Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

This topic was inspired by another thread. We were talking about why many people shy away from reading self-published books. This brought up the tangential issue that, in many cases, readers don't even FIND self-published books to consider buying them.

This is certainly very true. A book put out by a large publisher gets huge marketing support - tv commercials, magazine placement, and more. We self-publishers have to be more creative in getting our books known.

The book can be the best written masterpiece in the world - but if nobody ever sees it to open it up, then it won't matter.

What are some ways to get readers to reach that "look inside" screen and sample what a book holds?

Lisa

I did a guest blog post about this very issue just a few days ago. It's here: http://sheerak.wordpress.com/

I wish I knew the answer.

Well I for one found that a very strong cover works as a great lure. But being a self published writer, the challenge is monumental. I found that I had to think outside of the box. I found that a cover must tease what the book or story is about. The eye of the beholder is a catching point that cannot be missed.

Another is the description. The description often has a heavy bearing on whether people open a book. I think readers are curious and now with the economy, many seem to be very cost aware.

Another aspect...reviews. It seems that the best and most successful stories/books have good reviews. So getting any reviews certainly helps.

Another great feature is a series concept. It might sound strange, but I have found that by doing a series you build a fan base. And if one story is liked, others will be purchased as well. And the greater the fan base, the stronger the sales. This in turn leads to additional marketing.

I have also found that by giving free copies out, you can draw readers to your series.

Anyhow, those are my thoughts.

Sam -

I admit I don't follow links to external blogs. I would rather the material be posted here, to be read in context. I suppose I find external links of "read my words over here" to be self-promotional and not conducive to the environment we're choosing to discuss the issue in.

Could just be a strange quirk of mine :). I have the same resistance to people who post in the Lulu forum saying "I see you asked a question about self-publishing. I won't answer your question - you have to go buy my book in order to read what to do."

Lisa

Bradley -

Absolutely, I agree that a well done cover that works perfectly at a small, thumbnail size is KEY. Human beings are raised to be visual. It's a part of how our brain works. We click on things that are appealing. We avoid clicking on things that are unappealing.

Especially on Amazon and other systems where the user is presented with a large list of graphic images, the reader is going to scan those and click on something appealing. If a cover is not appealing, the reader will never get to the point of seeing a blurb or anything else.

It's definitely a challenge to create a cover which is enticing at a small size, appealing at a larger size, and conveys important information about the story. However, it definitely can be done.

It can make or break a book's sales. It's well worth investing in.

Lisa

For those of you with non-fiction books, I *highly* recommend considering doing a fresh version for each new year. It’s great for many reasons.

First, you can put a shiny seal on the cover which says “2014” which catches the eye. People like buying fresh material. Next, it means you can do a wave of promotions and announcements for it, to talk about that new version. You can load a fresh version on Amazon and ask Amazon to send a note to all existing buyers to download it. That should wake them up to hopefully find your other books you’ve written, and look at those too.

It means, if the previous version earned a few negative reviews, that this latest version will help offset that. People will see the older reviews and assume maybe they referred to issues with the older version that are now fixed.

Also, the new book should always have promos in it for all your other books. By updating yearly, you can ensure that those promos include all your latest books.

Lisa

Lisa - essentially what I said in the blog post was that trying to gain visibility as an indie is a little like trying to be heard by whispering in a packed stadium. I also said that readers have the ability to promote an indie book they enjoyed far more effectively than we as authors can. It won't have done any good if it wasn't seen by many readers, but it was worth a try.

In our modern world of social networking, it's critical for an author to exist on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and GoodReads. You don't have to love these platforms. You don't even have to like them. You simply have to make a quick post each day to build your fan base. These are channels, and different fans live in different channels. By covering all the bases you reach the maximum number of fans.

The posts need to be helpful and interesting. They shouldn't just be "buy my book".

For example, I have one series of book on low carb recipes. My low carb pages are fairly popular. Each day I post about what I'm eating, recipe ideas, and so on. That way I build a reputation as knowing about low carb. People interact with me and are encouraged by me. That way when I post about a new version of my book they read the post and respond to it. They forward the news to friends.

