11 Reasons Self Published Mystery & Thriller Authors are doing less well than they could

Mystery & Thriller authors are not doing as well as some other genres (Romance, Non Fiction). The fix is actually pretty simple

Here are 11 Mistakes Mystery & Thriller authors need to fix

1. Not Writing what Readers want to Read
   1. We do not see any other genre where authors insist on writing ‘what they want to write’ and completely ignore what readers are asking for
2. Abject Lack of Cooperation between Authors
   1. No sharing of what works and what doesn’t
   2. No Box Sets
   3. Hardly any author master minds
   4. Some mystery and thriller authors don’t talk to each other more than once a year
   5. Some mystery and thriller authors don’t talk to another human being more than once a year
3. Writing Far Too Few Books and taking too long
   1. Mystery and Thriller writers write one book every 1 to 3 years
   2. This means they don’t get enough feedback and don’t get enough positive reinforcement
   3. It also means they don’t make much money
4. Ignoring Free Book Promotions
   1. Mystery and Thriller writers ignore the fact that judicious use of free book promotions can get them exposure to tens of thousands of readers
5. Ignoring Discounted Books and Box Sets
   1. Mystery and Thriller writers ignore what is their biggest advantage over books from Large Publishers – being able to discount to $0.99 and $2.99 and undercut on price
   2. Mystery and Thriller writers ignore what is the most powerful marketing tool for self published authors – Box Sets
6. Not creating compelling characters
   1. Mystery and Thriller writers tend to ignore that compelling characters is what makes mystery and thriller books a hit
   2. Instead of writing Jack Reacher they write bland lifeless heroes that are completely forgettable
7. The Good Writers completely ignore marketing
   1. It’s absolutely amazing that a significant portion of mystery and thriller writers think they can just write a book, and sales will magically happen
   2. It is unfortunate that nearly all the ‘very good’ writers completely ignore marketing
8. Dominated by Marketers, who spoil things for actual good writers
   1. Some of the mystery and thriller categories are dominated by ‘marketers’ pretending to be authors
   2. It is mediocre authors and ‘authors’ who hire ghost writers
   3. They check on the best strategies found by authors in other genres. They then replicate those
   4. By using the best strategies, they are able to outsell the actual good writers
   5. You can see this in their book reviews where readers are complaining about the book not being very well written
   6. Meanwhile you see authors who write exceptionally well but ignore marketing and therefore readers never find them
9. All the Experimenting is in the Direction of ‘What I Want to Write’ and ‘Political Correctness’
   1. While authors in other genres are searching for ‘what sells’, a ridiculously high number of mystery and thriller writers are writing for the market that existed when they were 21 years old
   2. Then there are the 5% of authors in mystery and thriller who want to ‘change people’s mindsets’ or ‘make the world a better place’ and write poems to political correctness, instead of mystery novels and thrillers
   3. No, the reader is not going to buy your book and voluntarily undergo mental reprogramming
10.  Interfering in Areas they should not interfere
    1. There are days when it seems like every mystery and thriller author thinks they know editing better than the editor, and graphic design better than the designer
    2. Mystery and Thriller authors are also big fans of the ‘my way or the highway’ approach. Which means everyone they work with has to work as if the only right way to do things is what the author says
11.  Too Much Stubbornness
    1. Mystery & Thriller writers are very slow to change their habits and their beliefs
12. Thinking Publishers know something they don’t
    1. Not quite sure how to explain this. While authors in other genres will just go ahead and publish and market and will learn from ‘The Market’ i.e the readers who are buying your book
    2. Mystery and Thrillers authors want to learn from Publishers, and tend to ignore readers
    3. READERS are the ones buying the books. Listen to readers

The only reason Mystery and Thriller ebooks are not taking off, is that Mystery and Thriller writers are completely ignoring what the Market (readers) is telling them