Support for Indie Authors discussion

I published my first novel about two weeks ago on Amazon kindle and sales are still slow. I did a Facebook ad and got over 6000 views the first week, but they didn't translate into sales. Has anyone used Twitter ads? What advice can anyone give as far as promotion goes? I have two other books in the series, but I would like to get some readers for the first one before I even think about putting out another one.

Actually, putting out more books is the best way to get all of them read, especially if you do a series. My second book, not a series book, did much better than my first.

Ken is right. The best thing you can do is get more work out there. If you have an x-part series out, don't wait for the first one to gain readership. Get the second and the third and so on out there. Show potential readers you're invested in the series before expecting them to be.

Going to echo a little here, but what they said. It's hard for a reader to pick up book 1 knowing that more parts are to come but not available. It's one thing when it's a huge series like Harry Potter or something, but for for a debut author, it's hard for a reader to have that commitment.

It takes 15 years to be an overnight success as an author.

I forgot who said that...

It wasn't until I published my kindle edition that I started researching how to get my book out there. That's when I realised having more than one book is the key, so I'm working on getting book number two out there asap. If I were you, I would publish number two. I did read of one guy who released his first two books as a buy-one get-one-free and that worked for him.

Besides promoting on social media, you could do word of mouth, contact your local library, and an independent book store. You could consign you book to a local book store, if you have physical copies. Through word of mouth, sales likely will not be in large numbers, but they will be steady. I find this very encouraging.

Thanks all, this is helpful advice for me, too. I was discouraged because of the same thing: I released the first book in my scifi trilogy in late April and while I've gotten a lot of hits and "looks," it isn't selling like I hoped. This is encouraging me to keep working on the trilogy and get Books 2 & 3 out there now.

Thanks so much. I'm glad I asked this question. I thought I would have to wait until 6 months down the road before publishing the second one. Books 2 and 3 are already written, but I need to do another round of edits. I also plan on doing book signings at my local libraries as well as indie book stores.

Do you know http://bookmarketingtools.com?

Go and spend time there. Listen to their how to sell your books podcasts. Download their FREE GUIDE: The Ultimate Author Checklist for Online Book Marketing.

There's some great advice there.

Do you know www.Indiesunlimited.com. It's a super site with an archive of articles which take you through all sorts of things you might want to learn how to do. They have a weekly newsletter too.

When I get stuck on how to do something - I'm a terrible technophobe - there's always help there. They have a great list of good sites to use to sell your books too.

Welcome to the life of an author! :)

Try reading this (it may help with your expectation levels):
http://tlclarkauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2...

xx

Also; there's a 'Best Bang for Buck' thread somewhere on here. It's a question with many answers.

We all seem to get differing results as far as promotion is concerned.
The best I can say is, try low cost/free things and see what works best for you.

All the best of luck.

xx

Thanks P.D.R and T.L. I'll check out those sites.

I put out a short book of short stories to help sell my novel. I don't think it's nearly as good... and the ratings suggest that as well, but it outsells my novel by about 10 to 1. I'd recommend trying something like that but it might leave you shaking your head, like it does me. :)

The best thing you can do to promote your first book is to release your second book, and so on.

Thanks, Dylan and April. Someone suggested the same thing April did. I've already written the other two books in the series, but now I need to edit.

One of the best things you can do is approach fellow authors and book bloggers who are generous enough with their time to interview you. While doing this may not translate to sales immediately, the momentum builds upon itself.

Do yourself and them one better by starting a blog and featuring others too; it benefits you both in the end.

Spread out into social media and don't be afraid to be you. People want your story as much as a story, because that's what it's all about in the end, human interest.

If you go to my book and look-up its' stats you'll not yet see the benefit from the work I've been doing since I published my first book in Dec, however, I watch forums and group discussions, listen, and take notes. It may not make my first book a success, but it will give my second book a shot at it.

Yes, writing--or in your case editing-- your next book is key to moving forward, yet I can also understand the need to spread your promotional wings, learn the ropes, and better your career from it.

Great advice, K.A. Thank you!

