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What's your best marking tip?
I'm new to this. what kind of book groups do you post on?I have found that if I do a two or three day give away on Amazon, and then start an advertising campaign helps with sales.
Hannah wrote: "I'm new to this. what kind of book groups do you post on?I have found that if I do a two or three day give away on Amazon, and then start an advertising campaign helps with sales."
Hi, Hannah
I post to FB groups that focus on romance novels (my genre), Kindle books, Kindle Unlimited groups, and indie author groups.
So, where do you run your ad campaigns? On Amazon? Or somewhere else?
Do you have an author mailing list set up yet? That's a MUST. If you don't, use Mail Chimp to set one up - it's free and easy to do.
The approach that seems to work best for me is a combination approach, using Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, my Blog to gain profile, and headline ads on The Romance Reviews. However, things only picked up once I had ditched KDP Select and went with Smashwords+Premium Catalog and All Romance eBooks alongside Amazon. It helps to have books in print and in audio formats, also book trailers on Youtube and the excerpts for the audiobooks on Soundcloud - basically, creating as many access points as possible.What has definitely not worked -
any book promo site listings/book blasts/virtual fairs
any paid ads or boosts on Twitter or Facebook
any paid ads on Goodreads
any giveaways on Amazon
Without doubt, Twitter is the single most important channel for me - to gain profile, drive traffic to the website, and advertise new releases.
Alp Mortal
April, I run them on Amazon and Goodreads. Right now I have them paused. It seems as though I made a lot of mistakes with thus first book. It's currently being edited right now, but since I have it with Kindle select, I can't unpublish. I only have a gmail account with a link in the back of my book.
Okay, sorry everyone. I guess my phone is "auto correcting". I need to switch to my computer.
My Second Scifi Novel, The Broken Cage, Hit Number 1 in the Hard Science Fiction category on the Amazon Best Sellers list during a promotion over the weekend for FREE!http://wilseymc.blogspot.com/2015/12/...
This promotion has sales of my fist novel up 800% and will also result in a pile of new reviews. It seem counter productive to give away thousands of copies, but if you are playing the long game, if makes sense.
Mod
Martin wrote: "My Second Scifi Novel, The Broken Cage, Hit Number 1 in the Hard Science Fiction category on the Amazon Best Sellers list during a promotion over the weekend for FREE!http://wilseymc.blogspot.com..."
This is great, Martin. So, by running a free promotion for book 2, sales for book 1 also increased? I imagine the reverse would be true as well. If someone is releasing a new book 2, they could make book 1 FREE, which might also draw readers to both books. I have a book 2 coming out in the spring. I'll try that then.
That is also true. When Book 3 of the series comes out in March I will do a free Kindle promotion on books 1 and 2 and a price reduction on the print editions.
The free offering also help with the number of reviews. I think people are kinder with the reviews if they are free. That's a theory anyway.
Anyway, Free Kindle editions are a great marketing tool.
I released the 2nd in my series on Tuesday and put the first on a countdown deal for $0.99 for the entire week. I saw a big jump in sales, as well as pages read through KU, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will translate into sales of book 2.
I saw a big leap in sales after my non-fiction book, A Rose for Sergei was accepted and featured on Ereader News Today this past weekend. My cost to them was $40. I lowered the ebook price to $0.99, made my money back and then some. As a result my book reached Amazon US #4 spot in: Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Russia. I was very happy with the results from ENT. Now I hope "word of mouth" will kick in - Dwayne's right, a personal recommendation works wonders.
I'm wondering if anyone has a lot of experience with Goodreads ads? I think I saw one comment that it didn't work for them... anybody else? I'm contemplating if I want to run an ad on Goodreads... I seem to get a good response from the Facebook ads though.
wow, that's pretty cool K.....I may look into this
Erica wrote: "wow, that's pretty cool K.....I may look into this"Thanks Erica. It was a nice surprise to reach the Top 10...even if only for one day! Those rankings do change quickly on Amazon. :) I would definitely check out Ereader News Today. I was very pleased with the results.
