After the high of knowing I accomplished my goal, I hit a
very low, well…low. I had just spent a
month doing nothing to market my books already published, and my sales numbers
suffered – big time. I am finding it
hard to get back into the whole sales aspect, not to mention one of the most
difficult parts of writing (for me, anyway) – editing. And the crap I churned out in November needs
a lot of it.
But in retrospect, November was good for me. I learned what writing habits work, and what
don’t, and most importantly, I was able to set a writing schedule and stick to
it. Now, back to the daily grind. For all of you Twain Wannabes and new self-publishers,
I want to share what your first steps should be:
1 – Write a good book: Already you’re thinking I know, I
know. But if your book hasn’t been
edited, by a professional, or at least a critique group – it’s not ready. My book has been through both, and people
still find a few mistakes here and there.
Wow – did I just admit that? And don’t forget to spare the expense for
good cover art – a note about my experience with cover art here.
2 – Get on Goodreads.
This can be done even before you self-publish. Write reviews, join groups, make friends that
are interested in the same genre as you.
These people will eventually be your followers and fans; some of your
first buyers, even. That is after your
grandma and best friends bought all their copies. There is a great podcast by Freisen Press
introducing you to the basics of Goodreads, and an awesome blog series about
Goodreads by Robin Sullivan, small-press publisher.
3 – Follow some people.
Twitter is a good place to do this.
My favorite, most helpful tweeters for self-publishers include @tonyeldridge,
@novelpublicity, @elizabethscraig, @annerallen, and @bookbuzzr.
4 – Do some giveaways.
A good place to start is with I am a Reader, Not a Writer, who almost
constantly has a blog hop giveaway happening, and makes it very easy on you to
sign up (quick note – you will need a blog or website to do this….ok so
backtrack – step 3.5 build a blog or website).
Giveaways are a great way to get the word out and to get some reviews
under your belt. My giveaways usually
promise the second book in my series for free if the reader posts a review and send
me a link by a certain date. I have had
great responses to this tactic. And
either I wrote a very, very awesome book – or the reviewers are kind because
they are grateful they received a free copy – or both. Yes, I
did just admit that. Oh, by the way,
Goodreads has an ebooks giveaway group run by the great Coral Russell.
5 – Send out review requests. See the post by yours truly about querying
book bloggers. This is an all-important
step to boosting the visibility of your product.
6 – Write another good book.
Just remember: series sell, singles – not so well. Totally made that up just now. It probably won’t seem so clever when I
re-read this post in the morning. But it
is true. Multiple books out on the
market all promote each other.
7 - ??? If I could
figure out how to insert a bigger question mark, I would, but it is getting
late. This is the step in which I
currently reside. Welcome. During the next few months, in addition to
the time I spend editing, of course, I plan on doing some research. Finding out what works with Amazon
algorithms, exploring Goodreads more in depth, strengthening my author
platform, buzzword, buzzword, buzzword – and I will post all about it. Stay tuned!
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