Posts
We're not trying to sell our books in yesterday's market.
"Everybody Says" and "Conventional Wisdom" - they are always two to five years out of date.
Amanda Hocking used twitter to great results. Now, Twitter is a tidal wave of BUY ME!!!
When everyone is shouting, no one is listening.
John Locke was the pioneer of 99 cent books and buying reviews to pump up interest.
Now. Amazon counts a 99 cent sale as HALF a sale,
and of course, buying reviews has cheapened the impact of ALL reviews on Amazon.
Hugh Howey and others made an impact on serialization and Wattpad.
https://www.wattpad.com/
Now, tons of authors are trampling over one another to post there,
bulging readers' inboxes with announcements that a new story has arrived.
"But I am posting my first novel in the series so they will buy my second."
Ah, no, they will just wait for you to post the second FOR FREE in your hope to entice them to buy your third in the series.
TAKE EMAIL LISTS:
Yes, there are a lot of email list service providers out there:
http://email-marketing-service-review.toptenreviews.com/
THEY are still making money off of AUTHOR EMAIL LISTS.
Authors? Not so much.
HEY, MY BOOKS SOLD GREAT OFF MY EMAIL LIST!
SOLD. Past tense.
You may have hit while the market was still green,
and you have built up loyal followers like Amanda Hocking and John Locke.
But today's reader has an inbox bulging with newsletters
that she or he has little time or inclination to read
as they are as personal and engaging as a politician's handshake running for re-election:
Earnest and solicitous ... and hollow requests for money.
"But they are part of my market, otherwise they wouldn’t be interested in my free offer."
Maybe or maybe they were just drawn to the FREE PART.
"But they have given me permission to talk to them about my books in their email inbox."
Yeah ...
have you ever given a cigarette, lunch money, a lift a few times to an acquaintance
only to have it become a dreary eternal situation?
BUT WHAT DO WE DO?
Like Hugh Howey, Amanda Hocking, John Locke ...
YOU WALK DOWN NEW PATHS
You experiment on something you have come up with yourself.
How often have you looked at a novel idea and groaned, "That is so simple! Why didn't I think of that?"
BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TRY, THAT'S WHY.
It is human nature to want things handed to us ...
but those things are all SECOND HAND without the fire of newness.
All the ingredients are there all about us.
We just have to look at them in a new light, mixing them up in different ways.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WE COULD DO NEW TO MARKET OUR BOOKS?
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ReplyDeleteThis is a question I'm constantly asking myself. I'd love to find some unique way to get myself out there, but it seems like everything is overburdened with others with similar strategies in mind. I do have a sort of YouTube idea, but that would be a huge learning curve and I have no idea if it'd even get any attention. I guess it's worth it to learn and try. Wouldn't hurt, I figure.
ReplyDelete- Madilyn Quinn @ NovelBrews
I did book trailers for a time. In fact, I would still be doing them, but my friend, Wendy Tyler Ryan, became too ill to do them. :-(
DeleteGo for your YouTube idea and run with it. Let me know how it works for you. :-)
I think book trailers are pretty cool, if done right! It's not my idea, but I could probably try and do that. I have a few friends that know how to do all the editing stuff and my brother has a really good camera I could probably use.
DeleteHm.
But yes, if I can get the idea all worked out and give it a try, I'll let everyone know how it goes :)
If you have a book worth reading, you really should never give it away or sell it cheap.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate that people have to attract readers. However, when you give something away, people do not hold it's value. Surprisingly, I do not know or have read what the writers you mentioned above have written.
I'm not the sort that purchases on recommendations or marketing. However, I read a lot. Some of where I read blogs is to come across a good book. I am more of a nonfiction person but I do read fiction. The other thing writer's should recognize is that readers often have a to be read stack. They may only get to that freebie.
Soon, I will be publishing THE NOT-SO-INNOCENTS ABROAD -- I was thinking of offering one of my print books for free for each person who buys my new one within a certain amount of days. It is just a thought. :-)
DeleteGood to hear from a reader for a change.
