Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hey everyone! Very desperate as by book is drowning out there! Any advice as to what promo has worked for you in the past is greatly welcome. Inheritance

Hi Denise -

A good first step is to get as many reviewers as you can; bloggers are great but even avid readers/reviews sometimes have followings who will boost your visibility with status updates and such. Also welcome reviews that aren't 5-star because - seriously - nothing looks shiftier than a book with 5-10 reviews that are all 5-stars.

Some GR members are always happy to do read-for-reviews so maybe start there and it'll make it easier to get those with followings/blogs to read later on :D

Run a Goodreads giveaway. It's great for exposure, and that's the name of the game right now. People need to know your book exists, and listing a giveaway is a solid way to do that.

EDIT And make it available in ebook format too. I see you only have it as a paperback.

It is available in the kindle store as well. Thanks guys!

Ah, so Amazon just hasn't merged them yet into one listing.

How long does that take, do you know? I have wondered about that.

I've found that passing out review copies is helpful.

I don't remember how long it took, but I think it was right away. Do you have the Kindle edition on GR too?

I expected Amazon to merge the two — Kindle and paperback — but it never happened. So the Goodreads link brings to the paperback right now. So confused that I may have fudged this whole thing up! lol

Denise wrote: "Hey everyone!"

Hey Denise!

I'm not sure if my approach will work, but this is what I'm trying. I'm publishing various short stories before I publish any novels. Some I make free from time to time to boost some interest and some reviews. I realize you already have your novel out, but you could start working on some short pieces, maybe something that goes along with it somehow?

Quoleena wrote: "Run a Goodreads giveaway. It's great for exposure, and that's the name of the game right now. People need to know your book exists, and listing a giveaway is a solid way to do that.

EDIT And make ..."

I have the same problem as Denise getting my book out there. But when I look into the Goodreads giveaway it says no ebooks. Am I reading it wrong or not looking in the right place?

Dwayne wrote: "Denise wrote: "Hey everyone!"

Hey Denise!

I'm not sure if my approach will work, but this is what I'm trying. I'm publishing various short stories before I publish any novels. Some I make free fr..."

Yes, but how do your short stories get exposure? Is it different from publishing a novel?

Amanda wrote: "Yes, but how do your short stories get exposure? Is it different from publishing a novel?"

They're published on Amazon.com. When the novel is ready, I may look into more ways of publishing. Not sure, yet. As for exposure - really, I don't do much. I am fairly active on Goodreads, but I don't talk about the stories a whole lot, only when it seems appropriate.

I'm reading more and more articles stressing self-promotion in general isn't an effective way to make people want to read. Not that I'm surprised social networking and meaningful interactions with readers is better than posting impersonal adverts in random places :)

Dwayne wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Yes, but how do your short stories get exposure? Is it different from publishing a novel?"

They're published on Amazon.com. When the novel is ready, I may look into more ways of pub..."

Thanks. I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing which isn't much too...lol:) Just trying to work and get my name out there. I should have done that before I put my novel out, but hey, I'm new to everything, including self publishing so I really didn't know what to do. I came across Goodreads as I researched.

Courtney wrote: "I'm reading more and more articles stressing self-promotion in general isn't an effective way to make people want to read..."

My few attempts at advertising were miserable failures.

Amanda wrote: "...but hey, I'm new to everything, including self publishing so I really didn't know what to do."

That is one of the main functions of this group: Many of us are beginners, so we get to trade ideas and encouragement and help one another out.

I haven't gone the advertising route yet. I don't have the funds to do that, so I'm going the hard route of free! I find myself enjoying doing what I'm doing now though. Because I find this is my new outlet to get away sometimes since I don't work any more.

Dwayne wrote: "Amanda wrote: "...but hey, I'm new to everything, including self publishing so I really didn't know what to do."

That is one of the main functions of this group: Many of us are beginners, so we ge..."

And I have appreciated it very much. So thank you:)

Denise wrote: "I expected Amazon to merge the two — Kindle and paperback — but it never happened. So the Goodreads link brings to the paperback right now. So confused that I may have fudged this whole thing up! lol"

Wait a few days, because they have so many to take care of, but if by then it's not done. Contact them. I had to do that for both of mine. It was quick after they were notified.

Amanda wrote: "Quoleena wrote: "Run a Goodreads giveaway. It's great for exposure, and that's the name of the game right now. People need to know your book exists, and listing a giveaway is a solid way to do that..."

They only allow paperbacks for giveaways. Have you done the Createspace route? There are other options for print on demand, of course. I went with them because your paperback goes to Amazon as well as B&N and other places, if you opt in to expanded distribution.

