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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Myth Busters: 
Anyone Can Market a Self-published E-Novel with Wild Success</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>

</b></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> There
are actually two myths I want to cover in this post, but the first one is
short.  Here is one of the most
common questions that hopeful new writers ask of the loudly vocal gurus touting
the miracle of self-publishing:  </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“If I
am a totally unknown writer, how do I market my self-published e-novel?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
answer these poor folks receive from the vocal gurus always makes me bang my
head slowly on the desk. Here is the very helpful answer that is always given:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Marketing?  You don’t need to worry about
marketing.  Just write the best,
most fabulous novel you can and put it out there. It will find an audience.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ugh.
Horse poop.  Piles and piles of
horse poop.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This
answer is so absurd that it barely warrants a response.  If you are a completely unknown writer,
no matter how fabulous your novel might be, how is anyone going to know it
exists?  Any writer with two brain
cells that can actually fire at the same time should be able to reason that
much.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moving
on to the topic of marketing . . . There are a number of online sources that
claim anyone can market a self-published e-novel with great success.  JC and I are in a “better than most”
position as we have a pretty well established readership built up over the
last decade plus. Our official NobleDead.org website had 10,500 hits in the
past thirty days and has been climbing steadily over the last 5 years. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">JC
markets the pants off of our “Tales from the World of the Noble Dead” over there,
and he has built us an automated social networking system; everything we post
on that site goes out to some twelve different social system satellite
pages/sites that he has set up. This of course includes Facebook (#TheNobleDeadSaga)
and Twitter (#NobleDeadOrg), as well as Google+, Squidoo, Pinterest, Delicious,
and more. And all of those satellites are linked on our site along with
automated share systems for visitors to help us out.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">However
. . . our entire marketing base consists of built-in Noble Dead fans. This has created
both a driving force and some limitations on what we write for our indie titles.  We would LOVE to find a way to break
out of marketing to only our built in-fans (even though we are extremely
thankful to them).  So, lately,
we’ve been doing a lot of research in this regard, but I’ve seen the same
advice everywhere . . . and much of it offers a total avoidance of reality.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From
this point on, I’m going to switch gears and approach this from the viewpoint
of a brand new novelist with no fan base at all.  Here is the advice given over and over and over in every
book and every online site I’ve read:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Anyone
Can Market a Self-Published E-book with Wild Success!  Here’s How . . .</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>1) Create your own
blog and begin building an email list from that blog. </i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>2)
Write "guest posts" on other people’s related blogs to tap into their
existing audiences.  This will
allow you to rapidly build a fan base. </i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>3) Use the email
list you’re constructing to begin marketing your book before it is even published.</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>4) Use social media
like Facebook and Twitter to let everyone know about your self-published, e-book.</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By following these steps, your book will have a built-in
audience before it is even released! </i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>

</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Okay . . . this is Barb chatting again.  Can anyone point out a few problems
with this glistening advice?  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Regarding #1:  First,
if you are a complete unknown, how do you get people to visit your blog and
express interest in signing up for your email list?  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Regarding #2: If you are a complete unknown (novelist), how
do you convince others to let you write a guest post on their blog?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now . . . I can see this working if you have knowledge or a
skill that is a strong running thread in your novel.  For example, if you’re well versed in martial arts, and your
novel contains a good deal of martial arts, you might know some folks running
blogs on various martial art practices who would allow you to come in and talk
about the novel (fiction) that you’ve written.  I don’t know if this will get you any sales, but you can see
what I mean.  If you’ve included any
skill (or knowledge) that you possess in your novel, you might be able to tap
into #2 above.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But what if you’ve just written a basic dynamite fantasy novel—and
you’re otherwise unpublished?  How do
you convince people running blogs to let you be a guest?  I’m not sure.  I think it’s certainly possible (if you can come up with an
angle), but it’s not as easy as these “how to” people seem to suggest.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">#3 can be somewhat perilous, so do be careful.  At first, that list is probably going
to consist of your Grandma Bea, your brother, Henry, three of your first
cousins, and a few friends from high school.  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Most people don’t
like spam.  It takes ten times as
much work in the long run (according to J.C.) versus building a functional,
automated social connections system off of that same blog. Any blog worth its
weight should have an RSS feed that your readers can subscribe to, so they
don’t need you loading up their inbox.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">#4 though makes a
good deal of sense, and it probably should be the first thing you do.  Work smarter, not harder, especially if
your work isn’t quite yet making you enough money to pay for all that extra
time in which you should be writing your next great novel.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Please don’t misunderstand me.  With this post, I am NOT discouraging anyone from
self-publishing.  I’m rapidly
becoming a huge fan of self-publishing. 
I’m just asserting that marketing may be a tad more complicated and
elusive than what you might be told going in . . . and please ignore any
hogwash from the gurus telling you that you don’t need to worry about marketing
at all.  Again . . . ugh.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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