Book Publicity

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Comment by Neil Ostroff on September 26, 2012 at 12:12pm

ALWAYS WRITING - A blog about the real writing life, making it as an indie author, tips on marketing and promotion, and showcasing the books I write. Please check it out.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Comment by Neil Ostroff on September 14, 2012 at 1:17pm

Good books

 

It used to be that an aspiring author would write a novel and then painstakingly send out SASE’s (remember them) hoping to land an agent. If the author did land an agent, then the author would hope for a publishing contract. If by miracle of miracles the agent actually sells the book, then eighteen months later it comes out in the bookstore (remember those) and the author starts doing a grueling schedule of signings hoping to recoup more money in sales than the advance received. The ebook revolution has changed all that. Sure, there are a lot of people publishing crappy books that they type out in a few afternoons. Some even sell a few copies. But readers are wary of junk writers and Amazon allows a sample to see how the book flows and if it hooks you. All my samples hook the reader and have them wanting to read more (I hope). But now, just providing samples may not be enough to grab an audience. Now, there are book trailers that need to be made and then uploaded to every video site around (I have yet to make a trailer, but know I should). There is Pinterest, and Facebook, and Yahoo groups, and blogs to be written, and sites to upload samples and links. It takes a lot of time to get noticed as a writer these days. And therein lay the secret of success. Writers quick to publish their books are usually people who want the instant gratification of saying they wrote a book without the months or years it takes to write a really good novel (with the exception a few genius writers). These same writers don’t have the tenacity and patience it takes to slowly build up a readership. Those quick-to-publish writers will grow bored of the daunting process of getting noticed and eventually their books will fade from view. It’s almost like a natural selection for stories. Bad books will be weeded out leaving the good. Readers may have to take a little more time finding the gems amidst the dirt instead of relying on large publishing conglomerates to tell them what to read and what’s good for the masses, but they will. I think the birth of indie publishing will change the very core of what a reader can expect in a book. Stories won’t be sweetened up, or toned down, or made politically correct to sell more copies. Good novels will become true works of art and writing will blossom to a new degree of freedom and creativity. And we will all benefit from that.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Comment by Neil Ostroff on August 30, 2012 at 1:20pm

As real as it gets

 

I recently read an article about a company that would give your book a review for a price. They claim that the reviews aren’t biased and the reviewer will be honest if they didn’t like the book. Now, I know hundreds if not thousands of these companies exist so I’m no dummy, but it seems to me that it would be bad business to give an author a bad paid review especially if the author has several books under his belt and may use the service again. This leads me to the conclusion that investing even one penny into these services is not worth it. Now, you may say well, who cares if the review is fake, if it’s favorable it will get more people to read your book. That may be true in the short term (very short term) but will most likely be detrimental in the end. Here’s why. Suppose you pay for ten different reviews that will be sent out across the web. These are, of course, glowing adorations of your work. Now, Amazon has a verified purchase deterrent from these kinds of fake reviews but that’s a whole other animal exclusive to Amazon. What about all the other sites the review will be on? Okay, so you have these ten amazing reviews of your masterpiece that the world is now discovering and reading. Suddenly, you see your sales numbers go up. “Ah,” you think to yourself, “the dream is happening. I’m going to be rich and famous.” And then, about two weeks later sales stop. You wonder why and Google your book to see what’s happening. That’s when, horror upon horrors, you see not only the ten glowing reviews of your book, but also dozens and dozens of bad reviews. So many bad reviews that the ten are eclipsed in a sea of negativity. “I’m ruined,” you think, and hang your head low. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t pay for fake reviews that only trap eager readers who will then turn against you when they realize your stuff is crap (if it is). With my books, I don’t have that many reviews yet but the reviews I do have are one hundred percent real and honest! Not one friend or family member has written anything on my behalf. And you know what? The good reviews keep coming and my sales keep increasing. Just check them out and you’ll see. How’s that for honesty?

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Comment by Brandon Connell on August 18, 2012 at 6:37pm

I need help funding a new book series so I put up a 30 day campaign on Kickstarter. Has anyone funded there for their books? Any tips? The campaign is for my book Lost in Thought. It's at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brandonconnell/fantasy-horror-m...