No I haven't looked into them. I think I will. Thank you.

OK, messaged Createspace about having my listings be merged. I am willing to give e-reader review copies but have even had issues with finding people.

I have found a little traction using book promo sites. Bargain Booksy, Booksends and Ereader News Today. Each had an initial cost for the add (between $30 and $50), and the book had to be discounted. I set the price at 99 cents. Each caused a bump in sales which paid for the ads, but I also coordinated the ads to run during a kindle countdown deal (enrolled in Kindle Select to do that) so that I could still keep my royalty at 70%. But there are restrictions on how often you can run the countdown deals, so if you decide to go that route, be sure and read the fine print. Of course, these aren't John Grisham numbers, just modest starting out numbers, but it helped me finally get my book into the hands of some people who aren't friends or family. That was a win, in my book ;). Good luck!

A.L. wrote: "I offered my book for free for three days on Amazon and I saw a spike in my sales and reviews. It was not something I wanted to do but after doing some research I found that quite a few indie autho..."

Out of curiosity, A.L., how did you draw royalties from free books?

A.L. wrote: "Hi Igzy. I'm not sure how they calculate it but I remember a blogger mentioning that it's done by free units sold. I didn't believe it at first but I did see a little money that I did earn on those..."

It certainly answers the question for me. Thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it, A.L. :)

I just recently released my book and have been having the same issue. I'm experimenting with different types of marketing and I've found the goodreads giveaway works wonders. My sales have went up exponentially since it started this morning.

How does the goodreads giveaway work? Are you allowed to do it for ebooks?

Jenycka wrote: "How does the goodreads giveaway work? Are you allowed to do it for ebooks?"

I asked that same thing and they said you needed in print only. They suggested createspace which does print on demand.

I guess that's out for me. I'm not printing books.

When my next in the series launches I'm going to put the one before it on for free on Amazon. Just for a few weeks. See what that does to drive sales.

I was thinking the same strategy!

We shall have to compare success rates! How close are you to your next release?

Denise wrote: "How long does that take, do you know? I have wondered about that."

It took three days before they posted my ebook and print copy together. If it's taken longer than that, there may be somthing wrong or unfinished on your kindle account.

Jenycka wrote: "We shall have to compare success rates! How close are you to your next release?"

Not that close. I'm only half way through writing it right now. But when I do I can let you know:)

Thanks. You're smart not to promise a release date. I promised to have a book delivered about five months ago. I'm still not done that one. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances but I'm sure I lost a few readers over it.

I don't think I could. It's hard getting writing done when my girls demand my time for dolls, crafts, baking, playground...lol and a bunch of other things little girls love. Mornings and nights (like right now) is when I get my work done. I would think if you give a brief reason (without giving away what the issue is if you don't want to) that faithful readers would understand. I follow an author who was out for awhile with health issues and now she's back and I couldn't be more excited. She was out for quite a while, maybe a year or more and I was truly bummed. Looking every now and then if she had a new book, promptly disappointed until...bam...she was back! Just a thought.

Hi, all! We're new to this. We just published our first work, which happened to be a play. Happy to be part of the group!

I posted a vague reason on the blog. As long as people read the blog, they likely got the gist of it. If anyone emailed me personally, I didn't mind telling them the basic facts (unexpected death in the family, too hard to be writing a book themed around dealing with death). Those I did tell were understanding about it. Though I guess not too many people are mean enough to be a prick about that.

Since I write under a pseudonym (no, really, my parents didn't name me Jenycka Wolfe ;p), and most of my family does not know what I do, I didn't feel like I compromised the family's privacy.

Amanda, may I ask how old your girls are? You sound like a loving and involved mom.

I'm sorry about your loss. I can see how that would be difficult. I like the name you picked, even if it happened to be your real name:)

My girls are 2 1/2 and 5. They can be a handful. I do cherish these moments because almost a year and half ago I was a full time working mom and I couldn't enjoy my time with them as I do now. Plus I can finally dabble in my passion of writing. Not sure I would have if I still worked. I wouldn't have time.

Denise,

Just a few thoughts: your book has only been out a very short, based on what I saw. You only have one book out (that I saw). In my opinion, the most important thing a newly published indie author can do is ensure their expectations are realistic. The cold, hard fact is that there is not much you can do, except write another book.

There is a central truth to promotion that I feel is often overlooked: the difference between creating success and sustaining success. Those are very different issues, and what you mostly hear about is the latter. No one really knows how success is achieved initially -- no one can predict that.

Yes, you can try various things to get your book visibility and you may see some results. But authors with a single book almost never do well. Further, any effort you spend on marketing your book now will -- at best -- sell one book. If you have 3, that same marketing effort will sell 3 books, giving you 3x the return.

