Adventures in Marketing: My Latest Effort

There are times I wish that someone had told me that writing my book was the easy part - the hard stuff came with the marketing.  Obviously, some people are more adept at coming up with ways to sell their novels than others.  You can put me in the "others" category.   I can't say that I enjoy marketing. I'm one of those people who wish I could devote all my time to writing and leave the marketing to some sort of magical marketing minions.  But since that's not going to happen - I decided to try something a little different.

I published my novel (Of Dreams and Shadow: Forget Me Not) at the end of September, 2013.  Since that time, I have promoted my book with three virtual book tours and I have been pleased with the exposure.  In March, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of a virtual book tour - I choose to use a three prong approach.  

First, I did a little research.  There are a lot of sites that promote books.  I looked for sites that I felt were a good fit for my novel and then went to Alexa to check their ranking.  I considered the number of visitors to each site as well as the cost of their promotion packages. 

I chose:

1. eBook Soda  

2. StoryFinds

3. Young Adult Promo Central

I set the date to begin my attack:  Thursday,  March 27, 2014

I lowered the price of my book to 99 cents (Thursday - Sunday)

I asked my family and friends to help me get the word out by sharing links on facebook, etc.

The morning of the 27th arrived.  I went to my Author Central page and checked my ranking; it was humbling to say the least.  My novel was ranked 250,914 among all ebooks and 26,785 among teen ebooks.  

StoryFinds listed my book on their daily specials.  (This cost me $20.00)

At Young Adult Promo Central, I was the featured author. I shared a post, book trailer, book blurb, etc.  (I purchased their Gold Promotion - $25.00.  The normal price of this promo was $50 but they are running a sale.)

eBook Soda featured my book on the email list.  (This was free.)

I shared the links to StoryFinds and YA Promo Central as well as eBook Soda on twitter, Facebook and Google+ communities.  

By Friday morning, my novel had moved up in ranking.  Among all ebooks, mine was now ranked at 30,293 and among teen ebooks - it was ranked 1,551.  At lunch time, my book had peaked at just over 1,300 in teen ebooks.  

On Monday morning, I checked my Author Central page again.  My novel was ranked at 22,893 in all ebooks and 2,323 in teen ebooks.

Now, I will be honest - I don't know which site generated the most sales but I do know that people visiting YA Promo Central were actively engaged due to the stats I saw on my blog.  I also think  some sales came from people who saw the "shares" of my family and friends. 

Total Cost of the Promotion:  $45.00  

I wish I could say that this was the marketing effort that sent me to Amazon's top 100.  But even though it didn't, I was pleased with the results.

Beginning:    all ebooks  250,914   teens:  26,785

Ending:        all ebooks   22,893    teens:   2,323

I would think this approach would work with a variety of sites and genres.  It is important to find sites that are a good fit for your novel.  But you can't stop there - you have to enlist the help of others to spread the word.  I hope this is helpful.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Marketing! 





 

The Promo Plan

Marketing a novel isn't cheap.  However, not marketing doesn't work either. In November, December and January, my novel was on different virtual tours. Each tour was one week long.  Each month, I saw sales. In February, I took a break - no online promotions - What I learned?  Promotion matters - a lot. Because when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, I'm an unknown quantity. I've published one novel - and its not on the best seller list - not yet, anyway.  Like it or not, those tours helped - but they cost money.

Having learned my lesson, I have already made my promotional investments for March and May. Which brings me to April.  April's budget went the way of the dodo bird...  But I still need to promote. So, I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a way to get a little more exposure without appearing to be one of those "Look at Me!" peeps who flood social media with tons of self promotion.

The Objective:

On April 17th, my novel will be on sale.   In order for my promotion to work, I need exposure.

The Question:

Are you looking for a way to promote your novel without breaking the bank?

The Plan:

Create a community Blitz.  