Building that fan base is absolutely critical in the long term success of your books. These are your "built in marketing team" who not only buy your books but spread the news out in ever-expanding ripples.

I'll also note that if you write in different topic areas you need different pages for those areas so each one can have posts that that target audience is interested in. The posts my low carb fans want to see are often quite different than the posts my wine-drinking fans want to see.

Lisa

Thanks for starting this thread.

@Lisa: I wonder if your approach works better for non-fiction than for fiction. Frequent posting on the book's subject, updates to information, recipes, and so on are part of that all-important non-fiction platform. I'm not sure there's an equivalent for most fiction.

I tried posting on my blog semi-frequently last year when I was out of work, but it never seemed to have much effect on sales or followership. The same on Facebook; my author page has some fans, but that's about the end of it.

When I was building my marketing plan, I found data from MWA that showed that only a small number of readers discover books through websites or social media. I don't know very many civilians (non-authors) who have ever visited an author website or fan page. They mostly rely on word-of-mouth.

My concern is we could (and probably do) have great self-published novels out there that won't see the light of day because the author becomes discouraged with lagging sales and doesn't have a support system given to writers with agents and publishing houses. It is hard to keep the momentum up. The writer then is self-doubting and may not have the energy to keep things afloat. I wish there were a way to support indie authors by placing their work in independent bookstores throughout the world to give buyers that option and the writers that boost. It is energizing to see your book on shelves and know it is being promoted simply because you followed through with the creative process.

It's probably worth mentioning that discoverability is also a problem for trad-pub midlist authors. They get no support from their publishers other than spine-out display on bookstore shelves and have to try to drum up audiences on their own. That's why so many of them are starting to show up in the indie ranks.

A mix of things can be good - facebook, goodreads, twitter (although I am not convinced), google plus etc. Don't just talk about the books, chat about other stuff, share links and articles, comment on posts. It is a mine field and many folks won't touch SPA's but lots will, and hopefully will leave reviews and tell their mates. Word of mouth is gold. Ditto don't behave like a jerk, to an extent you are the brand and there are some who will avoid an author's books because he made a prat of himself over something. Don't comment on reviews, especially bad ones, network but don't spam and really keep your controversial opinions to yourself, or at least not all over the internet. What is posted online stays there and someone will find it. Unless of course you want to court controversy as a promotional tool.

Giveaways can work, author interviews, guest posts, all that type of thing. It is hard to know when promotion over does it or is too little.

Sam wrote: "Lisa - essentially what I said in the blog post was that trying to gain visibility as an indie is a little like trying to be heard by whispering in a packed stadium. I also said that readers have the ability to promote an indie book they enjoyed far more effectively than we as authors can. It won't have done any good if it wasn't seen by many readers, but it was worth a try."

Sam - I would gently disagree. If anything, our modern world has made a self-published author able to appear just as meaningful and "important" as any published author. We have the exact same webpage and social networking ability. Our webpage can appear to a reader exactly the same as a Stephen King webpage, if we want to work on it. We can post just as often. We can build up just as many fans.

It all comes down to using the systems well.

I know many self-published authors who are thriving, and their readers adore them. They authors put in the effort, though. They invest in their websites, their covers, and their marketing. It doesn't just happen.

Lisa

Lance wrote: "@Lisa: I wonder if your approach works better for non-fiction than for fiction. Frequent posting on the book's subject, updates to information, recipes, and so on are part of that all-important non-fiction platform. I'm not sure there's an equivalent for most fiction."

Lance - This approach absolutely works for fiction. I write medieval romance and I have a fan page for me as an "author" of those books plus my modern murder mystery. I post daily about all sorts of things relating to medieval movies, medieval stories, writing in general, and so on. I get interest in those posts, which then draws in readers interested in the books I write.