BTW, the $10 version is a DRM-free PDF if anyone is interested in funding while you are there.

Comment by Neil Ostroff on July 30, 2012 at 1:16pm

Results!

 

The free promotion for DEGENERATES has ended and here are the results. Copies given away to U.S. and Canadian customers is 1,678. Copies given away to U.K. Kindle owners is: 586. Copies given away to all other countries that can purchase from Amazon: 48. Of my other seven books that are for sale right now, during the four day free promotion period I saw sales increase by an average of thirty-five percent. All in all, I’d say it was a successful promotion. Between that promotion and the promotion for AFTER done at the beginning of the month, I gave away nearly four thousand copies of those two books. Though my paid sales for this month are lower than last month, I anticipate a pretty big increase if just a small percentage of my free promotion books draw in new readers. As far as my latest novel IMAGINATION goes, I’m at the one stage in finishing a novel that I hate most; copying my handwritten notes and corrections from the hard paper copy onto the computer file. I find this to be a detestable task that saps my energy and burns my eyes. If only I could pay someone who could recognize my scratch. On the bright side, this stage of my novel writing process indicates that the newest masterpiece is nearly finished. I do believe I will make my deadline of an early fall completion.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Comment by Neil Ostroff on July 22, 2012 at 1:13pm

Author freedom

 

I got another one of those terrifying e-mails from Kindle Direct publishing saying they have discovered INSECTLAND for sale at other online booksellers. And as anyone who publishes through this promotion knows, you have to be exclusive to Amazon.com for 90 days. Violating this can lead to the expulsion of your book not only from the promotion but also from Amazon and Kindle. That would be a huge blow to my market audience of Kindle and Kindle Fire owners. Worried I might lose this book, I quickly checked the stats. I had enrolled the book in early March and had hit the automatic renewal button. It showed a new start date of June 7^th. Fine, I thought, my 90 day exclusive was up nearly two months ago. I have nothing to worry about. Then yesterday, I got another email from KDP saying that INSECTLAND was still on other websites and that it would be withdrawn from the promotion. I was a little flabbergasted and a little pissed. I read the rules and had followed them. I didn’t publish my books anywhere else until I was certain the 90 day period was up losing who knows how many Nook and Kobo sales? I bit the bullet because I believed that KND Select along with publishing for Nook and various other ereaders would turn out to be the best bet in the long run. I didn’t understand what was going on so I decide to post the question of why, after my 90 day exclusive is up that I’m getting my book pulled from the program, on the KDP forum to see if anyone else was having this difficulty. I got two great responses and here they are:

 

If you are enrolled with kdp select the conditions are that they have exclusivity. You cannot publish any other e versions of your book until the 90 day period has finished. By auto renewing you are agreeing to another 90 day exclusivity!

 

You said you renewed? Then you start all over with the 90 day exclusivity. The only way to get out of the exclusivity clause is to non-renew on your bookshelf.

 

There’s the reason. Whereas I thought after my first 90 days were up I’d have free reign to do what I wanted. Finding this out was very disappointing, mainly, like I said before, because I wasted three months on exclusivity instead of marketing to everyone. Though, every author has their own individual goals on who they want to sell to and how, I decided to withdrawal all of my books from the Select program. I want my books out there all over the world and available on everything with a screen. I know not having the free giveaways option may make me have to market harder, but I still think author freedom is worth it.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Comment by Neil Ostroff on July 17, 2012 at 12:57pm

What if your ex-girlfriend is a heroin addicted hooker who needs help with a dead body?

 

PULP

Struggling thriller writer Kevin Turner just received a panicked call from his ex-girlfriend Tina, a self-proclaimed clairvoyant prostitute. One of her clients, the mayor’s married son, died in her bed and she needs Kevin’s help to dispose of the body. As if Kevin doesn’t have enough problems. His current girlfriend is the spouse of the gay woman who signs his meager paycheck, his sixth credit card has hit its limit, he received word that his eight-month wait for his second advance check was being withheld by Gotham Publishing until he made the absurd changes in his manuscript that they wanted, and he just discovered his recently deceased father, who Tina claims she’s in contact with, owes ten grand from an internet gambling debt, which Kevin would now have to figure a way to pay. When Kevin discovers Tina’s psychotic brother has chopped up the body, and the police are finding the pieces spread across the suburbs, it sets off a chain of events more bizarre and horrifying than the plot of one of Kevin’s own novels.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008B7RNFY

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008B7RNFY

Comment by Neil Ostroff on July 17, 2012 at 12:56pm

Meet one of the world’s creepiest serial killers.

