Alan Cook's Blog, page 4
May 6, 2013
The Worst Marketing Idea Ever
I thought I had the most colossal marketing idea the writing world has ever seen. It was so revolutionary that nobody—as far as I knew—had ever tried it. I would be the first, and it would shoot my new novel, Dangerous Wind, into the top hundred on Amazon.
Sure, others would follow my lead, but I would get the credit. Maybe it would even be named after me: “The Cook Marketing Plan.” I would be lauded on Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps I’d even be invited to hang out with the Kardashians.
The plan was simple enough. Why hadn’t anybody else ever thought of it? Well, of course it’s simple after someone else comes up with the idea. And that someone was me. I was the pioneer. The Einstein.
What I would do is invite readers to help edit my book and give cash to each person who was the first to find an error. Now the book had already been carefully edited, so I figured that would limit my payout, although there are always those impossible-to-find things that sneak through and then slap a reader and eventually the author in the face.
I was recently reading a copy of Forever Amber, a book that’s been out since the 1940s. All the errors have long since been eliminated—right? Wrong. There on page twenty-something-or-other was “were” for we’re.” OMG!
Anyway, with cash incentives in place, I figured readers would flock by the thousands to download the Amazon Kindle version of my book and set about perusing it with their editor caps on. Wrong again. Didn’t happen.
The good news is that one brave soul did take on the job. She found four or five minor errors that I immediately corrected. She’s a family friend and wouldn’t take money for the job, so I paid her in copies of my YA book, Dancing with Bulls, for her grandchildren. I was thankful she did it. It definitely improved my book, so some good came of this.
But I learned a valuable lesson. The average reader ain’t no editor. He/she don’t wanna be a editor. So I guess I’ll have to go back to my old marketing technique: prostrating myself each morning in front of my altar with an effigy of The Great Amazon sitting on top and wishing that visitors to Amazon.com will be taken to the pages featuring my books which they will order and read and love and remember me in their wills.
Sure, others would follow my lead, but I would get the credit. Maybe it would even be named after me: “The Cook Marketing Plan.” I would be lauded on Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps I’d even be invited to hang out with the Kardashians.
The plan was simple enough. Why hadn’t anybody else ever thought of it? Well, of course it’s simple after someone else comes up with the idea. And that someone was me. I was the pioneer. The Einstein.
What I would do is invite readers to help edit my book and give cash to each person who was the first to find an error. Now the book had already been carefully edited, so I figured that would limit my payout, although there are always those impossible-to-find things that sneak through and then slap a reader and eventually the author in the face.
I was recently reading a copy of Forever Amber, a book that’s been out since the 1940s. All the errors have long since been eliminated—right? Wrong. There on page twenty-something-or-other was “were” for we’re.” OMG!
Anyway, with cash incentives in place, I figured readers would flock by the thousands to download the Amazon Kindle version of my book and set about perusing it with their editor caps on. Wrong again. Didn’t happen.
The good news is that one brave soul did take on the job. She found four or five minor errors that I immediately corrected. She’s a family friend and wouldn’t take money for the job, so I paid her in copies of my YA book, Dancing with Bulls, for her grandchildren. I was thankful she did it. It definitely improved my book, so some good came of this.
But I learned a valuable lesson. The average reader ain’t no editor. He/she don’t wanna be a editor. So I guess I’ll have to go back to my old marketing technique: prostrating myself each morning in front of my altar with an effigy of The Great Amazon sitting on top and wishing that visitors to Amazon.com will be taken to the pages featuring my books which they will order and read and love and remember me in their wills.
March 27, 2013
Editing for Dollars
In the third Carol Golden novel, Dangerous Wind (available on Amazon Kindle) http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Wind-...)
Carol has to find an old boyfriend she doesn’t remember (because of her amnesia) who is supposedly plotting the downfall of the Western World. This life-or-death adventure will take Carol to all 7 continents, with shocking results.
Here is a challenge for those of you who like this kind of book. I believe it has been well edited. However, no matter how carefully a book is edited, errors slip through. I’ve seen errors in best-sellers. With that in mind, and because it’s easier to fix any errors on the Kindle version than a print version, I’m offering to pay any person who is the first to find a particular error in the book the sum of $5.00.