You're very welcome! Best of luck to you! =D

J.N. wrote: "It takes 15 years to be an overnight success as an author.

I forgot who said that..."

That, my friend, is so inspiring. sigh.

Check out this guys - I've used quite a few on the list and have my own database of free listings that I'd be happy to share if anyone messages me (thread notifications are a bit heavy so I sometimes lose track).

I LOVE Bookscream, but I'd also recommend against going with Bookbear.

http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2...

I also suggest doing the book cover test when you have a moment. It's really easy to do:
1) Head to Amazon and take a screenshot of the top 100 books (of your genre).
2) Grab your cover's image and resize it to fit. Place it over one of the other book covers and save it (not top line or in the sides of the grid).
3) Show everyone you know the screenshot (with your cover on it). Ask which one catches their eye straight away. If it's not yours, you may want to consider A) how professional your cover looks and B) the eye-poping of your book cover.

Drae wrote: "Check out this guys - I've used quite a few on the list and have my own database of free listings that I'd be happy to share if anyone messages me (thread notifications are a bit heavy so I sometim..."

Thanks for the list!

In addition to the good comments offered above -- especially keep writing and release another book -- two weeks is a very short time to gauge how sales are doing. It takes much longer (I'd opine a minimum of 90 days) to get any idea of how much traction a book is gaining. Week-to-week sales fluctuations don't tell us anything.

Second the 15 years to be an "overnight success". The lucky ones might achieve that in 10.

Andrea wrote: "A bookwhack..."

Bookwhack deleted

I released a novelette first in the hope that it would get people interested. It did pave the way for some interest when I released my first full length in May. The next book, which will be my third, is out in August.

I'll be honest, sales are slow. I thought good reviews and lots of word of mouth would work. It hasn't. I see people say they are going to buy it. They don't. It probably goes out of their heads a moment after they leave the page.

In advance of my new book coming out in August, I'm using my free days for the first book at the start of July and putting links for the second book which will be on countdown deal mid-July. This hopefully gets me a little exposure.

I don't know if any of this will work but I'll let you know how I get on.

Has anyone tried just putting a short story or poem on a website, and seeing if it alerts potential readers to their main book?

I have to say I'm surprised by the number of people suggesting that releasing multiple books will help the first book's sales. For some reason that never occurred to me. I'm still fairly new here but I had the opposite thought thinking that if I release more books now it will cannibalize my initial book's sales.

Am I wrong in this thinking?

I'm inclined to think that if they like one of your books they'll buy another. If you don't have another, they'll move on to another author.

Ken wrote: "I'm inclined to think that if they like one of your books they'll buy another. If you don't have another, they'll move on to another author."

Yeah, that's a good thought Ken. I guess I'm just not used to thinking of promotion; you spend so long on just writing it can be hard to switch gears I guess

These are great suggestions. Thanks.

Eldon wrote: "I have to say I'm surprised by the number of people suggesting that releasing multiple books will help the first book's sales. For some reason that never occurred to me. I'm still fairly new here b..."

Our books don't compete with each other, as Ken says. If people like something, they want more of it. What sells your first book is your second (as is often said), and so on. In fact, the only thing that reliably sells books is more books.

Owen wrote: "Eldon wrote: "I have to say I'm surprised by the number of people suggesting that releasing multiple books will help the first book's sales. For some reason that never occurred to me. I'm still fai..."

Very well put Owen. I don't know how I didn't see that. But you guys are right ☺

Angela, have you heard of a virtual book tour? I've read that these can be pretty successful for gaining readership. I just heard about these and I'm planning on doing one for the 2nd edition of my 1st children's book. If you're not familiar with how to do one of these there are service providers out there who will organize a virtual book tour for you and at a moderate price.

Also, networking with other published authors, who have seen some success, in your genre, specifically, may be a good way to find out what's been working for them to promote their books.

Keep networking here of course because this is SIA and we care so keep us close to your heart!

Lastly, I would think about maybe joining some type of authors' association. So for me because I'm a children's book author, I would join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They have events for authors to network and classes and discounts on marketing tools, etc.

