Sneaky Writers Win

Yesterday I reviewed the book, The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton. I picked up Ms. Brighton's book late one night when I was having trouble falling asleep. I clicked that little shopping cart  icon and when I got to Amazon searched "free" in the book category.  I like paranormal books and this one had good reviews.

I got a free book, YAY!

The book was good. The story ended, there was closure, but also the possibility of another adventure for the main character. The last pages showed me the additional books this writer had so back to Amazon I went.

This time I paid for the book and the writer made money.

I've read that Hugh Howey saw his book, Wool, was selling so that smart man turned it into a series. BAM! He's a best seller! Of course the writing has to be good.

David Rosenfelt is another writer with a lawyer series. All stand alones, but with the same main character. One free book and I came back for the others.

There's always been a lot of controversy over whether or not a writer should give away their books for free. I've run campaigns where I put my book up for free and saw a spurt of downloads. A review or two came back, but nothing to write home (or here) about. However, my books aren't a series so there was probably no reason to use the free book hook to suck in new readers.  Live and learn.

Conclusion? If you have a series offering the first in the series for free could hook new readers. Otherwise? eh.

Facebook Ad Fail

The Facebook ad for No Apologies was a bust.

I set the ad to run midweek to midweek encompassing one weekend. I figured this would give me a wide view of how it did on what days. I also got to choose a target audience by age, gender, interests, etc.  For my budget of $60 I spent $59.81 total for 164 click through to website. I put the click through right to the Amazon page to buy the book. As you can see from my Amazon sales chart, out of the 164 that clicked through to see the book, 11 books sold. Bah!

So was it my fault this ad tanked or Facebook's?

Above you see the ad. One of the issues I have with the Facebook ad rules is the amount of space words can take up. I think it was like 22%, so I had to keep shrinking my book cover to get it under the 22%. This was a detriment to the ad in general because the title is part of the grab in selling a book along with the cover art. So I don't think the visual of the ad was that good. Facebook fail for stupid word rules.
Next I look at the words I put with the picture on top and below the ad. Did I not grab the reader's attention? Too tame? Too common? This would be my fail.
What about the where i wanted the ad to go? I chose all ages over 18. Although there's no actual graphic sex scenes in the book there are some sexually suggestive scenes so I thought it was better not to target the younger market.
Here you see the demographics of who actually clicked through the website. I also included men in the party, which could have been wrong. A very small amount of men actually clicked through. I did include the UK and Australia because they are English speaking countries. Should I have made this wider? I don't know.

Here's the Facebook and Amazon reports. There was a slight spike in click throughs and sales on Friday.

In conclusion? I don't think Facebook ads are that great for books. Or I did it wrong. I think I need a better photo for the ad. The book was too small and I doubted it caught any attention by the cover. The reports also showed the ad did better on the news feed than on the side bar. Which is where it would show bigger. If I can't get that cover bigger then maybe I should have just ran it on the news feed and taken it off the sidebar.

I finance my book ads with my Fiverr editing. When I get gigs on Fiverr the money there goes to book promotion. Sometimes I have more money to do it with, sometimes less. I want to save for a BookBub ad which is expensive, but I hear it's worth it. I've done a free book on Pixels of Ink and that gave away 80 books. Would that have generated more sales than Facebook if it wasn't free? Maybe I'll try and see what happens. Pixels of Ink wasn't that expensive. Gotta go check my Fiverr account to see what I go for next.

Indie Author Revolution

     There’s a Revolution going on and it will touch every one of you, it probably already has. It’s in the books you read. 

     Before, agents and the big 5 publishing houses controlled 90% of the books in book stores. (Big five= Random/Penguin, Simon & Schuster, McMillan, Harper Collins, & Hatchett) They made the rules and let everyone know what was hot and what was on its way out. Agents had to bend to their wishes or they didn’t sell any books. Together they had  a strangle hold on writers and plenty of amazing books never saw the bookshelf.

     Then in 2009 Amazon said, “Publish with us,” and doors opened. Writers took control of their own futures and success.  The Indie Author was born. Like independent musicians and filmmakers, writers could now let their creativity loose on the world. The world of books has opened for both writers and readers. No longer is your reading material censored by 5 companies. Readers too, have found the freedom to read whatever they like and for a price that won’t break the bank. Indie Authors set reasonable prices and work hard to bring their stories to the world.

     

     The Publishing industry is forever changed. TeleRead, a website that reports on the publishing industry states, “if you’re a debuting writer, it’s a lot better to debut in self-publishing than in the Big Five. While the Big Five’s numbers are flat, the number of indie authors who can earn a living at it increases year over year.”

     Like the Indie Filmmakers and Indie Musicians, Indie Authors have a growing presence on web. Just type “Indie Author” into a web browser and see what pops up. You will find writers advocating for the Independent Author way of life. They are posting earnings & instructions on how to edit and publish. Indie Authors have shown up in the news. The New York Times, Forbes, and Tech Dirt have all covered the Independent Author Revolution.

