The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

Hallo to everybody! What now? I have just joined the network because, unashamedly, I want to promote and sell my books. But then, we all do, right? So, do I plunge in and ask you all to go out and buy my books or do I work myself into this group gradually. I'm sure the majority of us are all singing from the same 'hymn sheet', so perhaps you might want to pop over to my website and give me the once over. I'm at www.michaeljparker.com.

I am a published writer with seven novels to my credit. My eighth is due for publication in December in hardback. This is THE BOY FROM BERLIN, a thriller like all of my books. I am currently reproducing my novels as paperback and Kindle for Amazon. So far I have two on sale, and expect a third to be there within a couple of months. I'm thinking of holding it there and waiting to see what happens.

I also work with another group of writers at www.acclaimedbooks.com. We are committed to helping each other to sell our books, so why not drop in on the group and see what we are up to?

Hopefully my venture into bookmarketing.com will be a good experience for me and I hope I'll be able to get along with you all.

Keep writing!

Views: 61

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Thanks for that, Jan. I tried to give up social networking because of the amount of time I was spending on it, choosing instead to limit myself to Goodreads and Kindle Writers' Café. Trouble is; I come across website links that seem interesting and off I go again. Marketing is the key, I know, but marketing costs, and it is not always successful. When I released my first paperback novel, NORTH SLOPE last year, I advertised the release in a newspaper in Juneau, Alaska (the novel is set there). It was a seven day spread. I also had a book reviewer read the book. I sold two copies. One of those was the book I sent to the reviewer via Amazon. The novel was first released in 1980, by Macmillan. I received excellent reviews but it never went into paperback. The story was about the discovery of oil in Alaska in 1968; an historical event. I thought the people there might want to read a thriller based around those events, but it looks like I was wrong. So, marketing for me is subjective, and has to be cheap: free in fact. But I'll persist, one way or another. Perhaps one day I'll crack it and begin to see results. My sales (two books) on Amazon are almost non-existent, but I'm encouraged by some of the stories I've read on the Kindle boards. I won't give up.

Jan

Thank you for your very comprehensive and informative reply. I've printed it out and it's residing next to my PC to help me when making decisions about where I want to go next. I've tried many things, but it's probably my lack of marketing experience that counts against me. However, I have managed to cover some of the aspects of your reply. I have a website which is managed by my son. I pay a fee each year for that (not to my son!). My novel, which was first published in 1980, was released in paperback as a POD book last year. I contacted several bookshops in Alaska, Canada, California and Florida. I received one positive reply from Alaska and another which said they weren't interested but I could send the book which they would pass on to staff. They wouldn't buy any though. I was warned later by a colleague that bookshops only normally purchase sale or return, which meant I was dabbling in the wrong league. I offered a free book (this was on Goodreads) to the first person to contact me through my website. All they had to do was acknowledge that they had seen the offer on Goodreads. Nothing happened. In the end I gave up, although I did subsequently offer three books on the Goodreads 'Giveaway'. I have since sent those three copies, hoping this might at least get readers thinking about me. I take your point about writers' blogs, but I have set up a one-off blog on another site, scheduled for September. I was also a contributing editor on ITW. I thought this might get me noticed, but after eighteen months and six or seven interviews with other authors, I realised I needed to change direction. So, Jan, it hasn't been for the want of trying, but more like a headless chicken without direction. I'll look in on MailChimp as you suggested. Thanks again for your input. 

Hello Michael. I too have just joined in and have yet to figure out how to go about this network. The way I see it is that an author has three choices 1. Obscurity 2. Get a publisher or a paid promoter to promote 3. Self promote often labeled as shameless promotion. The last option is often looked down upon whereas the second option that could be more blatant is not. I think depending upon the forum such as the present one self promotion is very appropriate. In the wrong forum it is spam and shameless. Wish you and all the other authors all the best with marketing their books. An author writes to be read, no sales means no readers and then the author's voice is like a cry in the wilderness.

 

Wish you all

How about book formatting? I do have a post here about my service. Though I do not write and sell books, I do help authors put their manuscript into a book (print on demand and ebook) format so I guess this is the right forum for me.

But I think this forum is not just about getting a sale, this is also about getting ideas, learning and applying those ideas. Though my expertise is not into book authoring but book formatting, I still could get some insights into Jan's suggestions on how to sell a book. Nice input Jan! Thanks.

 

 

Jeny

www.thefastfingers.com

jenjen.ruelo@gmail.com

On the subject of readers; essential food for the writer, my PLR (Public Lending Right) loans for last year, 2010, showed that the public libraries in UK registered 6000 loans for my books. Although that is small compared to the top authors, for me it means I have a readership; people who want to read my books. My first publisher told me that I couldn't consider myself an established writer until I had at least five books in print. I have reached that figure (seven so far) and it looks like I have a following, but the majority, if not all of them, are in UK and don't buy books.

RSS

© 2024   Created by John Kremer.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service