You can't just post "occasionally" in our modern world. You get forgotten about. You have to post daily. You have to build up that relationship with your fans. That way when your book launches, you instantly get hundreds of sales from those fans who know and like you. They are waiting for it because you've been talking about your efforts and chatting with them along the way. That flurry of sales then drives you up in the best-selling list, which means other people see it to buy it, and the cycle self-perpetuates.

If a site is stagnant then certainly few people will bother going there. But if you're active in Facebook, for example, then all your fans will see your posts because they hang out in Facebook and have their mobile phones getting instant updates. They don't have to come "find you". Your posts are showing up right in their "daily life" and they are interested in your topic area.

So for example if I was posting about sci-fi in my medieval thread, I might not get a lot of interest. But when I post about a cool new medieval movie coming out, and ask what people think, then everybody chimes in. It builds that relationship and "good spirit".

Lisa

Loukia wrote: "My concern is we could (and probably do) have great self-published novels out there that won't see the light of day because the author becomes discouraged with lagging sales and doesn't have a support system given to writers with agents and publishing houses. ... I wish there were a way to support indie authors by placing their work in independent bookstores ... "

Dear Loukia -

If an author is willing to put in the immense effort to create a stellar novel, with all the editing and skill-building that requires, then hopefully they're also willing to put in the effort to get it out to its audience. If they don't want to do that themselves then they can hire someone to do that part - but it needs to be done. For example, authors hire me to do their social networking posts for them because they don't like to do it themselves but they know it has to be done. That same hiring process is done by most authors for covers, launch parties, and all the other components of a book's successful release.

If an author isn't willing to do anything at all to have their book sell, then they can't be too surprised when it doesn't sell.

On bookstores, I suppose I'm a bit burnt out on physical bookstores as being helpful at all. Bookstores are physically small. They can only hold a tiny number of books. They can barely hold a pinpoint fraction of available books. So I don't see bookstores being a thing to focus on except for many a local bookstore promoting local authors.

I'm in Massachusetts and I don't even think about a bookstore in Hawaii showing my books. They're already unable to even hold all the Hawaii author books about Hawaii topics!

So I think online book stores are what to focus on. Those can hold infinite inventory, and your books can be listed in them all.

That's the key. You have to make sure you get your book into every online store possible. Amazon, Lulu, iTunes, Nook, Kobo, SmashWords, etc. etc. Different people use different stores. The more stores you're in, the more buyers you reach.

If you want to be in a physical bookstore, then approach your local bookstore, ask to do a book signing, and give a free copy to the owner to read. Maybe they'll like it. But realize the standards are high and if your book has any issues at all - typos, cardboard characters, etc. - that they won't want to include you on their shelves. They're already having to block out large swaths of perfectly-written books for space reasons. Any new book they take in means they have to "eject" an existing book.

Lisa

Lance wrote: "It's probably worth mentioning that discoverability is also a problem for trad-pub midlist authors. They get no support from their publishers other than spine-out display on bookstore shelves and have to try to drum up audiences on their own. That's why so many of them are starting to show up in the indie ranks. "

Yes, absolutely, Lance. I had my Weddings and Courtships trio of books done with a small publishing house. They did no work at all in terms of marketing. I also couldn't revise the books. The covers they designed for me were pretty horrendous. I had the covers redone at my own expense and had them use my covers instead. When they folded, it was a blessing for me, because now I can redo the books, revamp the covers again, and manage all the promos and other areas myself.

Lisa

A.L. wrote: "... Don't comment on reviews, especially bad ones ..."

I will gently disagree with this one. I comment on reviews, especially negative ones, to get more information. Often the reader ends up being thrilled with my discussion. They feel like they're helping the book get better. I give them credit in the newer release, as being a help in improving the book, and they can end up being my best marketing buddy.

Definitely never, ever "be negative about" a person's post or review, no matter what they say. But I do highly recommend engaging with people who care enough to comment on your works. Those are people who you have connected with emotionally in some way, and often if they care enough about a subject to post, they can be thrilled to know they are making a difference with their words.

