Ruth Cardello's Blog: http://ruthcardello.com/blog/, page 11

Did I mention back loading a book to help sales in the next?

Are you taking advantage of the book descriptions when it comes to promoting your next book?

Why does liking a Facebook fan page help anyone (ok, this one I still don't get.)

How do guest book mailing lists work?

Domain names....which ones and why?

Twitter contests...getting the word out.

So much learned...so much more to learn.  Come on with me on the ride :) 

I sat down next to Annette.  I didn't know that she'd won various writing contest and had several books on the bestseller's list.  Oh, no, had I known that I wouldn't have shown her my writing at all.  She read my three pages and told me that she was going to risk offending me.  She told me that my writing was good enough that she didn't need to be nice to me.  Nicely, and with suggestions that no one had taken the time to share with me before, she showed me where my writing was strong and where it was weak.  I walked away from our talk feeling empowered to learn more about writing.

I've met good writers and I've met good people.  Annette is a wonderful mixture of both.  If you're lucky enough to sit next to her at a conference, you will walk away with a better understanding of the market and inspired to keep trying on your WIP.  Sales didn't come easy to her and that is part of her charm.  She fought for what she has achieved and it has given her not only the ability to savor each success, but also a keen appreciation for how new writers feel.


Check her out on facebook and while you're there "like" her page.  The magical gnomes of promotion say it helps -- although I still don't know how.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annett...

And if you happen to buy one of her many books -- you can do so knowing that you couldn't support a nicer author.

Forever grateful I sat next to her during my first RIRW meeting,
Ruth Cardello

For Love or Legacy went up on Amazon and Smashwords on Saturday night - how did it do?
On Amazon it went from (Sunday #767 on Kindle Store to Friday #181)  (Contemporary Romance #16)  I'm a numbers nut...so I'll share them .....at #767 I had 141 downloads.  Today at #181 I have 1,344 sales.  I've been averaging 200-250 sales per day.   What does that mean in terms of money?  Since the book is $2.99...and the profit at that price is 70%... get about $2 per book.  At this rate, my book should pull in $3,000 for its first week out.  
 My first contest was tiny, but I think it was successful.  I only had 2 entrants in the actual contest but many people wrote to me and said that although they did not want to be in the contest they would promote my book.  Interesting.  Trust me, I'm grateful, but I'm not sure what it means.  Was my contest too complicated?  I going to host another next week and simplify it.  I'll tell you how it goes.

http://www.novelr.com/2011/02/27/rich-indie-writer

I put the book up on Saturday afternoon.  Since then, I've had almost 700 downloads.  Not a bad beginning.  It was enough to put me at #15 in the Contemporary Romance section and #3 in the Hot New Releases List.

So now the real promotion begins.  Those are good numbers, but how do I get the news out to my 150,000 reader base that book 2 is out?

So far I have:Used my social networks
hosted a 24 hour promotion contest
used my website to get the news out
the most powerful help so far came from unexpected places.... connections to people I've met along the way.  Some I've simply enjoyed getting to know...some I've tried to promote as we went along.  
I'm hungry to be in the Top 100.  Ok, I'm hungry for the Top 10.  Can I do it?  For me, I have to believe it's possible or I would stop trying.

brushes via deviant art, and Obsidian Dawn.