Writers Just Wanna Write (Accountability Post)
Most writers just want to write and leave all the other stuff to others. Me too.
Everywhere I look, here is what I see from new and aspiring authors:
I don’t want to do marketing.
I don’t want to post on social media.
I don’t want to build an audience.
I don’t want to do in-person events.
I don’t want to be on camera.
I don’t want to do TikTok.
I don’t want to “build a relationship” with readers.
The general sentiment is: “I just want to write books and have people read them.”
Of course, that last one usually means “have people buy them so I can eat.”
I hear you. I have a similar wish-list. With some additions:
I don’t want to use my real name or show my face.
All of the above speaks to the typical “writer as introvert” stereotype. Hey, sometimes the shoe fits. It also goes against so much of today’s advice that in order to build trust, you have to do live video, communicate directly with your audience, and build a personal brand.
So the challenge is, then…
How do you make it as an introvert in a world that seems to reward the extroverts so much more? I love to experiment, so I intend to find out.
So What’s the Plan to Sell Books?
The good news is that you can write books somewhat anonymously. The bad news is, it will probably take more than just writing to get where I want to go. If it’s in the budget to pay others to market for you, go for it. It’s not in the budget for this experiment.
This post is aspirational as I’m basically starting from scratch:
February 15, 2026
Books published: 0.
Books sold: 0.
Income earned: $0.
To keep it clean and as easy as possible, I’m setting up a brand new pen name (hence all the zeroes above) and will be self-publishing genre fiction e-books. No fiddling with audio books (let’s see if it sells), or translations (same), or print books (same). I’ll expand later (or not).
I tend to favor short stories, but novellas or novels may be better. This will all be decided as I go. Sometimes the story just takes you where it takes you.
I do have a bunch of stories that are in various stages of completion and many more seed ideas for new stories. I have varied interests. Some are thrillers, some are sci-fi fantasy, and some are paranormal romance. Some are just out there. Not sure where they fit. I will lean into finishing those and figure out the story-to-pen-name match.
I already have a few pen names and domain names to go with them, but depending on the details, I may fire up some new ones.
As a very loose plan, it goes like this (I don’t need much more than this to start—the point is, get started):
Write stories that people want to read.
Turn them into books.
Self-publish the books on Amazon (Kindle Unlimited) under pen names, rapid-release style (time permitting).
Run ads and do the promotion thing.
The result should be sales. Rinse and repeat that until the back catalog is big enough to slow down a bit. Hopefully I’ll produce something people want to read. I’m expecting to make mistakes. I may have to pivot. It may suck totally. I have no idea how this is going to go.
What I do know is there are plenty of self-published authors selling books. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to do something similar. If it goes well, I intend to grow it, or maybe it will morph into something completely unexpected.
I also know I don’t want to be like Mrs. Jackson.
Rain or shine, win or lose, I’ll learn something from it.
Subscribe if you want to follow along with my journey:
Take Advantage Where You Can
I have some advantages here over some other authors. The tech doesn’t scare me (I’m a technologist), self-publishing is not unfamiliar to me (I’ve published on Amazon and elsewhere before), marketing isn’t foreign to me (I’ve built and run blogs and e-commerce sites, and grown a niche social media following to 100,000+).
But…
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
The wish list above may not be realistic. Writers just wanna write, and I do, too, but books don’t always sell themselves. I will have to do some marketing. Ads. Social media. An email list. Maybe more.
The difference is I will do it all under the pen name so as to remain anonymous. As anonymous as possible, anyway. If my pen name is outed then it defeats the purpose as it taints the experiment.
If I can keep it anonymous and do it under the pen name, then hopefully that will inspire other introverted authors to do the same. Putting yourself out there online with a personal brand isn’t just intimidating for some, it can have real world dangers or consequences.
As much as possible I will borrow other people’s audiences in order to grow, mostly through ads (I hope). Beyond that, the work will speak for itself, although I will build an email list. The trust will come from that combination, not from showing my face on camera or building a personal brand. Will that hinder my progress or hurt my chances of success? I dunno.
Other than that, I will incorporate all the things:
Genre/sub-genre tropes and themes, compelling characters and settings, and solid plots. I’ll use genre intersections, universal fantasy elements, and of course add my unique spin on things.
And still, there will be unknowns.
Will I use AI? Of course. I’m pulling AI into my note taking, my creation process, the marketing, all of it. Considering how much better the tools are now, I’d be crazy not to.
What’s Next?
I’ve debated about doing this for a long time. Some people don’t like sales and income reports, but I’ve often found other people’s income reports to be helpful. In this case, I think it’s important to show people what’s possible, and to show the doubts and the struggle and the results that come from it.
How hard is it to do this? We’ll see. Hopefully, we’ll come out the other side with a better understanding of self-publishing from an introvert’s perspective.
For now, my action items, at a high level, are these:
Determine genres.
Pen name to genre match.
Get some supporting tech in place.
Write (or finish a WIP) and publish the first book title(s).
Promote.
How often will I update this and when will I post? I have no idea. Historically, I’m horrible at building in public, but I’m going to try. This is largely an accountability post for me. If you’d like to leave a comment to hold yourself accountable as well, go for it.
Writers just wanna write. The challenge has begun.