Think Things Through

I'm not new to self-publishing, although my many missteps with Running From Herself might lead you to think otherwise. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've seen all my mistakes. What's the point of publishing something called The Failed Author if I'm not willing to own up to my errors? 

The truth of the matter is, before I published this novel, I never took marketing very seriously. I dabbled in it a bit with a couple of my novellas, but deep down I knew there wasn't much of a market for what I was selling. Genre and length both worked against me, much as I tried to deny it at the time.

But with this novel, I needed to go all out. Number one, it's good. Secondly, it's my last; I won't get another chance. So, I'm like a beginner, and I've made a bunch of beginner mistakes.

1. The Cover

If you're broke, save up your money until you can afford a professional book cover. When it comes to selling books, nothing is more important than the cover. I learned this the hard way, and my stubbornness cost me months worth of sales. 

For my previous books, I made my own covers, except for one time early on when I contracted with a couple of different Fiverr designers to create one for my second novel. I paid very little, and the results showed. My advice is to either go with an established cover design company or an artist who works independently whose portfolio you like, and who is proficient in your genre.

I assumed that I couldn't afford to commission a professional cover, because everything I'd read told me that I could expect to pay around $700.00 and up, and there was absolutely no way I could or would lay out that kind of money. It's important to do your own research and not simply take for granted the things you read online. In the end (after several months of practically no sales) I went with Miblart, and my cost was $270 for both an ebook and paperback cover, and I could split that into two payments. For an ebook alone, the cost is $220. 

Especially if you write fantasy, GetCovers might be a good option. It charges $35.00 for both an ebook and paperback cover (and just $10.00 for an ebook). Had I known about GetCovers before, I would have spent $10.00 to have them create covers for my novellas. For my novel, I looked at GetCovers' portfolio a few times before rejecting it. Its covers are too sparkly for my taste and for my genre. GetCovers is the training ground for Miblart, and therefore the quality of its designs doesn't in any way equal the work that Miblart does, but depending on you genre, GetCovers will likely produce something better than what you can do yourself. 

These are just two affordable options. There could well be others. Again, research is key. Don't, like me, automatically assume you can't afford a decent cover.

2. Advertising

An author can approach marketing in a few different ways:

• Buy a handful of inexpensive newsletter placements from what I refer to as the "animal" promo sites (BookDoggy, BestBookMonkey, etc.) at around $10-$20 each for a one-day placement.
• Try the somewhat more expensive sites, such as BargainBooksy and Fussy Librarian. 
• Purchase a Facebook or Amazon (or a BookBub) ad whose cost is pre-defined by the author, but will run at least as high as BargainBooksy or Fussy Librarian, and probably higher..  
• Buy a promo from FreeBooksy to generate free downloads. 
• Go the completely free route and only advertise on social media. 
• Or you can do them all or mix and match.

For this novel, I did all of them and more. I neglected to take the time to develop a strategy.

Don't do it my way--think things through. In hindsight, I would have focused on where the readers are. Forget the small outfits; adding up all the money I spent on those little promos, I could have spent more on worthwhile places. 

No matter what people say about Facebook, and I dislike the site for personal use, Facebook has a lot of book consumers. My initial hesitation with them was that I knew nothing about how to create an ad. But there's a lot of help out there, if an author looks for it. So, Facebook should have been my primary source for advertising. 

Another component I overlooked was Kindle Unlimited's potential. How that ties into an ad is pretty simple--just make sure you include it in your ad copy. Almost all the revenue I've made from this novel was derived from KU reads. 

Some authors claim that Amazon is their best avenue for selling. I belatedly placed an Amazon ad, but I didn't know what I was doing, and it failed miserably. As with Facebook ads, I should have taken the time to study the process. If I was to do things over, that's exactly what I would have done, and done early.

If you decide to go with book promotion sites, this is my advice: 

An indie author's first step with any book promotion site should be to subscribe to its newsletter. The newsletter will provide insight as to whether your book is a good fit. Which genres are heavily featured? What is the most common price point?