Hope this helps,

Cheers

Any sale is a victory! While having written several books may work in our favor--what do we do in the meantime to carve our little niche in the world? As for myself, I'll be dabbling in a little of this and that: getting my book listed on as many book promo sites as I can, participating in author interviews, garnering reviews, and signing up for a virtual book tour.

May you navigate the waters and stay afloat.

Eva wrote: "Any sale is a victory! While having written several books may work in our favor--what do we do in the meantime to carve our little niche in the world? As for myself, I'll be dabbling in a little of..."

I've never heard of a virtual book tour

Eldon, if you google "book blog tours," a list of sites will crop up. It basically involves signing up for one of their package deals that may involve doing a series of author interviews, a guest blog post, book promotion blurb - you get to choose what venues you'd like to focus on, and the number of weeks you wish to tour on the Internet.

Here's a reference link: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/0...

Eva wrote: "Eldon, if you google "book blog tours," a list of sites will crop up. It basically involves signing up for one of their package deals that may involve doing a series of author interviews, a guest b..."

Thanks for the info Eva; that sounds cool ☺ Have you had success with it before?

Christina wrote: "Angela, have you heard of a virtual book tour? I've read that these can be pretty successful for gaining readership. I just heard about these and I'm planning on doing one for the 2nd edition of my..."
Christina, I actually did a virtual book tour a while back for my first book - non-fiction. I did it with one of the groups I belong to, and since those authors didn't have much traffic, it didn't do very well, but it's something I plan on doing again with my novel. You mentioned author organizations. I belong to ACFW and recently listed my book on Fiction Finder. Thanks for that link, Eldon. I'm learning so much here.

Hi Angela, that was actually Eva's link...so many thanks to her for the info!!

Hi all. I published my first three novels through a small publishing company only to find they were keeping 90% of my sales, not editing, or marketing my books.
I now have an agent, who is asking me to be patient while he seeks a larger publisher. I left my first publisher because I was selling books, but wasn't making a profit. Now, I'm considering self-publishing. This idea seems to work for Jamie McGuire and Colleen Hoover, but I know I am no where in their realm.
Maybe we can find a way to market one another? We could each tweet about another authors book, or mention it on our Facebook pages. All it takes is word of mouth to get a book in the hands of readers.
Any takers? If you want to try this, you can email me at [email protected] or visit my author page: michelleareaux.com

Hi, Angela!

I just launched new book on 6/3. What I did was use a lot of smaller promotion sites that were either free or very cheap. I post these and my thoughts about them on my site here: https://authornancyglynn.wordpress.co.... My best one was Reading Deals that gave me 23 sales and almost 1000 page reads; that cost $15 and was well worth it. Also, I noticed you have yours at regular price of $3.99. For visibility purposes, I'd bring that down to 99, as that's the only way these promotion sites will take you anyway. I put excerpts on my blog and have garnered follows. I've sent out a newsletter through Mailchimp. But price is the biggest thing right now. I'll be going to regular price of 2.99 after Sunday when promotion deals are finished. I've pretty much had sales every day or page reads. I've used LibraryThing for ebook giveaways and for review exchange, still waiting on a bunch to come through. I've contacted bloggers who got their reviews up when I published. I'm running a Goodreads giveaway right now until the 30th, which is getting me on some to-read shelves and follows. So many things you can do. Hey, I'm still learning too and making mistakes, but it's all part of the ride. :) A ride I never want to get off. Good luck!

Nancy

P.D.R. wrote: "Do you know www.Indiesunlimited.com. It's a super site with an archive of articles which take you through all sorts of things you might want to learn how to do. They have a weekly newsletter too.

thx!

Nancy wrote: "Hi, Angela!

What I did was use a lot of smaller promotion sites that were either free or very cheap. I post these and my thoughts about them on my site here:"

thx!
Drae wrote: "I LOVE Bookscream, but I'd also recommend against going with Bookbear.

http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2..."

thx!

thx for the practical knowledge!