Fair warning: I may blog some more about this topic. If you contact me I may use your comments in my blog.
Since this challenge is fraught with financial and legal implications, I had to make up rules. Here they are:
1. Deadline for reporting errors: April 30, 2013.
2. Maximum payout: $200; limit for one person: $25
3. Send notice of errors to alcook@sprintmail.com
4. Payment will be made by check or through Paypal.
5. I will pay the first person to find each error of the following type: misspelling, grammar (except in dialog and cases where bad grammar may be intentional), typos, punctuation and formatting (unless altered by Amazon).
6. I will not pay for commas (in or out). Everybody has different rules for commas.
Happy hunting.
Carol has to find an old boyfriend she doesn’t remember (because of her amnesia) who is supposedly plotting the downfall of the Western World. This life-or-death adventure will take Carol to all 7 continents, with shocking results.
Here is a challenge for those of you who like this kind of book. I believe it has been well edited. However, no matter how carefully a book is edited, errors slip through. I’ve seen errors in best-sellers. With that in mind, and because it’s easier to fix any errors on the Kindle version than a print version, I’m offering to pay any person who is the first to find a particular error in the book the sum of $5.00.
Fair warning: I may blog some more about this topic. If you contact me I may use your comments in my blog.
Since this challenge is fraught with financial and legal implications, I had to make up rules. Here they are:
1. Deadline for reporting errors: April 30, 2013.
2. Maximum payout: $200; limit for one person: $25
3. Send notice of errors to alcook@sprintmail.com
4. Payment will be made by check or through Paypal.
5. I will pay the first person to find each error of the following type: misspelling, grammar (except in dialog and cases where bad grammar may be intentional), typos, punctuation and formatting (unless altered by Amazon).
6. I will not pay for commas (in or out). Everybody has different rules for commas.
Happy hunting.
February 16, 2013
Writing About Greek Myths
There is a fresco (wall painting) at Knossos Palace on the Greek island of Crete that depicts a young man vaulting over a bull while a young woman stands at either end of the bull, one of whom is holding its horns. The fresco was painted around 4,000 years ago.
The legend of the Minotaur tells of a creature, half-man and half-bull, that was kept in the Labyrinth—a maze—at Knossos Palace. Theseus, so the story goes, came to Crete and slew the Minotaur with the help of the goddess Aphrodite and Ariadne, daughter of Minos, the king of Crete.
The connecting link between the fresco and the legend is bulls. Bulls were big in Crete, and appear everywhere in statuary and paintings.
My wife and I have been to Greece five times. We’ve visited Knossos Palace and seen the artifacts in the museums. I have kept logs of all our trips, and I’ve written stories and poems based on what we’ve seen.
I’ve also written a series of stories for my two grandsons, Matthew and Mason, in which they are the heroes. In these stories, they are often whisked back in time to a historical setting.
My story for my grandsons, “Dancing with Bulls,” based on the fresco, seemed to be especially appropriate for being published as an illustrated book for young teens. It has plenty of adventure and suspense, and it’s in a historical setting.
I talked to Janelle Carbajal, a talented artist, about this, and she agreed to draw the illustrations. I think you will agree that she did a marvelous job.
I tried to put enough realism in the book so that there might be some truth to it. Here is a summary:
Matthew and Mason are on vacation in Greece with their parents. While exploring the ruins at Knossos Palace on the island of Crete, they wander off and suddenly find themselves at Knossos in its prime, 4,000 years ago, when the Minoans were in power. Captured by guards, they barely escape execution and are forced to join a team of slaves who are training as bull dancers. That means they have to dance with a live bull in front of Minoan royalty. Mason is picked to be a bull leaper along with a girl named Bracche. They have to vault onto the bull's back and off again without getting gored. Will they be able to survive this ordeal, and is there any chance they can escape and take the other members of their team with them?
Dancing with Bulls is available on Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-with-Bu....