Lisa

Lisa wrote: "- I would gently disagree. If anything, our modern world has made a self-published author able to appear just as meaningful and "important" as any published author...."

This is a nice thought, but its simply not the case. I had a chance to sign with a large company about a month ago and turned it down because the contract wasn't satisfactory. It prematurely put up an author page for me under my street name, and its SEO and networking was so good that its easily one of the earliest hits if you search that street name, despite my having been a journalist for 20 years with more than 5,000 articles online.

The big publishers can do everything an indie can, and pay a lot of money on top of that to saturate the marketplace, to pay for positive reviews (most of the reviews you read online are not genuine, despite what you may believe).

If you think an individual can market themselves as well independently as a large book company, you are -- with all due respect -- kidding yourself. Outside of the fact that most of us are relatively introverted compared to social gadflys, we don't have a team of a half dozen people working on our behalf.

THat's why the best-selling indies on Amazon are all cut-rate; underpricing the big companies due to their need to cover overhead is actually the sole advantage we have. (And I will warn people against signing ebook-only deals without reading the contract very closely first, as most are designed merely to put you under a big label's price and production schedule control, not to get you wide release.)

L.H. -

If you personally are not interested in social networking, you can easily hire someone who *is* interested in it.

If you go to Google and search for "Lisa Shea" I believe all top 10 results are me. And it's not that Lisa Shea is an uncommon name. There are millions of us out there. It's extremely common. Still, I have gotten that placement, and I'm just a person. It's because I studied social networking and I know what I'm doiong.

If you've been writing online for twenty years and have 5,000 articles and *don't* have that kind of traction, then I suggest you might want to hire someone to help you. Something isn't set up properly with your website, your Google+ authorship, and other areas of what you're doing.

You absolutely should have already have that kind of traction.

Yes, some authors aren't good at that sort of thing, and that's why you hire on help.

We don't have to underprice big companies. We *can* compete if we're smart about what we do. I know many authors who compete quite well and who get onto the NY Times Bestsellers list.

Lisa

I'll also note that there is a published author, Lisa Shea, who wrote Hula. She was published by Norton and received substantial press. She had the full force of a marketing team behind her.

I consistently show up "above her" with all my efforts.

Lisa

Publishers big and small do not put "large" amounts of money behind marketing authors. How many ads do you see for books? One strength is the ability to offer books to Barnes and Noble and other book stores under consignment- this sort of buy back is cost prohibitive to SPAs. Most publishing dollars support a few well known top selling authors. There is no big secret to topping the list in google searches... The more frequent, newer and linked embedded content comes up with higher ranking. You don't need a team to accomplish that- just a blog and website. The success secret is writing in the popular genres, writing good stuff, and spending time connecting through social platforms like GR and Wordpress.

Raymond wrote: "Publishers big and small do not put "large" amounts of money behind marketing authors. ..."

Really? I was just offered an ebook only deal by one of the biggest publishers in the world, and the amount they were putting into PR was five figures. If the rest of the contract hadn't been complete crap I would've taken it.

I've just put my workbook up for sale, after spending a lot of time and money to get it to the standard of excellence I can stand behind. And now the marketing ... which I really don't know what to do with.

For starters, my workbook is in a lesser-read niche of Christian self-help, with the even narrower stamp of being non-denominational. I don't know how to find blogging reviewers who want to read this genre, nor do I want to spend even more money on one review that might not even be favorable.

I do have a few small connections -- some speakers are willing to sell my book at their book tables, and one pastor wants it for his staff -- but after that I haven't a clue.

Do Google adwords work? How about a Facebook ad?

Ive been told pumping up your likes with a Facebook ad does help---and they aren't that expensive. I would also look for some Christian blog writers or Christian sites where they might review/highlight new books.

Richard wrote: "My major problems with marketing: How to invite readership without feeling really stupid or silly (or both), and without compromising my own principles and beliefs about how technological societies..."