Jai wrote: "I'm wondering if anyone has a lot of experience with Goodreads ads? I think I saw one comment that it didn't work for them... anybody else? I'm contemplating if I want to run an ad on Goodreads... ..."As they say, it never hurts to try... unless it costs a lot. But if you have the money for it, it might help to set up ads in as many places as possible.
Jai wrote: "I'm wondering if anyone has a lot of experience with Goodreads ads? I think I saw one comment that it didn't work for them... anybody else? I'm contemplating if I want to run an ad on Goodreads... ..."I ran a GR ad, and got one click out of it. You just can't tailor an ad on GR the way you can on FB. My FB ads work great! I have very good results from them.
My number one tip is just to keep writing. It's been said often before, but nothing sells your book like another book. My second tip is that every book is its own animal. What works or doesn't work is quite specific. It takes time to figure out what works a given book, where its potential readers are and what they respond to in a positive manner. And it changes, so what worked last year may not work next year.
Third: understand the difference between getting a new book visibility, especially if it's your first book, and marketing a book that has already gained traction. The techniques for the latter don't apply well to the former. So when evaluating marketing strategies, figure out which case they apply to.
Finally: don't sweat marketing. Writing is a very long game. It can (and often does) take many years to succeed commercially. Remember the guy who said: "It took me 10 years to be an overnight success." Marketing is frustrating (see all the posts in this group about it). It's fickle. There are no magic bullets. Factors beyond our control are vastly more powerful then we are. A great deal of patience is required.
So my bottom line would be this: If marketing is distracting you from writing, you are losing ground. This is the hidden cost to marketing for us indie authors: not the money we spend on it nor the time we devote to it, but the wear & tear it can have on our creativity, our desire to write, and our faith in our own abilities.
So assess that cost. We are all different. But we are authors first. Spend yourself wisely -- you will need that energy when your moment arrives.
I wonder whether any of the indies, believing in their work, had invested a really big budget like dozens of K in promoting their work through TV ads on prime time, beating everyone else on google ads first line, and stuff like that and what impact it had on sales. Who has time or patience to wait for years?-:)
Even if you do spend £$Ks on advertising and marketing, there are no guarantees of sales - advertising and promotion is the biggest single item in my budget - and has been for years - patience is, unfortunately, the key to success. While you're waiting for success, write another book, and another and another ...
Alp wrote: "Even if you do spend £$Ks on advertising and marketing, there are no guarantees of sales - advertising and promotion is the biggest single item in my budget - and has been for years - patience is, ..."Nothing is guaranteed. But it's like any business. Statistics where I live say that 9 out of 10 restaurants are being closed within the first year of their operation, yet hundreds of people invest thousands in opening new ones, believing that their concept would catch, out of which again - 90% would most probably close and the rest 10% - strive.
Books/authors in some respect are also about - branding. I've never read '50 shades of grey', nor seen the movie, but even I heard the name.
If you look at average rating of most best-selling authors, it would usually be around 4, sometimes more, sometimes less. John Grisham's every other book is below 4 stars, Dan Brown's - Digital Firtress is 3, but they are huge names with tremendous sales. Apart from good content, you need something to compete for your place under the sun. Spending big money is risky, no doubt about it, but then you get exposure, for sure. Sitting waiting for years for something that might never come - well, it's economical, I guess -:)
Now, I'm not suggesting to invest/spend anything. It's just - thinking aloud...
Jacek wrote: "Nik wrote: "I wonder whether any of the indies, believing in their work, had invested a really big budget like dozens of K in promoting their work through TV ads on prime time, beating everyone els..."If you know any links to someone sharing his/her experience with massive promo budget, I'd be glad to read... Even the publishers have very limited budgets to spend on debut authors' promotion, so with relatively reasonable sums one can compete, I guess...