     

     The earnings for Indie vs  Traditionally published writers? That would be 15% for those authors published by the big 5 vs. 70%  for the Indie Author.  

     J.A. Konrath, one of the first to step up and publish his earnings, in 3 weeks in 2012  made $100,000.  He talks about his 500 rejections from agents and publishers. He had one deal with Hyperion in 2003, he sold his book, Whiskey Sour, in a 3 book deal for $200,000.  Then, after doing everything he could to promote his books and make the numbers, they dropped him. He’s now making more as Indie. In 2012 he reported $791,000. You can check it out on his website.

     The Guardian reported that Amanda Hocking, another writer who started as an Indie Author made $2.5 million in one year. In April 2010 she wanted to go see Muppets in Chicago and needed $300. for the trip. She put a couple of Vampire love stories up on Amazon for $2.99. By August she made $6000 one month and quit her day job. By October she had $20,000 for Muppets.

     

     Writer’s Digest reported that Hugh Howey another Indie Author, made $150,000 a month from e-book sales. When the big five came knocking, he made publishing history when he made the deal and kept his digital rights. He now has a new book deal and sold the movie rights.

      

     There’s an old saying, “Everyone has a book in them,” and now it’s possible for writers to make their dreams come true. However, to be a successful Indie Author there are a few requirements.

• Learn the rules of writing
•  Edit, edit, edit
•  Multiple books = $$$
•  Publish Regularly
•  Know Cover Art
•  Market your work

Go Indie! 

Advertising and the Indie Author

I've heard that the best way to get noticed as an Indie author is to write multiple books. I'm working on that, but would still like to see better sales for the books I do have up. How many books are enough books? How many books are "multiple books?"

In one article I read that Hugh Howie knew he had to keep writing and getting more books done before he worried about promotion. Smart man. It worked.

So, should I be doing a little advertising? Make a budget?

Book Bub is supposed to give great results, but its a little pricey. I guess you get what you pay for?

Facebook ads can generate sales and some authors swear by it.

I did a freebie on Pixels of Ink and gave away about 80 something books. I got a few reviews from that, but nothing startling. However, that result did show me that Pixels has a good readership so I'll keep it on my list for later.

There are quite a few sites/email blasters like Pixel of Ink. I'd like to find a rating on these sites. Which ones preform better, which ones have the biggest audience, and which give you more bang for your buck.

I wonder if giveaways are worth anything at this point? I think a giveaway works better if you're writing a series that will make someone want the next book. I see Nick Pirog doing it and that's how he hooked me to read his series; 3 a.m.. I saw it on one of the ebook blasters that I subscribe to and since it was free, I grabbed it. It was a great surprise, very well written with a great story line. I went back and bought his other books.

Amazon has ads, too. Now that might be a better way to target an audience?

Twitter? I've tweeted a few, but not sure they produced anything. I just got the hash tag thing down better so that might change. Tweeting with hash tags does help my blog posts get noticed. I've had a few of them from Sidewalk Politics shared on independent newsy sites.  I think they found me through the hash tags.

Book Bloggers...this is an industry that's still out there. Amanda Hocking once said she credited Book Bloggers with the success of her vampire series. I met a couple of bloggers who do book reviews. Most don't charge anything to have a book reviewed by their site, but don't say it will definitely be reviewed. They have a group of reviewers who chose what they want to read and review. The reviewers will be honest on how they feel about the book.  These bloggers make a living with the ads on their site.

With all these options I think Indies need a marketing plan. Spend X amount on ads, pick a couple of bloggers, make a social media outline and stick to it. Organization! We need organization! Publishing houses have departments to handle this stuff. Do they have plans? Outlines to follow? (Not that a new author gets much of that.) I need a step by step plan for this advertising stuff. I know they have books on Marketing for Indie's but when I look up the authors of those books I don't see any reviews for their other books and the ranks on Amazon aren't that great. So tell me why I should listen to them?

What's your marketing plan?

Writer's Conference Update!

I'm a little late here with the Create Something Magical Conference update but that doesn't mean it wasn't great! We had a blast! My only problem...there wasn't enough time to see every seminar. There were a few times during the day I wish I could have been in two places at once.

First up was Scene of the Crime by Geoff Symon. A former Federal forensic investigator, Geoff gave us the run down on crime scenes and discussed a few of the more famous crime scene investigations. Check out his website!

Next up; The Line Between Good and Evil offered by Janice Gabie Bashman & Katherine Craft. This covered the POV character and how its the first relate-able thing to the reader. We also talked about the anti-hero or tormented villain.

While I was absorbing Scene of the Crime by writer friend went to one called; Draw Me a Story presented by Shiloh Walker. She snagged me a hand out. This covered Character Sketches and applying them to the plot of the story. What does your character want and what obstacles/conflicts are you going to put in their path?