Richard -

Marketing, when done well, should not feel stupid nor silly. The best form of marketing is when you find an audience who craves your work and you let them know it's there for them. Everyone is happy.

Imagine this. Imagine a cat owner has a cat who adores turkey-tuna. She looks high and low for a turkey-tuna food but can't find any. Then you pop up in her news feed with a delicious turkey-tuna product. Her cat loves it! Adores it! The person is thrilled beyond belief that you found them.

This is true time and time again in books. Say someone loves unicorns and clean romance. If your series is all about unicorns and clean romance, they will be in seventh heaven. They are happy you found them. It's like a soulmate appearing :).

So think of it like that. Your audience IS out there. No matter how "niche" you think it is, our Earth has over Seven Billion people on it. A portion of them will love your topic, whatever it is! In our internet-enabled world the idea of "niche" is sort of old. There IS a market. Your task is to let them know you're ready for them so they can enjoy what you have :).

Lisa

Sally wrote: "I've just put my workbook up for sale, after spending a lot of time and money to get it to the standard of excellence I can stand behind. And now the marketing ... which I really don't know what to..."

Sally - Christian self-help is a HUGE HUGE market and non-denominational is even better because you aren't restricted. This is massive.

There are thousands of forums out there where people talk about these topics. Find a few big ones and join them. Participate. Don't just join and say "buy my book". Join and be a good member. Have your bio link explain that you're an author. People will ask you about it and be interested.

Have your own blog and website where you give advice. People will find you when searching for help with issues. They'll find your advice, realize you're talented, and buy your book.

With my low carb content, I have a large site all about low carb. I get hundreds of thousands of readers each month reading my content. They then buy my books. I prove with my website that I know the material - and they buy my books to get more of it in an easy-to-carry fashion.

The best marketing is "natural". It's someone out looking for help with something, finding you as a solution, loving your content, and buying more of it.

Lisa

Raymond wrote: "... The more frequent, newer and linked embedded content comes up with higher ranking. You don't need a team to accomplish that- just a blog and website... "

Raymond -

Just to clarify, the reason I have the top ranking isn't because of newer or link-embedded content. The sites I earn the best ranking on are the oldest ones that have proven their track record.

The very top entry, LisaShea.com, has been online since 2001. I currently have 59,000 articles and photos on there, all done by me. I also have a forum system with 415,000 posts in it.

I just want to make sure new writers understand that maintaining a good Google ranking isn't about quick-fix games. It takes dedication and persistence - but it's worth it.

Lisa

Arabella wrote: "Ive been told pumping up your likes with a Facebook ad does help---and they aren't that expensive."

Facebook changes its algorithm daily, and while having high artificial likes might feel impressive, it doesn't necessarily translate into action or sales. Because of the way Facebook "filters" its timeline, those "not quite real" fans often don't see any of your posts at all. So you're paying for vapor fans :).

The best fans are ones who sign up authentically because they like your writing. Those are the ones who then "like" your posts, see your posts, share your posts with friends and family, and help your overall success.

The more people you can get to see your works and like your product, the better. That's what you want. You want a product that is so good that people love it and want to participate in its success.

Which brings us back to having a high quality editor, to help your inner vision shine out and connect with readers.

Lisa

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Lisa wrote: "Which brings us back to having a high quality editor, to help your inner vision shine out and connect with readers."

Finding a good editor is KEY. I use Cinta García de la Rosa. She's professional, great at what she does (also a Spanish/English translator), and affordable. A good editor's assistance is instrumental in putting out a quality book. I'm no slouch when it comes to editing my own writing (fact is I'm so anal about it I spend three to four times as long editing my work as I do writing it), but no writer should ever rely on themselves or amateurs when it comes to full editing.

Mark wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Which brings us back to having a high quality editor, to help your inner vision shine out and connect with readers."

