A Tale of Two Writers: High-Velocity Mary vs. Social Media Jane
Which writer are you?
Many writers don’t like to admit this, but if you want more than just your relatives to read your books, you have to do the unthinkable… marketing.
But which form of marketing works best? Each successful self-published author has their own unique story, and the “guru” advice is all over the place.
In the world of self-publishing, your success is determined by the path you take. If you analyze these paths, they can be roughly divided into two very different approaches.
Some authors focus on writing and publishing, while others focus heavily on growing their social media following. Which path yields better results?
A Tale of Two Writers illustrates two contrasting strategies. Let’s say:
Author A, publishing as Mary X, prioritizes writing and publishing at high speed (but with quality), building a back catalog. She leverages advertising to sell books and grow her email list, creating a reliable income stream.
Author B, going by Jane Y, spends most of her time on social media, doing what else? Trying to build a following. With fewer books published and the time it takes to build that following, her income potential is limited.
We’ll dig deeper and look at the key differences between these two approaches and see why focusing on book production leads to greater long-term success.
There are only so many hours in the day. The faster you get your books out there, the faster those books start growing a following of their own.
Author A (Mary)—The High-Velocity Author
Focus: Writing & Publishing
Mary approaches self-publishing with laser focus and publishes several books per year. How?
Getting her work (books) out in the world is job one.
Writing and publishing are her top priorities.
She does not chase trends (she publishes evergreen books).
Instead of getting bogged down in time-consuming distractions like social media, she dedicates the bulk of her time to 3 primary activities:
Writing books.
Creating free lead magnets.
Using those lead magnets to build her email list.
The tree with the most leaves catches the most wind. The more books she has on the market, the more chances Mary has to reach new readers and generate income.
Her philosophy is simple:
Consistency is key: Mary is protective of her time and releases books regularly. The goal is to build the back catalog as quickly as possible. This consistency keeps her audience engaged and looking forward to her next release. Anticipation is built in.
Build a back catalog: With each new release, her back catalog grows. This catalog becomes a powerful income-generating engine—every new book she publishes leads readers to discover her older titles, helps build her email list, and creates a ripple effect in sales.
Evergreen content: Mary focuses on genres with long-term reader interest, such as fantasy or romance. This way, she ensures her books have lasting appeal. Rather than follow trends which quickly fade, every book she releases has the potential to earn income for years after publication.
Write a Series: Writing a single book and expecting it do well can be a disappointing experience. The gold is in creating a series of books, starting with a free lead magnet. Each time another book is added to the series, Mary sends an email to her list announcing the book.
So many of the authors I’ve talked to who are struggling (and the pleas for help on Reddit and Facebook) involve a stand-alone book (and a weak marketing plan).
Leveraging Paid Advertising & Email List Building
Mary’s book promotion engine approach to self-publishing takes into account that marketing is just as important as writing. With multiple books and a quick release cadence, she can afford to spend money on advertising.
A 3-pronged approach:
Paid advertising: Instead of relying on inconsistent organic growth, she invests in ads on platforms like Facebook and BookBub. Targeted ads reach readers who are more likely to buy her books. She uses her email list to drive traffic to her latest releases as well as older titles.
Email list: She leverages paid ads and her organic audience to build an email list. She offers readers exclusive content upgrades (like bonus chapters or free short stories) in exchange for the reader’s email address. As the list grows, it becomes her most valuable asset—whenever she has a new release, she can promote directly to thousands of eager readers without depending on algorithms.
Scalable marketing: Unlike social media, which requires constant input for an unexpected return, paid ads and email marketing scale easily. Once her ads are set up, they continue working for her, freeing up time to focus on writing while the sales roll in.
With Mary’s book promotion engine in place, network effects will take over, regardless of her own social media activity. Her email list also has other advantages, such as beta readers and getting reviews through advanced review copies (ARCs).
Financial Outcomes
Steady, scalable income: With a large back catalog and consistent releases, Mary sees a steady flow of income. Each new book boosts her revenue and her existing catalog creates passive income.
Long-term success: By prioritizing writing and marketing through scalable channels, Mary has created a sustainable business. Her growing reader base and email list ensure that her future releases will continue to drive sales, allowing her to build financial security as an author.
Low Effort Social Media & Sales
Her back catalog is a beautiful buffet of books for readers to choose from. What happens when people buy books, read them, and like them?
They go looking for 2 things:
More books from that author.
The authors social media profiles.
It’s not that Mary doesn’t do any social media. It’s that she doesn’t have to grind so hard.
Amazon has its own ecosystem and its own ad platform. The broader internet also has its own ecosystem.
Just having a bevy of books available brings new people into her social media sphere. Her channels fill up with new social media "friends" as her book catalog grows bigger. With this system in place, she effectively gets paid to grow her social media following.
A Prolific Author
Have you heard of J.R. Rain? According to his bio, J.R. Rain has authored over 200 novels, some with coauthors. At least one of his book series has over 40 books in it alone.
That back catalog keeps working and working and never complains. Some of these books have been selling for over 10 years.