I also didn't spend anything on advertising yet. I'm not sure though, I believe in my writing to such extent as to put serious money behind it. So in the meantime, I read reviews that people write about my stuff. That helps making up my mind... -:)
I published my first novel, The Nightwatcher, about two weeks ago and I've been looking into marketing and promotion. So I personally appreciate any advice on the matter. I just started an ad campaign on Amazon so I'm hoping I get some benefits out of that. I've thought about trying the goodreads ad campaign too but I don't know if it's worth it. I'm also thinking about advertising on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Another thing I'm trying is trying to build an audience for myself on Wattpad. I've posted the first three chapters of The Nightwatcher on there, giving people a free sample. I have my reservations about Wattpad but millions of people use it so it's a potential source of new readers for me.
I can vouch for Facebook advertising. I've had great success there. I had no luck with GR advertising.I want to become involved on Wattpad, too. But you really should publish an entire work there, not sample chapters. Free samples isn't what wattpad is for. Readers on wattpad expect to read an entire work there, free of charge. So, you could publish a short story or novella on wattpad, and use that to drive readers to Amazon.
I'm glad some folks are able to do well marketing. romance is popular anyway so not that difficult to break into. I write a variety of genres (that might not help my cause) and after blowing 3k on marketing and only moving 60 books my cost ratio wasn't cutting it. I focus on getting these books done and no longer worry about sales or 'making it big'. not all books are for everyone.
good luck and all the best y'all
Mod
Mod
If you have not read Owen's message, read it. This is why I miss Owen when he's not around. His is always a voice of wisdom.
Dwayne wrote: "Owen wrote: "My number one tip is just to keep writing..."If you have not read Owen's message, read it. This is why I miss Owen when he's not around. His is always a voice of wisdom."
I second that, Dwayne! Owen is my go-to guy for advice. He's amazing! I loved his post above about marketing vs. writing more, and I admit that I have sacrificed writing time to spend time marketing. It's also paid off big time, as my sales have tripled, and I'm pleased with that. But, Owen is absolutely right. Time spent marketing is time not spent writing - and he has a very valid point. But I'm a proactive kind of person, and it's hard for me to sit back and not work on getting the word out. So I do devote time each day to marketing, as well as to writing, and then to all the other things I have to do (like a full-time job, single parenting, too many pets, and a house to run).
I'll try to keep Owen's sage advice in the forefront of my mind, though, and try to manage my time wisely. I just wish there were more hours in the day.
Mod
Aye. And that brings up another important thing to remember about marketing. It's been said before, but it bears repeating. What works for one may not work for others. For me, the things that are working best are to keep pushing out more material and to use a lot of word of mouth. And sales are growing. Slowly, but they're growing.
Marketing 101... let's step back and discuss what marketing is. It's much broader than many people realize. Marketing is the sum total of how the maker of a product addresses the four Ps (there are other ways to phrase this, but this is the most common approach):- Product (what you make)
- Price (what you charge for it)
- Placement (where you sell it, how you distribute it)
- Promotion (how you get the word out and convince customers to buy)
So, as indie authors, we are the makers of our own products. Each of us needs to think about our product and analyze its role in the marketplace. We each have to develop a strategy that best positions our products in the marketplace, reaches our potential customers, and persuades them to consume our product.
As Dwayne said, what works for one of us may not work for others. We each produce very different products. Not every company that makes cars markets them the same way; it's the same for us. Analyze where your "product" fits in the market and identify who your target market is. Then figure out how best to reach them.
We all have to think (carefully and hard) about how to market our books. You can write the very best book in the world, but if no one finds it, it won't do you any good.
Dwayne wrote: "Comment deleted for negativity. This is not the place to lecture everyone to write "good" books. What one considers "good" is subjective. Most of us understand the need for proper spelling and punc..."For what it's worth, I saw that post and didn't view it something to be offended by. I don't know the person who wrote it, so I'm not defending the poster. Instead, I viewed as "constructive input." Just my opinion.
Mod
The rules of our group state that criticism should be requested and respectful. The post was neither.
Owen wrote: "My number one tip is just to keep writing. It's been said often before, but nothing sells your book like another book. My second tip is that every book is its own animal. What works or doesn't wo..."
Great stuff Owen, thank you for taking the time!
I found free promotions work best for me. Paid advertising has yielded some sales but free promos has been my most successful to date.