Finding a good editor is KEY. I use [author:Cinta García de la Ros..."

absolutely agree, a great editor is key to a great book. Even after years of writing workshops and earning an MFA, I learned so much working with a professional editor

I keep debating whether or not I should start an author Facebook page. The thing is, I hate Facebook. I really do, so I'm not sure how effective it would be for me. I love my blog, and I love my forums here.

Judy wrote: "I keep debating whether or not I should start an author Facebook page. The thing is, I hate Facebook. I really do, so I'm not sure how effective it would be for me. I love my blog, and I love my fo..."

I think we often feel pressured to be doing Everything, FB, blog, tweet, GR, etc. etc,.
Everything I read says it's all about relationships. So, if you can build better relationships by focusing on a few things instead of spreading yourself thin, might be the best approach.

Carol wrote: "Mark wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Which brings us back to having a high quality editor, to help your inner vision shine out and connect with readers."

Finding a good editor is KEY. I use [author:Cinta Gar..."

I totally second (or third?) that! Having a good, professional editor go over the manuscript is paramount. The best writers cannot see some of their mistakes, and the input from someone who does this for a living is objective and truly priceless. I found all of my editor's comments to be valuable, as well as her questions and the places where she wondered about the phrasing of a sentence, etc. Copy edits, of course, too, are essential.

If you are not already comfortable on Facebook, I would not begin simply to market a book. Same with Twitter, Pinterest, Foursquare, blogging, etc. etc. Join one of these things for another reason -- to keep up with your kids, to swap pictures of quilts -- and then ease into book.

I am a professional editor, and even I send my edited manuscripts to another editor to proof. It's not worth publishing anything unless it is edited properly, IMHO.

Sally wrote: "I am a professional editor, and even I send my edited manuscripts to another editor to proof. It's not worth publishing anything unless it is edited properly, IMHO."

Thank you, Sally. I totally agree. An objective eye is not a sign of inability or insecurity or lack of English knowledge, but a the professional thing to do. We all of us need someone else to give a good once-over for advice, blind spots, typos, clarity.

Judy wrote: "I keep debating whether or not I should start an author Facebook page. The thing is, I hate Facebook. I really do, so I'm not sure how effective it would be for me. I love my blog, and I love my fo..."

Judy, it wouldn't hurt, just to have another place where people can find you. But, Facebook has made many changes recently, and it has become much less effective for authors. Many people are talking about it. The thing is, Facebook wants you to pay to "boost" your exposure when you're trying to reach people to market and promote your work. If I post something just for fun, it gets a lot of views. If I post something of significance about my book, a blog, a sale, etc. that I want people to look at (especially if there is a link), it gets seen by only a few people. It's very frustrating.

Hi Darlene,
You wrote:
"The thing is, Facebook wants you to pay to "boost" your exposure when you're trying to reach people to market and promote your work. If I post something just for fun, it gets a lot of views. If I post something of significance about my book, a blog, a sale, etc. that I want people to look at (especially if there is a link), it gets seen by only a few people. It's very frustrating."

Yes, that's been my experience, too.
Frustrating. I'm hoping that the Amazon author page, combined with Goodreads Author page and twitter can be more helpful, but I'm really quite new to the whole thing myself...so I'm not sure I know how to do it best.

I think I may send my "Marketing Associates" over to Facebook to try to change their minds.

Actually I have noticed the same thing. Every time I post something bookwise, I get adds on the side telling me to promote.

Na'ama,
I know exactly what you mean. I have had similar results and dealings when it comes to facebook. First off though about boosting, its good to do every once in a while to add followers and get out of a sp to speak 'dryspell'. Some may like your stuff, some may interact with you some may not, its a toss up but you usually get a good amount of likes.

As for what your followers see when you post is based off of how they are following you. Some may like the page but because they didn't click follow posts many tend to not see stuff you may post. This happens to me a lot. I notice when I post a picture sometimes little average views but text posts I can twice as many views. Not sure how that ties in but I am sure it does somehow. Also when I post to Twitter, it shows up on my facebook but no one at all sees it..again not sure why, I'd like to change this its frustrating. Best advice I can give is if you do a boost to add more people tell them to be sure to not just like your page but make sure they are following too.

