Support for Indie Authors discussion

Good morning all,

I am in need of some advice. Last March, I published my first book entitled, M.C. I Am My Brother's Keeper. It is a story about an American Vet who returns to Houston, TX and soon after, finds himself involved with an outlaw motorcycle club. The book has received very good reviews 50 "5 Star" on Amazon, 25 "5 "Star" here on Goodreads with 4s and 5s and several other sites as well. The book has even gotten the attention of two Hollywood movie studios who have contacted me about a possible movie deal. Sounds great right? Well, I am in the process of completing the sequel but I can't figure out how to get book sales moving. All total, I've sold a little over 500 copies since publishing and I simply don't know how to get the title out there so people can find it. I have a website, I use Facebook and Amazon but my resources are limited. I'll take any advice offered.

Thanks,

C.j.

Moved to marketing. You seem to be doing well by the numbers you just gave. Much better than the average author, but you'll find this question asked several times over in this folder. I suggest reading through some of the pinned posts and keeping in mind that results will vary.

As Christina says, you appear to be doing quite well! There is a wealth of info here, but [repeating] what is effective varies from book to book. You seem to have gotten some good traction, and you have a sequel coming out, which is the best marketing. Best of luck building on your success.

I would recommend that when you release the sequel, offer the first book permafree. I take it you are self published? Go in and update the first book's back matter with a sample from the second book and a link to the second book's sales page so they can buy as soon as they finish.

Given that you deal with vets in the book, have you tried reaching out to vet organizations? Also look into book clubs. A lot of military spouses have them stateside. They may be interested.

Check out podcasters who focus on veterans and offer to come on the show and discuss the book.

Reach out to local radio and TV. Most love military stories, or any way to bring the people's focus on vets.

Just a few humble tips from an author who is not doing as well as you! Congrats!

C. j. wrote: "Good morning all,

I am in need of some advice. Last March, I published my first book entitled, M.C. I Am My Brother's Keeper. It is a story about an American Vet who returns to Houston, TX and soo..."

If indeed you are being contacted by movie studios, I'd ask them for some literature and information about them specifically, as well as hire a lawyer to look over any potential contract.

A lot of people would try to be a hero and read contracts and negotiate for themselves. However, contracts will have funky wording in order to throw you off purposefully. It's a lawyer thing so you have to hire other lawyers to decipher it.

All that said, you seem to be doing really well. The truth is there is only so much you can do. Investing in the right marketing materials would probably help. This could be in some new graphics on Facebook, maybe a good book trailer, consulting with someone who does social media marketing.

Just scroll through your Facebook newsfeed and see how many times you can spot the word "Sponsored" under the pages name. If all of this is Greek to you, then you know where to start next.

If anyone had the right answer then they probably wouldn't tell you for free. The Joker had a point, after all.

Good luck!

P.S.

If those Hollywood studios are legit, that would be my next move. As much as everyone likes to pretend they loved Game of Thrones and the Hunger Games, or hated Twilight before it was cool to hate Twilight, the truth is, by in large (don't bite my head off if you're the exception) those books didn't gain blockbuster notoriety until they were adapted for TV and film. It could be your books don't explode until that happens.

Again, this is where you don't want to be macho. Hire a lawyer. Know what you want out of a contract, research the pitfalls of other authors, and go for it. That's the dream my friend! No one would turn their nose up at a movie deal without at least looking into the offer first.

So cool! I'm excited and happy for you!

Thanks everyone for the input advice, I truly appreciate it.

C. j. wrote: "Good morning all,

I am in need of some advice. Last March, I published my first book entitled, M.C. I Am My Brother's Keeper. It is a story about an American Vet who returns to Houston, TX and soo..."

One addendum:

When dealing with Hollywood, try to keep in mind that these are the people who took Sony for a two or three billion dollar ride!

Do not hire just any lawyer. You will need an experienced entertainment lawyer or agent if you wish to avoid a similar ride.

You might also read a few books on the subject, such as
The Writer Got Screwed by Brooke A. Wharton (an entertainment attorney). It's a different world when you're dealing with people who can take in a billion dollars at the box office but show on paper that a film was a loss!

Good luck.