|
Angela Kay Austin
|
 |
« on: February 07, 2012, 03:52:41 PM » |
|
Do anyone have any great tips for promoting your books that are efficient and economical? Blogs, ads, interviews, conferences.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Nathan Lowell
|
|
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2012, 04:35:21 PM » |
|
a well constructed blog tour could prime the pump. plan it out over a few weeks and maybe give away a copy with a contest in each place.
i never buy ads.
i'll do interviews if asked, but seldom seek them out.
i go to conferences, but mostly so i can fan-boy with the names i admire.
my best advice is grow a strong social media presence. it'll take a year or two to bear fruit, but it works. i went from zero to 20,000 fans in five years. You'll need to find the tools and channels that work for you and only you can figure that part out.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
My other ship is a solar clipper! Visit the Trader's Diary to learn more. Parrots don't buy crackers. |
|
|
|
Alain Gomez
|
|
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2012, 05:16:36 PM » |
|
Never pay for ads. I've tried pretty much everything out there and it's always a gigantic money suck. Work on blogs, Twitter or Facebook. As Nathan said, become a presence on the internet.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
scslawin
Status: Dr. Seuss
 Offline
Posts: 44
|
|
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2012, 05:29:57 PM » |
|
Independent book authors/publishers usually struggle with the marketing aspect of selling their writing. That's quite common. After all, these folks are usually literary types, not marketing gurus. I have been fortunate to have had a leg in both realms, publishing and marketing. I suggest you take a long hard look into what is known as a "sales funnel". It will be a very useful investment of your time.
Paid advertising can be very, very lucrative, BUT you absolutely MUST know exactly what you're doing or you're going to end up blowing serious money on an effort that brings you little or no return.
Personally, I don't blog, don't have a Facebook page, and I don't use Twitter.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Krista D. Ball
|
|
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2012, 05:31:25 PM » |
|
a well constructed blog tour could prime the pump. plan it out over a few weeks and maybe give away a copy with a contest in each place.
Every time I do a blog tour, someone dies or something bad happens. My 21 year old cat died suddenly (well, as suddenly as a 21 year old cat can die), my mom had her leg amputated, a childhood idol died, the dog was peeing blood all over the floor...I can keep going. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
MeiLinMiranda
|
|
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2012, 07:33:09 PM » |
|
The only exception to the no-ad policy I make (after a disastrous foray on a major ebook site beloved here) is Project Wonderful and Goodreads. Targeted correctly, they're both cheap and effective.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Wren Emerson
Status: Lewis Carroll
Offline
Gender: 
Augusta, GA
Posts: 187
|
|
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2012, 09:16:44 PM » |
|
I'm holding a contest to name characters in my upcoming sequel and choose a witchy magical power for one of them. I'll post the results as a Facebook poll and encourage people to have their friends vote on their suggestions. It's just for fun and I don't think it'll actually sell any books, but I do hope it'll increase the number of fans I have on my Facebook page (so far it actually has, so yay!) and create rabid "super fans".
I'll be giving away copies of my novel and it's sequel to 4 winners and their friends. Ideally, they'll feel invested in the story since they had a hand in creating it. And I'll have 8 new loyal readers who will help get my books out there because they feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in what they've helped with. And who will, hopefully, be ready to buy anything else I write in the future. I think that 8 dedicated fans would be worth a hundred casual readers in the long run so I hope that this works out as well as I hope.
Since my blog is more of a writer's blog than a reader's blog, I decided to try to sweeten the deal for my indie friends by offering each winner a little room in the acknowledgments to explain the significance of the name they've chosen and a link to whatever website, blog, or book they want to plug.
We'll see how it goes. So far I've gotten a lot of great suggestions. The powers will be especially interesting because I'll have to work that into the story somehow and it might change some of the scenes as I've got them outlined right now.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
LisaGraceBooks
|
|
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2012, 09:27:00 PM » |
|
Every time I do a blog tour, someone dies or something bad happens.
My 21 year old cat died suddenly (well, as suddenly as a 21 year old cat can die), my mom had her leg amputated, a childhood idol died, the dog was peeing blood all over the floor...I can keep going.
Maybe you just need to apologize to Julie or modwitch so they lift the spell... |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Krista D. Ball
|
|
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2012, 09:44:31 PM » |
|
Maybe you just need to apologize to Julie or modwitch so they lift the spell...
*nod* |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dilber MC Theme by HarzeM