He also has his email list working for him to promote freebies to his list and announce new books, box sets, and promotions.
I used a couple of tools to estimate his book sales and came up with over 2100 sales per month on the first page of Amazon results alone.
That’s not including the rest of the back catalog. It also ignores any of the Kindle Unlimited reads which can often match or exceed the income from sales.
Some of the books are 14 years old and still generating between 50 and 150 sales per month. That’s more than many books get. Ever.
Author B (Jane)–The Aspiring Social Media Maven
Focus: Social Media Presence
Jane takes a different approach, spending significant time:
Crafting and curating her social media presence.
Being active on multiple platforms.
Regularly posting content and interacting with followers.
While she enjoys the engagement, this focus on social media comes at a cost: it severely limits her writing output. Why?
Time suck: Social media requires constant attention and consistency—creating posts, replying, and responding to comments. This takes away valuable writing time, which ultimately slows her publishing frequency.
Small back catalog: Because she spends less time writing books, her back catalog is tiny compared to Mary’s. With fewer books, she has fewer opportunities to sell and less content for readers to discover, which limits her income potential.
Content vs. books: While her social media presence is active, the content she creates doesn’t directly translate into sales. Unlike a book that can generate revenue for years, a social media post quickly becomes irrelevant.
Building an Audience Through Social Media
I’ll bet if you polled many authors and asked about their relationship with social media, the majority would say, “It’s complicated.”
Jane is betting on social media as her primary means of building an audience, but this comes with challenges.
Slow growth: Growing an audience organically through social media is slow. It takes time to gain followers. Even then, many social media platforms limit reach unless your content goes viral or money is spent on ads.
Algorithms: Jane’s success on social media is largely controlled by algorithms, which are unpredictable and can change at any time. Even with a decent following, her content may not be seen by her audience unless she constantly engages and produces new material.
Non-scalable: Social media engagement is not scalable in the same way ads or an email list are. Jane has to be continuously present (or use bots), which doesn’t allow her to free up time to write more books. Her efforts on social media may get her followers, but they don’t directly lead to steady book sales. Vanity metrics such as likes, follows, and even comments do not necessarily lead to sales.
If growing a social media following was easy, there wouldn’t be so many people struggling, and so many coaches and courses on the subject.
Financial Outcomes
Limited income: With fewer books and an inconsistent publishing schedule, Jane’s earnings are not on par with Mary’s. Her income is largely reliant on sporadic sales and book launches, rather than the predictable, growing revenue that comes from a larger catalog.
Long-term limitations: Ironically, focusing on social media over writing hampers her ability to grow her author business. Without a robust back catalog or effective marketing strategies like email lists, her income potential remains capped.
Key Comparisons
Time Management
Mary: Dedicates the bulk of her time to writing and publishing. By focusing on the core activity that drives her income, she increases her output and builds a long-term, sustainable business.
Jane: Spends much of her time on social media, which pulls her away from writing. As a result, her publishing schedule is inconsistent, and her back catalog remains small, limiting her earning potential.
Income Potential
Mary: The more books she publishes, the more sales she can make. Her growing catalog and strategic use of advertising mean her income continues to grow over time.
Jane: With a small catalog and inconsistent releases, she struggles to create a reliable income stream. Social media engagement doesn’t translate directly into sales, making it harder for her to scale her earnings.
Audience Building
Mary: Builds her audience through paid advertising and email marketing, creating a scalable system that continues working in the background while she writes. Her social media audience grows as a result of sales.
Jane: Relies heavily on organic social media growth, which is often slow, unpredictable, and heavily influenced by algorithms. Her audience growth is less reliable and takes far more effort to maintain.
Long-Term Sustainability
Mary: Her strategy of writing and publishing frequently, combined with scalable marketing efforts, sets her up for long-term financial success. The more books she publishes, the more income she generates.
Jane: While she may enjoy social media engagement, her lack of focus on writing limits her long-term growth. Without a large back catalog, her ability to earn as an author remains constrained, and her social media efforts don’t provide the same lasting value as publishing more books.
By comparing these two authors, it’s clear that focusing on writing and publishing, paired with smart marketing, leads to more sustainable success in the world of self-publishing.
Final Thoughts
The contrasting paths of Mary vs. Jane offer a clear lesson: how you choose to allocate your time as a self-published author is a BFD.
Here’s the key difference:
Mary focuses on writing and publishing. This builds a large back catalog, boosts income, and allows scalable marketing through ads and email lists. Her books create lasting value and steady income.
Jane dedicates a lot of time and effort to social media. Her small back catalog limits her earning potential, and social media engagement doesn’t translate into sustainable income.
Key takeaways:
Mary prioritizes writing and publishing: More books mean more chances to earn.
She leverages scalable marketing: Ads and email lists grow her audience while she writes.
She uses social media as a tool, not a focus: She doesn’t let it take away from precious writing time.
The verdict: Mary’s focus on writing books drives long-term success, while Jane’s social media focus holds her back.
Which type of author are you? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Let me know in the comments.