Indie publishing is a long game. My advice is to not seek reviews -- reviews do not sell books very well, especially if it is your first. They can send the message that you have a lot of FB friends, that that can drive readers away. Let the reviews come in naturally -- if they don't, no big deal. Some books sell better with no reviews and with reviews.

A first book is a first step, and it's generally a small step. Your second step will move you farther; your third farther still. It usually take 4+ books to start to gain traction.

I'm not saying to not do self-promotion -- but don't get your hopes up that it will have any immediate return. Don't get downhearted if it doesn't. Don't think you are doing it wrong. Don't be hasty about anything. Think of the long haul.

Focus on writing the best books you can. Focus on what moves you -- not what you assume will move prospective readers, or what anyone else tells you will move them. You have a long time to find success or for it to find you. Don't rush.

Igzy wrote: "A.L. wrote: "I offered my book for free for three days on Amazon and I saw a spike in my sales and reviews. It was not something I wanted to do but after doing some research I found that quite a fe..."

Amazon does not pay royalties on free books. However, because of timing in different markets, you can see a sale when a book is nominally free.

Denise wrote: "How long does that take, do you know? I have wondered about that."

It took quite awhile on our first book. I wrote them and they took care of it. I can't recall how long that was.

BTW: GR giveaways are a mixed bag. For us, it was a complete (and expensive) waste. All we got was people reselling our books online. Other authors report the same. But some report good luck. So try it if you want to, but don't be dismayed if it fails to achieve anything.

Jenycka wrote: "Thanks. You're smart not to promise a release date. I promised to have a book delivered about five months ago. I'm still not done that one. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances but I'm sur..."

Indeed. Promising a release date for our second book was the biggest mistake we ever made.

Jenycka wrote: "Thanks. You're smart not to promise a release date. I promised to have a book delivered about five months ago. I'm still not done that one. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances but I'm sur..."

I had the opposite problem. I have a July deadline but I've finished the book this week. And now I'm worried about publishing before deadline. (There's got to be a way to let your readers know something's coming without specifying a date but giving a window.) I suddenly realized I'm thread-jacking; my apologies. I'll open a new thread later about this issue.

And done. You should see it in the Author Help section.

Jenycka wrote: "I guess that's out for me. I'm not printing books..."

I can't offer substantive numbers, but I have an impression that having a print version helps sell eBooks, even if the print editions rarely sell. (Ours hardly ever do.) It may be one of those clues that an author is "serious". To the extent this is the case, I suspect it varies quite a bit with genre, and thus may not apply in your market.

Rob wrote: "Reviews may not sell books, reviews do get you useful pointers to make your next book better..."

Rob: getting reviews and getting feedback are two different things. There are lots of ways to get feedback and certainly authors should seek them if they wish to improve. So, IMO, the best course is to seek feedback, and wait for reviews.

Owen wrote: "Jenycka wrote: "I guess that's out for me. I'm not printing books..."

I can't offer substantive numbers, but I have an impression that having a print version helps sell eBooks, even if the print e..."

I have decided against purchasing two books because they were only available in e-book form. One was a fantasy novel and the other a book about smoke curing meat. In both cases I recall thinking 'why no print? What sort of fly by night garbage am I getting here?' and was left with the very real impression that it was schlock the author had rushed to market.

[Edit] I should add that I've also found very good books that were e-book only, but that my purchase decisions were influenced by there being only one product listing, and plain or non-existent cover art. As a contributing factor, there being only one e-book edition available helped make the books feel like they'd been rushed.

Haven't done a lot of promotion yet, but I made my book free for a couple of days when it first came out and promoted it on my YouTube channel and Twitter. This has got me some reviews here on Goodreads and on Amazon, but not much else. Also on Goodreads, I've started a giveaway which seems to have done some good in terms of raising awareness of the book. The amount of people who added it "to read" has almost quadrupled since posting the giveaway.

When I have money to spend I might use something like BookBub. I hear Facebook advertising is quite worthwhile too.

I am having a little bit of problem promoting too, but most of it is due to my own stubbornness. Right now I am trying to get bloggers to review it... I set some emails out to reviewers from this http://www.theindieview.com/indie-rev...

Any exposure is good exposure, right?...Well...within reason.

Anyway, I hope you have more luck getting your book out there, Paul.

To anyone who is looking for suggestions on marketing, I would suggest you start with this thread that Riley has put together of all kinds of resources available to you as an author:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Do also keep in mind that not everything will work for everybody and no one here has a single magic bullet. Just keep writing, but also please check the resources thread.