Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hi all,

Looking to get some indie author's opinions on this company, AuthorBuzz.

I started a similar topic about the risk/reward with PR about a week ago, but wanted to see if there were any specific opinions on this site. They associate and cater with some good, reputable publications and websites (Shelf Awareness, DearReader, Kindle Nation Daily)

In terms of doing my own publicity, I'm setting up a local book tour (I'm lucky to live in an area with good support) and I've begun reaching out to local media (just sat down with one local weekly paper today). I want to supplement this by bolstering my online presence, so that's why I'm asking about AuthorBuzz.

Thanks, and as always, I look forward to your valuable opinions.

Eric Farrell
Author, In Through the Out Door - online serialized science fiction
www.ericmatthewfarrell.com

After I saw this it peeked my interest so I looked into it, after realizing you have to pay and then seeing the prices, I think I'm going to pass.

Whoa! The cheapest ad is $750? Can it really do anything that you can't do for yourself by going direct to the mentioned websites?

I am interested in these sites, but not in their prices ! I am yet to try them out and am waiting for reviews. Has anyone tried : http://montecarlosolutions.com/authors/

A.W. wrote: "Whoa! The cheapest ad is $750? Can it really do anything that you can't do for yourself by going direct to the mentioned websites?"

That's really what I'm wondering. As far as I can tell, you can't just query with a print publication like Shelf Awareness and try to swing them to give you free ad space - I know this because Shelf Awareness themselves forwarded me to AuthorBuzz reps. Certain sites or publications outsource their ad space to another company, IE AuthorBuzz.

Look into Kickstarter, I heard a lot about them yesterday. You create a campaign for your book and set the price and if you don't make the goal all money goes back to the contributors and you keep any giveaways.

Justin wrote: "Look into Kickstarter, I heard a lot about them yesterday. You create a campaign for your book and set the price and if you don't make the goal all money goes back to the contributors and you keep ..."

I'm using Indiegogo, but they're both crowdfunding websites. It's really the only way indie writers, artists, musicians et cetera can raise money for their projects. Definitely a valuable tool.

The way I've portioned out the money from each pledge, it would allow me to afford spending money on advertising. From each $25 pledge, $16-$20 is going toward printing two books. The remaining balance from each pledge will first go toward recuperating startup costs, then after that it's just profit. The only catch is, I'm not launching my campaign right away - I'm doing PR to build up readership through my website before launching, so that when the campaign starts I'm guaranteed some pledges.

The dilemma I kind of has is this: I could choose to pay for some advertising as a sort of startup cost, with hopes of getting enough campaign money to make up for it. If the advertising isn't effective enough to garner me readers/pledgers, though, I'm out a hefty chunk of change. Kind of a precarious, risky business choice I have to make.