It's that time again. Insecure Writers Support Group meets once a month online where writers share and encourage each other. IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex
J. Cavanaugh Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. And thanks
to this month's awesome hosts Nancy Gideon, Bob R Milne, Doreen McGettigan, Chrys Fey, Bish Denham, and Pat Garcia!
There is nothing like the euphoria of having a new book
released. Whether it’s your first or fifteenth, the feeling is the same. You do
a happy dance, shout “whoo-hoo” to anyone who will listen, kick back for about
ten minutes, then it’s back to work. Nobody knows about your brilliant book—except
friends and family—unless you tell them. So it’s promo time.
Now some people liken promotion to going to the dentist. It’s
a necessary but onerous chore. I see it as part of producing a product. You may
have the world’s best invention, but if people don’t know about it you aren’t
going to have many sales. Although I find the Go Daddy commercial obnoxious—the
one with the woman and her family doing a happy dance because she got her first
sale that wasn’t to family—it’s on target.
Did you know there’s a secret to effective promotion? No?
Well, no one else does either. We try Twitter, Facebook, blogging, websites,
Pinterest even. Does any of it work? Who knows? Since I’m self-published, I can
go to all the vendors where I uploaded my book (Amazon, B&N, Kobo,
Smashwords) and see how many books sold that day, week, month. But what
influenced a reader to buy the book? Word of mouth advertising works best for
me as a reader. Remember when booksellers did that? “If you like so-and-so
author, try such-and-such. Wouldn’t it be great if people who really like our
books, shouted it all over the internet? Maybe that’s what reviews are for? Ya
think?
The upshot is we do our best, some DIY, some paid
advertising. We cross our fingers and hope.
My euphoria is starting to wear off after a week plus since
the release of THE PROTECTOR. I’m not flying quite so high. Still levitating a
couple of inches off the ground, though.
Here’s the blurb for my newest science fiction romance:
After tavern owner
Rissa Dix rescues two girls from a slave ship, she must rally the townsfolk to
prevent traffickers from returning. Mining heir Dillan Rusteran has loved her
for years. Little do they know that by rescuing more children they're tangling
with a trafficking ring that puts Rissa in danger.
The Protector is available at Amazon B&N iTunes Kobo Smashwords
Click here to
find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s
blogging today.
I really hate promoting my book, even though I know it's a necessary evil! I was super excited when I found out someone bought my book in America (I'm in the UK) because it meant someone outside of my family had heard of it. I find it very difficult to continually promote my book - it's fine for the first week or so, but then I can feel myself starting to lag. It's also very discouraging when you promote your book but you don't necessarily get any more sales from that promotion. But like you said, the most we can do is keep going and hope for the best :).
ReplyDeleteRachel, you are so right. Very discouraging when you don't see a difference.
DeleteCongrats on your release! I used to dislike (and feel insecure about) marketing and promo-ing. But it's absolutely crucial. No one can buy your book unless they know it exists. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lexa. I used to feel awkward promoting my book. I pretend I'm doing it for someone else. :)
DeleteHi Diane,
ReplyDeleteI can understand how you feel concerning promoting your own book, but first, congratulations. Nice to see that you have gotten so far. Science Fiction is not my genre but I love to read romance, so I am going to give yours a try.
I also have a book review blog and will write a review once I've finished it.
All the best and don't give up.
Shalom,
Pat Garcia
Thanks, Pat. And thanks for co-hosting this month. I would sure appreciate a review. I hope you enjoy The Protector.
DeletePat, email me: dmburton72@gmail.com Thanks.
DeleteEnjoy the euphoria - you deserve it! I haven't been fortunate enough to get to the promotion stage yet, but I've worked with authors on the other side of the exchange, and I can see the sheer amount of work and man hours involved. I can see how it must get tedious as times, but it's a necessary evil. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bob, and thanks for co-hosting this month. I know I can't rest on my laurels. LOL But I'm having a lot of fun right now. All that insecurity I wrote about last month will return.
DeleteI think the trick is to have an excellent product. The rest will eventually take care of itself. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from Elements of Writing
Thanks, Anna. I sure hope you're right. :)
DeleteCongratulations on your release!!!!! I feel bad that I didn't know about this already.
ReplyDeleteI like promoting for about the first week after a new book comes out and then I start to deflate when I see the sales aren't as high or not many reviews are coming in. But I continue to promote heavily for the first 2-3 months. There's no right way to promote and no way to know what truly gets someone to buy our stories.
Thanks, Chrys. You are so right. There's no right way to promote.
DeleteCongratulations! And, yup, promoting is my least favorite thing to do. Most of the time I feel like I'm promoting to other writers when I need to be promoting to readers. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bish. When you figure out the best way to promote to readers, let us know the secret. :)
DeleteCongratulations! And, yup, promoting is my least favorite thing to do. Most of the time I feel like I'm promoting to other writers when I need to be promoting to readers. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteLooks like this came in twice. I'll take double congrats any day. ;)
DeleteCongratulations! That euphoria is well deserved...enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI've spent the morning rewriting marketing copy that I had paid someone else to write. Grrr...I was sure someone else would write better, more sparkling copy than I could, but I was wrong. Lessons learned. I'm planning a spring release, so I'm working on pre-release promotion, trying to get better at marketing my work.
Thanks, Nadine. An expensive lesson. Good luck on your upcoming release.
DeleteI feel like I don't quite know how to market my work. I feel like it's hard to tell actual readers about it. Most of my blog readers are other writers.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new release!
Thanks, Michelle. Writers are readers, too. But I know what you mean.
DeleteHi, Diane,
ReplyDeleteALL the best with your new book.... I could only imagine how exciting and how stressful it is to self publish... But the works speak for themselves and word will get around. Can't keep a good book down!
Thanks,Michael. Love your last sentence.
DeletePromotion is tough for me. I am shy enough not to even tell my family that I have a new book out. Sometimes it's a wonder I sell any! LOL
ReplyDeleteI totally understand, Patricia. It's hard to sell ourselves. I'm getting better at it. With family & close friends, I post once that a book is out.
DeleteI have certainly gotten a lot more outgoing since that first day I had to step out of my writing cave and actually talk about my book in front of people in real life. I was terrified! If you would have told me four years ago that I would love promoting myself and my books I would have laughed but I really do enjoy it now.
ReplyDeleteIt does get easier, doesn't it? :)
DeleteCongrats! Word of mouth is still the best way to spread news about anything. With all else, we just throw the spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane. I really pay attention to what my fellow writers say about books.
DeleteCongrats on the new release! I like the cover and the title.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any promo experience... yet... but I think word of mouth is extremely powerful.
By nature, I'm not a sales person, so the thought of having to market/promote my book one day is quite a frightening prospect.
Frightening for me, too, Michelle--esp. at the beginning. It's like anything else, the more you do something, the easier it gets.
DeleteCongrats on your new book release!! I agree with the comparison of book marketing and going to the dentist. But as you said, no one will buy your book if they don't know about it, so you have to get the word out. I wish I knew the secret. Keep doing those happy dances! You've earned them!
ReplyDeleteLori, thanks so much. We just keep trying to get the word out. We never know what sticks.
Delete