Lisa wrote: "For those of you with non-fiction books, I *highly* recommend considering doing a fresh version for each new year. It’s great for many reasons.

First, you can put a shiny seal on the cover which ..."

Lisa,

I thought your idea of releasing a new book version every year was pretty interesting. Have you tried this before? It seems like a great idea - I was just wondering if people would buy the newer version.

Justin wrote: "Na'ama,
I know exactly what you mean. I have had similar results and dealings when it comes to facebook. First off though about boosting, its good to do every once in a while to add followers and g..."

Thanks, Justin! Good advice!

For me, self-promotion is difficult. Even when I talk to dear friends about my book I find that I am downplaying it. The first time I asked my local bookstore to carry Women's Work on consignment, I actually said, "Well, it's sort of... well, it REALLY doesn't suck." Fortunately, the owner (who is a friend) just smiled and told me I have to do better than that. I feel like I'm annoying people when I send emails asking them to read it or add it to their book club reading list. I even feel like a salesperson when I offer free books! This is something I spent years of my life working on, and I'm very proud of this book. It's getting great reviews, but oh! How I wish someone would do the promoting for me!

Richard wrote:
" A big mess for everyone except the text book publisher.[end rant] "

TOTALLY! I have this problem all the time with the children I work with, and whose text books keep changing so that they cannot use those from their siblings or neighbors. And the page numbers do not correspond, while the information basically is the same but it forces the parents to repurchase the book. I think it is ugly, actually. Morally incompetent.

PS I don't mean what Lisa wrote, about having new updated versions, but about ABUSING the new version thing to not make any real changes but force others to buy the new one (as in text books). Regular non-fiction is a matter of choice--you don't HAVE to buy the new one, and it is a marketing thing. It is very different when it is a mandatory book or something like that.

Kari wrote: "For me, self-promotion is difficult. Even when I talk to dear friends about my book I find that I am downplaying it. The first time I asked my local bookstore to carry Women's Work ..."

Hi Kari,
I hear you, and I think that many of us share this difficulty. I know that self-promoting does not come naturally to me, and that it takes a stretch and some personal bravery to do so... This is part of the deal, though, for those of us who are self-publishing and do not want (or have) big dollars to spend on hiring a marketing company to do so for us (it is an option, if you can afford it!).
I think that this is also where authors can help each other and promote EACH OTHER's book. By telling your friends and colleagues and local books store of books other than your own (your own included) that you think are good reads, and by recommending other people's work, we can each help expose other authors--while they help expose us--to readership. Most times, even within a genre but certainly across genres, it is not an outright competition between titles. Good books sell. And if we can help each other, it can be a good thing all around.
I'll look up your book. If you are so inclined, you can look up mine: Outlawed Hope, and then see if you are willing to send it to your contacts and let them know about it.

Also, Richard is right about it taking time. People need to have time to purchase it AND read it, and then they leave reviews or tell others about it, and then other can buy and read and review...and hopefully it ripples out and grows...

Good luck to all of us!
Na'ama

Na'ama wrote: "Kari wrote: "For me, self-promotion is difficult. Even when I talk to dear friends about my book I find that I am downplaying it. The first time I asked my local bookstore to carry [book:Women's Wo..."

Na'ama, thanks for the reminder that it takes times. I always have a backlog of books to read and often own a book for months before reading it. Good to remember that is true for other readers, too.

Carol wrote: [..."Na'ama, thanks for the reminder that it takes times. I always have a backlog of books to read and often own a book for months before reading it. Good to remember that is true for other readers, too.

Hi Carol, it is as much a reminder to myself... :)

Kari wrote: "For me, self-promotion is difficult. Even when I talk to dear friends about my book I find that I am downplaying it. The first time I asked my local bookstore to carry Women's Work ..."

Just remember how hard you worked on the book and put that emotion in selling it. You will be surprised how quickly you begin to promote it.