the query/submit process too many times to count before deciding to work with a hybrid publisher, which turned out to be a learning but very disappointing lesson, leading me to decide I needed to learn how to become an independent writer/publisher…an indie writer.

That decision having been made, I was entering the whole new world of Middle Management that included learning how to format my work for publication, working with a cover designer, and uploading the work for publication. Of course, there followed the need to set up a website and determine what social media presence might be necessary, appearing on fellow writers’ blogs, and participating in book fairs. I gave next to no attention to marketing per se; like many writers I was very uncomfortable with the idea of self-promotion, which is sadly a very important part of an indie writer’s success.

Only in the last year, as I started writing book #10, I began to re-evaluate what I was doing—what was working for me and what was not working. What I had to do and what I could skip, keeping in mind what a number of webinar instructors had stressed: “Consider the long game.” With the growth of audiobooks as a major vehicle whereby readers access books, I set my first goal of learning how to record an audiobook myself, as the cost of hiring a narrator for all my books would be prohibitive. (And how could I choose which ones to record? It’s like choosing your favorite child!)

My second goal was to immerse myself in learning the marketing angle, something I initially dreaded and have come to see as a challenge. I took several classes and read a mountain of material before experimenting with Facebook ads, with relatively poor results. There is a definite learning curve, and I do intend to retry, along with Amazon and Bookbub ads, which others have recommended. In addition, I’ve talked with another writer who is putting his ads on a streaming service. There is so much more to learn, so I’ll be here in middle management for the foreseeable future.

Finally, I had to decide which of my current commitments I would keep. I have been committed to a monthly newsletter from my website and will continue with this. I have also been committed to weekly social media posts, but that being something I have no talent for, I have successfully hired someone to help. I haven’t found book fairs particularly enjoyable or beneficial, so I’m not planning to continue doing these.

And last but not least, I’ve come to believe that I may have been marketing more to fellow authors than readers. The support of fellow writers is essential, but it seems it should not be primary. I am in the process of reviewing my membership in multiple writer associations. While they were very valuable in my early stages, I’m taking a close look at what they’re doing for me now. I would be very interested in hearing about other writers’ journeys.

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