From there we went to World Building presented by a panel that included Christi Barth, Stephanie Draven, Eliza Knight, Lea Nolan, and Kate Quinn. It was an interesting talk about in-bedding details about the world/town/culture and avoiding info dumps. They gave us the "sins" of world building

• Info dumps (better to layer)
• Glossary - depending on how detailed and different your world 
• Obsessing over details
• Forgetting aspects as you build your story. Don't let one aspect change another's facts
• Over reliance of dialog to impart details. Character saying things like, "As you know on planet X..."

One great tip of world building if you're writing a series; Make a series bible so you can keep track of the towns, houses, character jobs, etc. 

From there we had lunch with speaker Sylvia Day. She was a very inspiring author and gave us all her blunders and successes on the road to being a full time writer. One thing she did say was, follow your heart. When they tell you can't, don't listen. 

Raiders of the Lost Arcs was up next covering Structural Elements that create a story arc. Katheryn Craft was the presenter. This covered everything: the premise, inciting incident, motivation, high stakes for failure, complications through to the dark moment and climax. And of course, the resolution. 

From there I went to Marketing with Review Blogs with Joyfully Jay, Francesca Bensi, and Susan Lee. This was great insight into the other side of the review blogs and how they chose books to review, who does the reviews, and how to find the right ones. Basically, search blog tours or book review blogs and see if they did your kind of book. They said some of the  most successful author interviews are the ones that do giveaways of books or gift cards. They talked about Good Reads for reviews, too. 

The last seminar for Saturday was 5 Things to Start Doing Before You Get a Book Deal! The speaker was Donna Galanti and she was one of my favorite speakers of the day. 

• Connect with readers through book bloggers. She covered Google Alerts for your genre. Set the alert and find out where other authors are putting their books. Invite other authors to your blog to get traffic before you launch your book. 
• ID your reader and market. Does your book appeal to a certain group? Teens, mountain climbers, vegetarians? Find the groups on Twitter and engage in conversation. 
• Find 2 or 3 places to master on social media. Search for online reviewers, if you want an agent or publisher -follow them. (www.literaryrambles.com) 
• Promote others. Heartwarming or humorous posts get the most engagement. Find/follow pages that relate to your genre.  (www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/04/21/twitter-hashtags-for-writers/)
• Blog, Engage, and Run Contests (Rafflecopter)
• Join writer organizations & volunteer 

If you want the handout on this one email me and I'll send you a copy. She gives several good websites for marketing information. 

And that was my Saturday. Sunday was a short day. Three seminars; Beyond Spell Check; Self editing before submission, Tying it all Together, and The In the Know, How to Guide to Self Publishing. 

It was a great weekend with a lot of good information. Can't wait for next year! 

Marketing the Indy Author

Marketing is the hardest part of going Indy.
What should the budget be?
Where should I advertise?
What kind of ad?

It's time. I've been slacking in the marketing department for ~ like~ ever.
I've done a facebook ad. Very easy to do, you can set a budget and say what kind of people you want to see your ad. However, I didn't see any great return on it. But I know this is something I have to do if I ever want to make a living at this writing stuff.

Thinking of places like these:

Indie Author News

Kboards

BookBub

Google Adsense

Yahoo Ads

I'm not sure which would be more productive. I think I need to go find a book about this stuff.

I did get a book recommended by Hugh Howey on Facebook. It talked about creating an email list so you can update your fans, but at my level, with my 3.5 measly little books, I wonder if it would be worth it?

Any recommendations on marketing or a book on marketing for the Indy would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Writing!

Oh wait! This is my new foster pup. He's thin as sticks and was found as a stray in Cliffwood, New Jersey. We're looking for his owners but he must have been out on his own for a long time because he's very skinny.

And he's collecting all the dog toys in the house.

Writing Business Trials

Writing is the easy part. Editing not so hard. Then comes putting it out there. Setting your baby free into the world. That's hard at first but then it gets easier. The first one flies, the next, soon you're flinging your written works of art out there without a care. You know you did your best and you let it sail.

Now comes the hard part. The business end of writing. Marketing....eeeek! Does anyone really like this aspect of book sales?

I remember when Konrath got his first contract for a 3 book deal. He went crazy with marketing. I think the work he did then, still follows him today. People he met along the journey, people who respected the work he did to get his book into as many hands as possible. I know I watched his journey, paid attention to his techniques and ideas. Could I do the same? I'm not sure. Should we all do the same? Maybe.

My daughter who has some freelance and marketing experience is helping me with marketing. She's got great ideas and the energy to make it happen. And she's a bit of a slave driver (which I need!). When I'm monkeying around with book cover art she tells me to stop playing and get back to writing.

Once Betrayed is up and running I'm thinking of paying for a book blast. I have Soul Mates registered for a kboards email and post ($15 fee) for May 24th. I'm thinking of Orangeberry but not sure if it's too soon.

Any other ideas? Okay, back to writing.....