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What's Your Biggest Challenge with Your Book?

I'd be interested to learn what authors/publishers on this network think their biggest challenges are with their book. I wonder if there's any common, pervasive challenge we all face.

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Majanka,

You can break through to initial sales by issuing an e-mail blast to a select

50 people on your contacts list. Develop a marketing flyer, (to attach) similar to the book hype

summary on the back of a book and keep it light, maybe even self depreciating and

mention the great bargain for hours of adventure, fun, suspense, romance, whatever the reader will

get in the book.

You will get at least a few to bite and that is a great feeling. You will be on your way.

 

Steven R. Roberts, www.steverroberts.com

Great tip. Sometimes we just need to get started. That's a good place to start.

Am doing everything myself & struggle most with devoting enough time & plugging my eBooks in the right places at the right time. whilst other authors are happy to help readers are difficult to find

Getting a cover that puts the book into perspective.

 

The cover is very important to every book and getting permissions, suggestions, input and making changes can often be time consuming when you do it yourself as we do. When I say, WE, I am including my editors and family advisers who all take part in creating our books. We have somewhere around eighteen books floating around and I think at least sixteen are available on Amazon, but the effort and time is often more than anyone can imagine. Writing is no challenge, but editing, proofing and cover all give most authors a lot of work to do.

 

Dr Robert E McGinnis   By the way, my latest book "Wisnook Treasure" is out in E-book and the print version has been approved, but I don't think Amazon has posted it yet.

Love the cover! Yes, it's all time consuming. Do you do your layouts yourself, like in Word, or pay someone else to do it in a layout program?

very nice cover, do you use InDesign for this one? How about the layout?
Why does it goes off? I have an FB page and it is still there.

I've found the biggest challenge for me is promotion/marketing. My book is print-on-demand, and so I'm working every day trying to get some awareness of it out there. It's a hard slog, but I'm hoping the determination and dedication will pay off. The upside is that, since the company I worked for closed last month, I have the time to work on this...

Put up a blog about you and your book. Share your post to Facebook and Twitter. Respond to posts in Forums and other blogs, put up a video in YouTube. These are small ways in marketing and hopefully getting sales for your book :-)
I spend most of my days driving a truck to pay the bills, finding the time or energy to market my book is almost impossible. I read all of the helpful tactics that others use and just shake my head, when do I have the time? I try to keep my face book page updated along with my blog on Amazon., but other than that I feel like I have to beg for help. A friend(?) of mine has been promising to write a review for over a month now and still no review. Some times I just want to throw my hands in the air and walk away, but I just can't seem to do it.

Edd,

 

Looks to me like your book might have a special appeal to fellow truckers. Have you asked at any truck stops about how to get your book on the book racks, or, better, beside the cash register? Some of the big chains might have too many hoops to jump through to get permission to sell a book. But others may allow their managers to make decisions about local vendors.

 

I have a friend who sells a lot of his novels in locally owned restaurants. That's where my idea comes from. If, when you're on the road, you have some favorite locally owned restaurants, talk to the manager about trying your book for sale at the cash register, splitting the profit with him. Offer it on consignment, so there's no risk on his/her part. They all need extra sources of income, so it can be a win/win.  Most will probably say no, but what if one in 20 says yes?

 

Since you have to stop for gas and food anyway, it doesn't take a lot of time to ask for their policies. I'm finding that a lot of the book marketing game is a numbers game. Even among relatives and friends, only a percentage will read your book and post a review. Go figure. But if I offer it to 20 people, a few will get through it and I'll probably get a review out of it.

 

Hey, congratulations on publishing your book and good luck marketing it! We're all figuring out this thing together!

 

J. Steve Miller
Author of "Sell More Books: Book Marketing and Publishing for Low Profile and Debut Authors"
http://wisdomcreekpress.com/press_kits_sell_more_books.html

 

Steve, I have been trying without much success to get it in a couple of smaller stops and it is ridiculous how many hoops that you have to jump through. One of the stops actually is the basis for one of the short stories. Since my stories are NOT just about trucking even the trucking publications are ignoring it. My first book was all based around trucking, and got some good articles published in the trucking magazines.

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