Example:  If 5 authors participated, then each participating author would chose the day they wanted their blitz.  On that day, each of the other authors would share the designated author's post.  This would give each participating author one day of multi-blog promotion.  Each host would not only share the designated author's post on their blog but also in Facebook & G+ communities as well as Twitter. An added benefit is we get a little break from having to come up with content ideas for our blogs because we'll have guest posts! And finally, it won't cost anything but our time.

It is important that any authors who participate follow through with their commitment to promote the other participants.   If you are interested, please let me know - I'll be happy to coordinate the effort. 

**I write Young Adult novels - as such, I may have visitors to my blog who are under the age of 18.  For this reason, I won't be able to host any Erotica.  Sorry!

Results from December Book Tour

Last week I shared the results from my November book tour.  This week, I thought I'd share the results from my December book tour.

My second virtual book tour was with Bewitching Book Tours.   It was scheduled from December 9-16.

Bewitching Book Tours specializes in promoting Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, however, they will consider other genres.

Of Dreams and Shadow: Forget Me Not is a Young Adult Paranormal novel.  I thought this tour might be a good fit for my novel.  Hindsight being 20/20, I'm not so sure.  While the owner was extremely helpful, several of my hosts seemed to have a preference for Vampires/Werewolves and steamy romance.

I was scheduled to for thirteen stops over a week.   Of those thirteen stops, two hosts did not participate. Of the eleven hosts who did participate, only two read and reviewed my book.  One of the two shared her review to Goodreads.

With this tour, I again chose to do a giveaway but instead of offering a copy of my novel (as I did with my November tour), I offered a $20 Amazon card and a $10 Starbucks card.

Before I go any further, I have to point out one of my tour stops.  Books Direct really tried to promote my book.  Throughout the week and into the next, Books Direct repeatedly tweeted the link to my novel. The site has an author listing where to my surprise, I found my name along with my social media, trailer, and purchase links.  Books Direct offers to list books, etc and are well worth checking out.

Like all things, prices may be subject to change but I paid $40 for my tour.

I monitored my sales for the week of and the week following my tour - and I didn't notice an increase in sales.  I did pick up 12 new followers of Twitter, 14 new likes on my Facebook Author page and 51 people added my book to their "to be read" shelves on Goodreads.  I had a total of 1,150 entries in my giveaway.  From my perspective, I was able to make contact with 1,150 potential readers.

On a side note:  

On December 14th, I participated in a local Winterfest craft show.  The show was scheduled to run from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  The cost for a table $35.  The weather was cold and rainy.  Foot traffic trickled in for the first hour.   For approximately 2 hours, foot traffic increased and then dropped as the rain picked up again.  By 2:00 I was packing up for the day.  I sold 13 books in two hours under less than ideal conditions.  There is a lot to be said for local craft/art shows and festivals.  

I will be going on tour again at the end of the month.  I'm looking forward to visiting my hosts and hopefully getting a little interaction with the readers.

The Results From My First Virtual Book Tour!

A while back, I mentioned that I was going to be conducting an experiment of sorts - basically I wanted to see whether or not a virtual book tour would help with the sales of my novel.  When it comes to marketing my book, sometimes I feel as though I am throwing everything at the wall and hoping something will stick.

Like most "indies," I work a full time job, have a family, etc.  I had to consider how much time I could devote to a tour.  I had to consider my budget.  I wish I could say that my novel is on Amazon's best sellers list and that my budget was unlimited, but that's not my reality.  I decided to schedule several one week tours - one per month. 

There are a variety of blog tours from which to choose.  My novel is Young Adult Paranormal.  I say that - but I will admit that most of my readers have been adults.  I looked at tours that seemed to target some of the groups I felt would enjoy my book.

The first tour I selected was Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours.   I scheduled the tour for November 18-22, 2013.  (I know - right before the holidays... maybe not the best timing!)   For $40.00, I was guaranteed five stops and a review at each stop.  The owner was very helpful.  She answered my questions in a timely manner and coordinated a rafflecopter giveaway.

When I first published my novel, I set the price for the e-book at $3.99.  As time went on, my sales slowed.  I decided to lower the price of my novel to $2.99 just before the tour.

