Putting out our product fast

It was mentioned in another thread that a way to self-published success is to put out lots of books so that you can offer one free as a teaser and hopefully sell the others. DT seems to be doing this with success.

However, it's not just self-published authors who need to do this, but commercially published ones, too. Like Russell Crowe and his one-after-another movies, we need to put out a lot of our product. So the question is: how do you put out lots of books in a short time frame? Obviously, not wasting time on Facebook and message boards is one way. I do try to limit my own time on that. And I watch no TV, none. I still can't put out books fast. They're hand-crafted, not mass-produced.

Writing is my hobby so I can put out books fairly fast if I want to but quality tends to suffer.

I would think one strategy would be to write several books in advance then start releasing them while writing more. This is what I did with Booktrope so I am years ahead of them.

There are possibly other ways.

Quote :

I would think one strategy would be to write several books in advance then start releasing them while writing more. This is what I did with Booktrope so I am years ahead of them.

That's interesting. You don't worry about timeliness of the material being affected, tho?

No, because I write fiction. I wouldn't know what to do if I wrote non fiction.

This is the group behind Hugh Howey's success:

http://outthinkgroup.com/about

Here's what they say about the crowded market and why it is important to build a platform:

http://outthinkgroup.com/the-10-awful-truths-about-book-publishing

Hugh has built a "tribe" of followers, 5,000 are friends on facebook. He communicates with his "tribe" daily on facebook and on his blog. Click on the thumbnail on this page to load the PDF guide to building a tribe:

http://outthinkgroup.com/tips/16-principles-for-building-and-leading-a-tribe

I'll check those out later. Meanwhile, I understand that you have a longer timeframe with fiction, but even that can be dated, right? Vampires were popular at one time, not so much, it seems, now.

The shelf life of a non-fiction book depends on its subject. Self-help books (how I lost two pounds in six months), memoirs, history, etc., have a longer life, content-wise. Technology books last as long as the subject is still relevant, some of which change faster than you can publish.

The goal for fiction or non-fiction is to reach your potential readership rapidly so they know your book is available. If you do that successfully, you have a short period before the novelty wears off and those who'd want it have bought it. Beyond that sales trickle along. How well depends on how well the book is reviewed, how well you present it--price, cover, blurb, sample--and what the competition is.

I had a small publisher tell me that the title "wasn't that important, it's the content that sells the book." How do you feel about that? 

It still seems like success in this field now depends on pumping out a bunch of books. At least, it's more likely than hitting that one big winner.

Readers like series. Publishers like new editions. Maybe you could combine the two.

But I'm back to "how do I do it fast?"

Do ''fast" and "quality" compute? Diana Gabaldon has said that she has always needed three years to complete a book properly.  Her books always make the NYT list, and the earlier ones are still selling well.
http://www.amazon.com/Diana-Gabaldon/e/B000APXMEG

LC wrote:

But I'm back to "how do I do it fast?"

If you write three in a series, then second edition of first in series, second edition of second etc. The new editions should take less time to update than the time it took to write the series. The annual (or thereabouts) editions of your MW book provide a steady income.

LC wrote:

I had a small publisher tell me that the title "wasn't that important, it's the content that sells the book." How do you feel about that? 

It still seems like success in this field now depends on pumping out a bunch of books. At least, it's more likely than hitting that one big winner.

I'm not sure I can agree with that, LC.  Before anyone will read a book, something must get their attention.  Usually the title is an attention getter as well as the cover.  JMV

LC wrote:

But I'm back to "how do I do it fast?"

"Good, fast, cheap. Pick two."

Al, that's a great saying, and I used it just now in an email with my TAB editor. lol

Abe, I agree title is very important, so I was surprised when that publisher said it to me. I think he was just trying to dissuade me from using it because he has a competing title of the name I proposed. This was when I was considering going with him.