Almost a foot tall—my stash of 18 books (and several others in pre production!) representing thousands of hours of work the past 5 years🤲🏽 Over time I’ve gotten messages and reviews from people that absolutely melt my heart! I’m grateful for my customers and the stores who have bought thousands of books to date from me, yet, I’ll be transparent with y’all ……..…I still feel like a nobody. A dot on the map. Behind my pollyanna smile is actually a lot of confusion about the so-called strong ties between merit and success. I feel like the ridiculous amount of labor and soul I put into my career (merit) is not matching up to the level of success I think I should have in return by now. A few thousand books sold over 5 years is a drop in the ocean and the royalties are less than royal, so you need to sell tens of thousands to even make a dent.
My life in general, outside of career, has been the textbook definition of delayed gratification. So many people just want to be known and affirmed in this life—that’s a good and normal sentiment to have. However, if you have a special talent combined with extraordinary work ethic then that lack of attention/respect/accolades is even more pronounced. With 18 books to my name since 2020, a lot of people have yet to catch up to the fact that I’m probably the most prolific children’s book author + illustrator in the market today. Still crickets. It’s inferiorating on a mind-numbing level. It’s like you feel gaslit by an unforgiving industry that isn’t giving you much back that you pour into it.
Outside of my busy hours of creating these books, I have to then market them on my own—a whole other hat to grin ‘n bear. (If I hired a sales rep then I would have to pay them 15% so I'd be netting no money, that’s how tight book margins are!). I’m glad YOU are here though, following and supporting my journey though—someday this will all pay off and you’ll be like, “I knew her when she was a nobody.”
Eventhough I have worked really hard the past 4 years getting into scores of stores and selling thousands of books, this industry has evaded me for the most part. And I know why…3 words: Pay. To. Play. Lower your prices. Do more promotional free book give aways. All that BS, due to a jungle of a giant…Amazon. I always tell people: do not buy brand new books from there, just USED books. If you want to buy brand new then go support your local book n motor or buy from the author’s personal website store. Aside from Amazon, I think this lack of book sales I’m getting (as well as numerous other authors right now) also has a lot to do with the influx of kids on screens (instead of their noses in books) and some lackluster children’s books being given the lime light. Few people seek out good products these days; most people just buy what’s in front of them.
You hear the phrase “starving artist”—but it’s more like “starving author”. We have the tightest margins in the world and so with that, combined with the “Amazon Effect” of everyone thinking cheaper is better, you get a commercialized culture in which the books with big publishing houses can produce them in the tens of thousands and get more traction because their prices are lower. That means self publishers who can only produce in small batches get swept aside in favor of companies with 1) better wholesale prices and 2) FREE SHIPPING. Yep, that’s why I call it the Amazon Effect because it’s like retailers now feel entitled to get next-to-nothing shipping for their products from wholesale accounts like myself. I use USPS media mail (discounted shipping on books) but I have still lost accounts (whom I have been successful with) in recent years because I don’t do free shipping like their other companies (which are a lot bigger and can absorb costs).
I have a lot more to say but I’ve already said it all in my blog I wrote on this subject 2 years ago:
https://www.whitneylanderson.com/blog/2022/2/19/3saydkypu2iklza6fie49qri5jkb6l-7pgky
Oh and this one just last year:
https://medium.com/@whitneylanderson/taking-it-on-the-chin-being-my-own-sales-rep-ebc676c72a78
If you are a retailer or customer then it is imperative that you educate yourself on the current drawback of hyper capitalism and the repercussions it has on small but mighty creators like myself. I am one of many authors in the publishing industry that make it easy is but in turn get pennies for our work—that the publication business has built off the backs of US. If you want to help more authors be seen, then stop only favoring companies that give you free shipping and are produced in China on slave wages.
https://www.whitneylanderson.com/blog/2021/10/25/why-i-write-childrens-books
https://www.whitneylanderson.com/blog/2022/3/20/2-years-since-publishing-my-first-book
For more Totem (my Newfoundland puppy): check out these blog posts:
https://www.whitneylanderson.com/blog/2023/10/20/totems-tale-getting-my-first-dog