Jennifer Becton's Blog, page 38

Joint Promo and BookBub Results

Warning: Math Ahead

In April, I had promotions on books in both genres, both different and both successful.

First, the ladies at Indie Jane and I had a group $.99 sale, pooling our marketing power for the benefit of the whole group. I had low expectations for this promotion because I have offered Charlotte Collins for sale at $.99 in the past and never sold enough to make up for the lower price. I credit the strength of my friends’ books–Attempting Elizabeth and Loving Miss Darcy (Brides of Pemberley)–for pulling Charlotte Collins up to its highest sales rank ever, making it into the top 1000 for the first time ever. It also had its strongest month in terms of sales.

This example shatters a longstanding myth. In the trad pub world, your book gets one month to prove itself in terms of sales, and then it’s done and removed from the shelves. But with indie pubbing, your book has all the time in the world, and you can slide down the bestsellers lists and climb them again years after the book is released.

Second, I promoted Absolute Liability at Amazon, BN, and Kobo using BookBub. I priced Absolute Liability at $.99 and lowered the other two books in the series to $1.99 even though they were not officially part of the promotion. I paid $460 for the promotion and earned it back through sales of AL in less than 24 hours, and sales of all three books continue to be strong even after raising the prices. Thanks to this promotion, Absolute Liability can now add BN Nook Best Seller to its existing title of Amazon Kindle Best Seller. The Nook edition hit number 10! And on Amazon, it topped out at 114 on the Kindle Best Sellers list, made the Movers and Shakers list, and went to number 1 in Mystery Series and 4 in Women Sleuths. Sales of the other two books also soared.

This promotion finally answers the question “How do I get my books seen at BN?” Here’s one answer: use BookBub. This provided enough visibility to raise my sales at BN across the board. It also provided some visibility at Kobo, but far less than at the other two venues. I will use BookBub again.

The conclusion? Advertising works, but you have to find the right venues. Some of these promotions may not cost a dime, but sometimes you have to be willing to risk some money. If you decide to try BookBub or other venues, let us know how they work for you. I’ll keep you posted on future promotions too.

Random News Round Up: War of Words Edition

Pistols at dawn!

Every few months or so, proponents of traditional publishing and fans of indie pubbing engage in a steel-cage death match. This month’s edition has been entertaining, mainly because of the extra fun vitriolics.

Here are a few articles for you to consider:

 

Hugh Howey wrote this piece on the virtues of self-publishing.
Chuck Wendig responded with this.
Meanwhile, Scott Turow, president of the Author’s Guild, released this statement and then in an opinion piece proclaimed the death of the American author.
Barry Eisler responded with this scathing indictment.
Then, Eisler went on to anger trad pubs with a presentation at a book convention, which resulted in some interesting Twitter responses.

Then everyone under the sun started talking about it.

Entertained yet?

Seems like everywhere you look, someone is up in arms over something someone said about their momma.

Here’s how I look at these dust-ups. They’re informative. Read them in order to keep up with what’s going on in the industry, but for heaven’s sake, use your head and interpret like Spock: without getting emotional about it. It’s important to keep up with the news and changes to publishing, but it’s not important to jump into the fray and defend your opinion to the death. Sure, say what you think, but don’t let it descend into name-calling. (Although it is entertaining to watch, so on second thought, go ahead if that’s what you want to do.)

I’ve got nothing against traditional publishing. I’m neither yearning for the “prestige” of a deal nor standing at their doors with flaming torches. Heck, if the right company offered me the right deal, I’d consider it. I’d go hybrid under the right circumstances. (Hear that, Amazon? Call me.) But I’m also not going to sit around, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for that offer to come, and I’m not going to feel bad about it. I’m going to continue earning my own living using the means available to me and not waste time getting caught up the drama.

Southern Fraud Ebook Sale

At Amazon, BN, and Kobo

Amazon

BN

Kobo

Indie Jane Spring $.99 Sale!

The gals at Indie Jane are all putting one of our Jane Austen-inspired ebooks on sale starting 4/14 and running through 4/26.


Attempting Elizabeth by Jessica Grey $.99 on Amazon, BN, and Kobo
Loving Miss Darcy by Nancy Kelley $.99 on Amazon, BN, and Kobo
Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton $.99 on Amazon, BN, and Kobo

For Mrs. Gillham

And because it amuses me.

Decoding Marketing Advice

Is marketing advice leaving you frustrated? Me too.