One sure sign that a site is not right for you is if it doesn't offer your genre (hello?) That probably won't be a problem for most authors, but it definitely was for me. A couple of times I was so set on advertising with one of those sites (because experts said it was a good one) that I squeezed my novel into the "next closest" genre. Don't do that; it will produce zero results. Readers are attached to (usually) one genre, so they won't want a book that's clearly not that. You'll be throwing your money away.

One should also be able to readily locate a site's newsletter subscriber numbers. There are many tiny book sites, some of which are genre-specific, and often their subscriber base is tiny as well.  

Be aware that the pricing for everything on the list, except for what we call "the big three"--Facebook, Amazon, and BookBub--is for a one-day placement only. 

As far as choosing which day(s) to run your ad, this is what Google says:

According to marketing and sales data, people are more apt to shop online for books on

weekends, especially Sundays

Weekends have a higher purchase rate: A 2014 analysis of Kindle downloads showed that while slightly fewer people opened book alerts on the weekend, those who did were more likely to make a purchase. The top three days for paid Kindle downloads were Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday, in that order.

Sundays are a top day for book buying: As a key part of the weekend, Sunday is a popular day for online book shopping, possibly because people have more leisure time to read and browse for new material.

Weekend shopping is genre-dependent: The day of the week can be influenced by the type of reader. For example, some may prefer to shop on weekends, while others, like bored office workers, may do most of their browsing during the week.

Mondays can also be strong: Some e-commerce data indicates that Mondays have high traffic and sales across various industries, including some book sales. This is attributed to shoppers catching up on online activity after the weekend.

Sales can be affected by publishing schedules: Publishers have historically released new titles on Tuesdays, which can also influence consumer behavior and draw customers to online retailers on that day.      

3. Time and money wasters

• book bloggers
• writing contests

Every author's goal is getting reviews (preferably good ones). A book blogger with a large subscriber base seems like an option worth pursuing. But it's almost as difficult to grab a book blogger's attention as it is a bookstagrammer's. Both are inundated with requests, and 99% of the time, they'll simply ignore you. 

There are lists online of book bloggers, and I wasted too much time, a) sifting through them all to find out if they reviewed my genre; and b) filling out contact forms. In the end, I received a positive response from one person, plus one rejection (unless I was willing to pay, which I wasn't). I actually forgot about that positive response--I wonder if she ever followed through. While I'm someone with a lot of free time, I still regret wasting it on the book blogger route. At least it cost me nothing in terms of dollars.

On the other hand, writing contests...I think at the time I fell into this trap, it felt to me as if I was actually doing something, as opposed to sitting and waiting for an ad to show results. And I'm admittedly a bit of a gambler. I thought, hey, my book's just as good as any--who knows? It could happen.

It didn't.

At least I wasn't foolish enough to enter the high-buck contests (they all charge an entry fee), but those dollars I did spend added up. What even got me started down this road was reading an article by an author titled something like, "Think Writing Contests Aren't Worth It? Think Again". Well, I'm thinking again now, and my conclusion is, that author is a liar. Aside from not paying for a professional cover design, writing contests are my biggest regret. Don't fall for the hype.

4. Reviews

Because I had a bad experience with ARC readers in the past, I didn't solicit any for this novel. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have done it this time, either, even knowing the dearth of reviews I've ultimately received. 

But most authors aren't like me. Their experience with ARC readers would likely be a positive one. And having reviews, especially upon a novel's release, gives buyers "permission" to take a chance on your book.

You can either look for ARC readers via social media or pay a place like BookSprout, BookSirens (which rejected me three times), or other pay sites. 

My only advice regarding the pay sites is, first learn which genres are popular with their members. BookSprout, for one, is heavily weighted toward romance; I don't know about the others. I used BookSprout for one of my novellas, and got maybe six takers and three reviews. Take a look at the sites as a reader initially. A reader's experience is far different from an author's. If you go directly to the author section, the site will fill your head with grand promises.

Voracious Readers Only is another ARC site, which will find you twenty readers for free, and more if you buy a package. I used it for Inn Dreams, got tons of takers and no reviews. But if you go for the twenty reader option, at least it'll cost you nothing.  

 

These four elements are the biggies. My excitement in publishing my novel overtook my good sense. I dived in blind, because I was so eager for people to read my story. We artsy types have to resist our natural inclinations and try, for once, to be cold, impersonal businessmen/women.