It changes so fast, what worked yesterday doesn't work today.
ReplyDeleteMelanie Schulz is trying something new combining video and her story.
I've always wanted to do a graphic novel. Maybe one of my books as a graphic novel might take off. Who knows?
I was told that my ebook, END OF DAYS, would make a great graphic novel -- but only if the artist who did the 12 interior illustrations did it.
DeleteOuch! She could barely do those 12, much less an entire graphic novel. :-(
I like this post a lot. It's refreshing to be reminded that there isn't only one path of how to do something even if it would be a lot easier if there was.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any specific new strategies for marketing yet. I do know that I want to keep two things in mind as I formulate my plans
1) I don't want to attract and reach readers who aren't earnestly interested in my books. I want to reach and attract readers who are excited to read them.
2) My readers are not doing me a favor by reading my books. I have done them a favor by writing it for them. That is why readers buy books, not authors buy readers.
You have a point: do you think Neil Gaiman or Stephen King feel their readers have done them a favor by reading their work?
DeleteIf you Google Neil Gaiman's reply to a critic of George R.R. Martin for not writing the next book quickly enough, you will see he feels much as you do. His short answer was: "George R.R. Martin is not your b---h." Then, he diplomatically explains his position.
Taryn, my email address is in my profile I believe. If you give me your email address, I will send you the free code for a free audio download from Audible for THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT. :-)
The best thing to do to market a new book is to release another book...
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I don't know what the newest breakout trend is or will be.
Neither do I which is why I asked. :-)
DeleteI'm going to put a sign on the side of a blimp and fly over the Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteSounds expensive!:-)
DeleteThe only idea I came up with that worked got me banned from Amazon for a while. I did about 400 Amazon book reviews, and attached a product link for my books to each review. This resulted in a tremendous amount of sales. Readers could not shop for science fiction without seeing my books, too. However, there was a backlash. Some readers who get angry and violent over this sort of thing complained. Amazon shut me down for a while, and I'm on probation forever. But, because I was the first, it was a great launch.
ReplyDeleteProbation forever? Ouch!! I've read of this in one of those how to make it big with Kindle books but researched and found Amazon took a very dim view of this practice.
DeleteWow! Probation for life? I hate that, Walter.
It's okay. Wearing an Amazon ankle bracelet isn't so bad. I can muffle the signal underwater.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about getting one of your books formatted for the Nook or iPad?
DeleteI signed an exclusivity agreement with Amazon because Barnes and Noble Nook sales were not measuring up, and I wanted to take advantage of Kindle Unlimited marketing. Kindle applications are enough.
DeleteNow that I have a Kindle Fire, I am learning that there are so many bad authors out there. I'm trying to read some of these books I get offered at low prices but I just can't. For a reader, it is becoming very difficult to know what is good and what is not out there. It's become way too much for me to handle. Right now I'm reading American classics. And I stopped writing reviews. This is not to say that I wish you all the best. It's beautiful to keep writing under all this adversity. As a reader though, I just don't know what to do to help.
ReplyDeleteInger, just enjoy yourself. I love my Kindle Fire ... especially for the audiobooks I can listen to on my blood runs.
DeleteSpeaking of which, I worked 12 hours straight today!! Ouch!
Say a prayer and I will be happy. No reviews necessary. I don't have that many any way. :-)
Meant to say: I wish you all the best. (those tiny little letters in the comments place, made me miss my error) So all the best to you guys.
ReplyDeleteHi Roland - it's getting a base going isn't it and constantly adding to that base or structure, and then pushing to branch out. We need to establish ourselves and open as many doors as possible .. local, talks, papers, newsletters for others etc etc ... Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteMy base seems to be shrinking! Thanks for staying my friend.
DeleteYou're right: I need to go exploring new avenues to meet and greet potential readers.