Word of mouth. Never been into free promos, because it never seemed to pay off. Half the people doesn't read your book anyway, the other half isn't going to buy your stuff even if they liked it.
Owen wrote: "My number one tip is just to keep writing. It's been said often before, but nothing sells your book like another book.
My second tip is that every book is its own animal. What works or doesn't wo..."
Bravo, Owen! Beautifully put.
My second tip is that every book is its own animal. What works or doesn't wo..."
Bravo, Owen! Beautifully put.
Lots of great advice in this thread. My marketing efforts are random and sporadic... I need to develop a plan which doesn't interfere too much with my writing time.
I do spend a considerable amount of time on marketing, but it's paid off. Yes, it does take away from writing time, but I'm a proactive kind of person. I want to get out there and put my book in front of my target audience. It's paying off a lot in the short term, and when I release my second book in March, I will realize even bigger gains because then my marketing efforts will draw readers to two books instead of just one.But remember - marketing is far more than advertising and promotion. Promotion is just one part of the marketing mix. Keep in mind the other three "Ps" - see my post above (product, place, and price). Those three are actually MORE important than advertising and promotion.
April, what does 'place' refer to as one of your three "Ps"
Susan wrote: "April, what does 'place' refer to as one of your three "Ps""Random link at Google (aka http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/): "'Place' is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. It will be more convenient for some manufacturers to sell to wholesalers who then sell to retailers, while others will prefer to sell directly to retailers or customers."
Place = distribution. Where you sell, how you get there, how you get from there to final customer, etc.
Though McCarthy's concept is fairly outdated, especially in this particular field. But I digress.
Mod
Quoting from April in message 33, "- Placement (where you sell it, how you distribute it)."
Susan wrote: "April, what does 'place' refer to as one of your three "Ps""Place, or "placement," in our case would refer to the retailers/venues through which you sell your book(s). For example, do you choose the Amazon exclusive route (i.e., KDP Select); or do you distribute widely through, say, Smashwords, to Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Nook, an author website, etc... You will find plenty of advocates on each side of this question. This is a complex decision with many pros and cons, and results vary by genre, so this is also a critical decision for an author to make.
"Placement" would also apply to how you categorize your book (genre) - whether it's appropriately categorized or not. Also, there's the issue of e-book only, e-book and paperback, paperback only, hardback, etc...
Does this answer your question, Susan?
April wrote: ""Placement" would also apply to how you categorize your book (genre) - whether it's appropriately categorized or not. Also, there's the issue of e-book only, e-book and paperback, paperback only, hardback, etc..."Actually, that's product, not place.
yep, and you've given me something to think about - thank you!
Mod
I can see it working for both product and place. When people are searching for a book to read, often they are searching through a specific genre. Making sure your book is properly marked by the genre(s) it covers will help its visibility.
I guess I might've quoted one sentence too many. I could agree categorising your book in a certain genre might fall for product placement, but choosing between e-book and paperback is a book example of the product mix.
START RANT - I'm ready to put the hammer into the whole thing. it seems to be an exercise in frustration. and even after trying all the "right" things I get told (again) to write "good books", find my "target audience " and write "mainstream " which seems to be (according to what I've researched) is either romance or erotica and caters to the single middle aged Caucasian female or teenaged male. I'd never get far with that... -END RANT seriously though will throwing more money or making my books free make any difference or am I simply wasting my time? writing more books just keep pissing me off with each release. if I made my works according to public opinion it won't be mine and they'd want it free. I have struggled all year with this. some days I wonder what's the point of continuing to try. there's like a million new books every day. how do you stand out above the crowd?
I'll share my top two:
1. I run a daily ad on FB (just $5) that has tripled my sales. I do the "boost post" type of ad on FB. I find that keeping an ad running is much more effective than starting/stopping ads. (Make sure you direct your ad to your most responsive target audience - narrow your audience down by geographic region, gender, age group, and interests.)
2. I post about my book daily on 20 book groups on FB. This is gotten me a lot of likes and newsletter subscriptions, as well as sales.
What are your most effective marketing tips? Let's make a list here in this thread so we can all benefit.