The legend of the Minotaur tells of a creature, half-man and half-bull, that was kept in the Labyrinth—a maze—at Knossos Palace. Theseus, so the story goes, came to Crete and slew the Minotaur with the help of the goddess Aphrodite and Ariadne, daughter of Minos, the king of Crete.
The connecting link between the fresco and the legend is bulls. Bulls were big in Crete, and appear everywhere in statuary and paintings.
My wife and I have been to Greece five times. We’ve visited Knossos Palace and seen the artifacts in the museums. I have kept logs of all our trips, and I’ve written stories and poems based on what we’ve seen.
I’ve also written a series of stories for my two grandsons, Matthew and Mason, in which they are the heroes. In these stories, they are often whisked back in time to a historical setting.
My story for my grandsons, “Dancing with Bulls,” based on the fresco, seemed to be especially appropriate for being published as an illustrated book for young teens. It has plenty of adventure and suspense, and it’s in a historical setting.
I talked to Janelle Carbajal, a talented artist, about this, and she agreed to draw the illustrations. I think you will agree that she did a marvelous job.
I tried to put enough realism in the book so that there might be some truth to it. Here is a summary:
Matthew and Mason are on vacation in Greece with their parents. While exploring the ruins at Knossos Palace on the island of Crete, they wander off and suddenly find themselves at Knossos in its prime, 4,000 years ago, when the Minoans were in power. Captured by guards, they barely escape execution and are forced to join a team of slaves who are training as bull dancers. That means they have to dance with a live bull in front of Minoan royalty. Mason is picked to be a bull leaper along with a girl named Bracche. They have to vault onto the bull's back and off again without getting gored. Will they be able to survive this ordeal, and is there any chance they can escape and take the other members of their team with them?
Dancing with Bulls is available on Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-with-Bu....
January 17, 2013
Goodreads Book Giveaways
When my amnesia mystery, Forget to Remember, was published, I was looking for an effective way to promote it without a large outlay of money. I found it at Goodreads.
Membership in Goodreads is free, as you know, and allows readers to post ratings and reviews of the books they’ve read. In addition, authors can post the titles of books they’ve published. Information about who is reading and reviewing each of the author’s books will then appear on his or her home page. You can also have friends on Goodreads (does that sound familiar), and you will receive information about what each of your friends is reading.
What intrigued me is that Goodreads also allows authors to list their newly published books for giveaways. They don’t charge for this service. I signed up to give away five print copies of Forget to Remember (e-book giveaways aren’t allowed). During the period of several weeks that my giveaway was available, 1,118 people signed up for it.
That’s a lot of exposure, considering the fact that I was only out five copies of the book. What happened was that many of the people who signed up but didn’t win a copy purchased the e-book version of Forget to Remember. The month after my giveaway ended I had the best sales month of e-books I’ve ever had—by far. At one point the Amazon Kindle ranking of Forget to Remember almost broke into the top 100 bestsellers. The sales of my other e-books also jumped.
If you have a recently published book, or will have in the future, I recommend using the Goodreads giveaway as a promotion. You’ll have a hard time beating the return you receive for the money you spend.
Membership in Goodreads is free, as you know, and allows readers to post ratings and reviews of the books they’ve read. In addition, authors can post the titles of books they’ve published. Information about who is reading and reviewing each of the author’s books will then appear on his or her home page. You can also have friends on Goodreads (does that sound familiar), and you will receive information about what each of your friends is reading.
What intrigued me is that Goodreads also allows authors to list their newly published books for giveaways. They don’t charge for this service. I signed up to give away five print copies of Forget to Remember (e-book giveaways aren’t allowed). During the period of several weeks that my giveaway was available, 1,118 people signed up for it.
That’s a lot of exposure, considering the fact that I was only out five copies of the book. What happened was that many of the people who signed up but didn’t win a copy purchased the e-book version of Forget to Remember. The month after my giveaway ended I had the best sales month of e-books I’ve ever had—by far. At one point the Amazon Kindle ranking of Forget to Remember almost broke into the top 100 bestsellers. The sales of my other e-books also jumped.
If you have a recently published book, or will have in the future, I recommend using the Goodreads giveaway as a promotion. You’ll have a hard time beating the return you receive for the money you spend.
