Please introduce yourself in two or three sentences.
My name is Adam Fletcher and I’m a full-time author of comedy, travel, and memoir. I’m bald and enjoy eating chocolate. I have about fifteen books. I’m always writing books. I’m addicted. Help.
What professional experience do you have in your field of consultation?
I’ve spent the past ten years doing something people told me wasn’t possible: living entirely from my books. I’ve published seven traditionally (with C.H. Beck and Ullstein, including three Spiegel bestsellers). Recently, I’ve moved to self-publishing, where I’ve published another seven. In total, I’ve sold about 350,000 books, approximately 50% via each method. Before I was a writer, I was an internet marketer, which has proved very useful.
What are typical questions that prospective clients might ask you in a consultation?
How do I create a self-published book? How do I make a great looking eBook? What makes a book cover sell? How can I find a good freelance editor and cover designer? How should I position my book? What’s a good title, sub-title or keywords for it? What are genres and reader expectations? How do I get my book onto Amazon? My book is on Amazon, how do I help people find it? What’s the deal with Facebook and Amazon ads? How does print on demand work? What if I want to see my book in book stores? How do I build an audience for my words? What is the best way to market my book? I’d like to be a full-time writer too; how can I do that?
What successes do you have in your professional field?
• More than 350,000 books sold.
• Three-time Spiegel Bestseller
• Writer’s Digest Memoir of the Year winner.
• Living entirely from book income for the past ten years.
In which languages can you offer consultations?
English.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in your field?
You almost never need a publisher any more, and this is good news. The only validation that matters is reader validation. If you can’t afford a professional editor and cover designer, don’t publish your book yet, save up first. It’s much easier to sell the market what it’s looking for than convince it to want what you like to write (sadly). Exceptions aren’t rules; orient by rules. Nothing sells your last book better than your next book. If at first you don’t succeed, you’re building a backlist. The words aren’t the work, everything else is the work.