 

FROSTPROOF

On a winter night in 2009, Niles Goodman risked his life to try and save a woman and her newborn infant from a terrible car accident, seriously burning his hands in the attempt. The injuries left him unable to work and the financial strain is taking a heavy toll on his marriage. Enter Cody Larson and the promise of 1.5 million dollars if Niles chauffeurs him to Seattle to retrieve a dead drug dealer’s buried cash and narcotics. What entails is a weeklong trip into madness as Cody kills indiscriminately, and then after each murder explains his philosophy behind the slaughter. He calls it the frostproof. He believes he is the antichrist and will soon rule the world, until their hellish journey takes an unexpected turn.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0083WSXL0

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0083WSXL0

Comment by CBM Christian Book Marketing on July 13, 2012 at 9:28pm

A Story of love, redemption and the power of God's grace.

Author, Samantha Ryan Chandler writes, A Love Story-How God Pursed Me and Found Me-An Impossibly True Story. This gripping and heart-wrenching memoir by the author gives her personal testimony of an unseen divorce that forever changed the landscape of the author's life and the lives of her children.

In the author's words, she tells a story of an evil plan perpetrated by her husband to rob her of everything: their homes, money, and stability-to include her three precious daughters. The author writes with purpose first for her children, so they would know the truth, but also gives the reader many life lessons learned through her dilemma. When all else failed in her life, God was faithful. The author boldly proclaims the unfailing love of God as she learned that God can rescue anyone, for His hand is not too short. Her message is one of hope and faith in God, encouraging others to hold on to see their restoration. For God is a God of new beginnings and faithfulness in His love.

Giving accounts to visitations by angels on three different occasions, the book testifies to the supernatural in a wonderful way. Uplifting and filled with scripture this message of encouragement is to all those whose lives have been stolen from. Her message is simple: God is Faithful and He can restore that which was lost. This book is truly a magnificent testimony to the saving power of the grace of God.

This is a testament to the love of God and an irresistible love story to those that are lost. Thank you Samantha for writing a book that shared your life story, that gives others hope when "hope" has been lost. You are an inspiration.

Highly recommended for anyone that loves an amazingly true story with a happy ending! May all the glory and honor be to God-who came and rescued a young, skinny girl from Nowhere, Louisiana and gave her life and life more abundantly!

For more information about the author and the book be sure to visit Author Samantha Ryan Chandler ... You may also visit Amazon for more information about A Love Story-How God Pursed Me and Found Me-An Impossibly True Story

A Christian Author's Article Blast sharing the love of Christ.

Comment by Forrest Casey on July 13, 2012 at 8:56pm

Hello team! For a couple of weeks, I have been reading the comments posted. All of you have very valid concerns, suggestions and most of all dedication towards making your publications available to readers abroad. My company will have booths at two different upcoming book fairs: The Brooklyn, NY Book Fair on September 23rd and The Miami Book Festival on November 16th-18th. It's been my experience that avid readers go to book fairs...and at these events that are not only EXPOSED to different types of literature but are more RECEPTIVE to it because of the present "feel of the environment"!!!!! If there are any published authors or Indie Publishing Companies that would like to give their books exposure by offering one or two free copies of the book at either of these book fairs, please contact me immediately for shipping details. First come, first serve. While we cannot help all of you at these upcoming fairs for the remainder of 2012... we will try to provide avid readers with a free copy of your book and contact information. Who knows... maybe the free copy of your book will go into the hands of professional blogger, a leader of a big book club, a publicist, etc. Please send me a direct message so that I can respond ASAP. It will be difficult for me to track any requests if you post it on the comment wall. I sincerely hope that everyone's published book is positioned to generate potential profits and fanfare! Have a wonderful weekend!!!

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