The results are as follows:

As promised, I received five reviews - most of which not only posted their reviews to their blogs but also to Amazon and Goodreads.

I choose to giveaway a $25 Amazon Card and a signed copy of my novel.   406 people registered to win - so I figure 406 people were exposed to my marketing attempt.

I picked up 8 new likes on my Facebook Author Page and approximately 50 new followers on Twitter.

15 people added it to their To Be Read List on Goodreads

My total sales for the week of the tour and the week following:  0 sales

If sales were the only thing I measured the success of my tour - than I'd have thought this one a failure. However, my reviews were good - most being 4 and 5 stars (I did have one 3 but honestly, it was the nicest 3 star review I've ever read)   My social media sites increased in followers.  Overall, I thought the tour was a positive experience.

Have others had better luck as far as sales go?  I don't know.  I did wonder if offering a copy of my book in the rafflecopter giveaway was a mistake.  Afterall, who wants to buy what they might win for free?   With that in mind, I changed up my "prize" for the December tour but that tour is the subject of another post!

On a side note:  While my novel was priced at $2.99, I had no sales.  I reduced the price to $0.99 for a 2 day sale on December 4 & 5.  No sales.  Friday, December 6 - my novel went back to its original price of $3.99 and BAM!  Sales again!  Who would have thunk it?!

Self Published Sunday

If you're like me, you've scoured the internet looking for the best information regarding book marketing. Some experts tout the importance of book reviews while others believe exposure is key. There are loads of writers "spamming" G+ and Facebook communities. For the record, I've "promoted" my novel by sharing Amazon links, reviews, etc. - not that it made much difference.  I mean, honestly, how many of us are even clicking on the links?  After all, it's not like we have unlimited time.  When  we aren't writing, most of us aren't looking for the next great story - we're too busy trying to draw attention to our own works.

That being said, there are links that I do check out.  Why?  Because I've connected with the author. Sometimes, it may start out as a request for an honest opinion regarding a book trailer. It may be a connection made on Twitter.  Either way, I am much more likely to buy a book when I get to "know" the author.  I have found some amazing writers in our self publishing community.

With that in mind,  I have decided to host Self Published Sunday on my blog.  As the author, you can decide:  Do you want to do a guest post?  Do you prefer to share an excerpt of your novel? Do you have a photo that inspired the setting of your story?  This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and your novel to those who might not have found you.

We all need a little time in the spotlight.  It may get us noticed and it certainly can't hurt.  If you are interested in participating, contact me.  

(On a side note - As a writer of Young Adult fiction, I do have visitors to my blog that are not adults.  Please understand, I will have to exclude authors of erotica and those whose works are terribly violent.)

  

It's all about getting noticed!

It's hard to get noticed!  There's a lot of novels out there and everyone is hoping theirs floats to the top. I know - I'm one of those writers.   I thought writing the story was challenging.  I've learned that the marketing and promotion is where the challenge is. I've shared my Amazon link in G+ communities.  I've offered mobi and pdf files in exchange for honest reviews and while I have had some interest, it's not been overwhelming. I've recently asked a Goodreads group to review my book.  

What else can I do?  I considered radio promotions.  Yep, that's not happening anytime soon - way out of my budget.  Local festivals have been pretty good - as long as the fee is reasonable - but if you're paying $150.00 for a table - consider the number of books you'll have to sell just to break even.  I had a book signing that went very well - but again - that was local and there are only so many people in my little hometown.  

So - after a lot of consideration - I finally decided to do it.  I'm taking my novel on a blog tour.  It's sort of an experiment.  My plan is simple.  I chose three virtual book tour promoters.  One for November, one for December and one for January.  I will be touring one week out of each month.  My plan is this:  I will track my sales during the tour, compare them to the sales before the tour, and if there is an increase in sales, I will note how long the increase lasts.  I will also compare the different tours as to which one generates the most "buzz" for my novel.  

If anyone is interested in the final results, let me know.  I'll be happy to share what I learn.