So far this year, various self-publishing experts have recommended the following courses of action for garnering success in the indie publishing industry:

1. Don’t buy advertising. I wrote a post about it here.

J. A. Konrath, Mark Coker of Smashwords, and Dean Wesley Smith all advise against spending money on ads.

2. Don’t create an author platform. Stop blogging. Don’t engage in social media like Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

L. L. Barkat says blogging is largely a waste of time for experienced writers in 2013.
Konrath has a blog, but doesn’t do much with Twitter and Facebook.
Here Jane Friedman suggests that first-time and aspiring narrative driven authors in the traditional publishing world might want to desist, but indies should probably keep it up. However, this news seems to be spreading as thought she suggested that everyone stop. Here is her definition of platform, which again, she still recommends that indies build.
Jody Hedlund says blogging is a waste of time too, but she’s still going to continue.
Elizabeth S. Craig urges writers to focus on writing before platform building. Sensible advice.

Okaaaaaaaay, so if it’s a waste of money to advertise and a waste of time to have a platform, blog, or use social media, then how do I get my books in front of readers? How do I get my books seen? What avenue of marketing is left to me if everything listed above is a waste of time?

On the surface, it seems that the general consensus for marketing in 2013 is to:

Allow retailers to take over the bulk of marketing using their internal marketing algorithms (Customers Who Bought Also Bought feature, free bookstore promotions on Kindle Select and/or Kobo, etc.)
Keep writing and publishing more good books. Sensible advice.

But what happens when you realize that some retailers’ internal marketing is better than others? That some retailers do next to nothing to make your giveaways visible to readers? Oh, and they don’t even have a way to tell you how many you’ve given away? That at certain retailer websites your book cannot even be found in generic searches of the keywords you chose? That your books cannot be seen on some retailer sites unless readers already know they are there? Oh, but no blogging or social media or ads!

Well, you’re screwed.

The truth is that the publishing industry is constantly in flux. Algorithms change all the time. No one, not even the experts, has a clue how to deal with marketing from one day to the next. Forget these big year-long predictions and pronouncements.

Here are my thoughts:

 Watch what the “experts” do and ignore what they say. Look at my own marketing plan from December; not 6 months later, and I’m already rethinking my strategy, so I’m certainly not accusing anyone of being purposefully deceitful. But with the rapid changes in the industry, I cannot imagine that one piece of advice is going to work forever (or even a month). Even the experts are going to have to change, and if their changes are successful, then I want to emulate them.
Blog (if you want to). I am not going to sit here and tell you that you have to do anything. If you don’t want to blog, don’t. But note that in the above links, most of the people who said blogging was a waste of time continue to do it. (See advice above.) I believe blogging is important, especially for indies, because by nature our industry is highly individualized. Blogs are a great way to share data and marketing successes and failures.  Sharing information helps everyone.
If you choose to blog, have realistic expectations. Tailor your blog for a purpose. If you want to reach readers, then your content will be different than if you are trying to write about your publishing experience (as I am). I know that my blog is unlikely to reach readers, but that is not its purpose.
Don’t fall victim to the premise that once you begin a blog you have to keep it up forever. Many of the articles referenced above describe blogging as if it were a Tar Baby. Once you get your fingers in it, you can’t let go. Once you start a blog, you’ve got to post X number of days a week or else! Well, that’s bull. If you discover that your blog isn’t doing what you want, then stop. Change it to a static site and be done with it. No harm, no foul.
Use social media (if you want to). If the idea of Twitter makes you cringe, then don’t use it. But for me, Facebook and Twitter have been consistently strong marketing tools.
Experiment with advertising. Many of my old faithful advertising venues have shown declining success over the last six months, so I had intended to opt out of paid ads. But after realizing that I still need some outside source of visibility, I decided to keep experimenting with new places. JA Konrath is generally not a fan of advertising, but he tried BookBub recently and has since used it again. He also says that it worked for him. So I’m trying that.
Embrace change. It’s inevitable and it’s fast. If you find something that works, keep doing it until it doesn’t work anymore and then change immediately. Look, the cold, hard truth is that no one is ever going to find a magic marketing bullet. Ever. It’s not gonna happen. This industry is changing too rapidly, and that means we have to change just as fast in order to keep up.
Keep trying. I believe that the people who ultimately succeed will be those who never, never, never give up. They will experiment and try new things. They will abandon what doesn’t work and take up what does. They will keep writing good books and selling them at good prices. They will be grateful to their readers and remember to say thank you.
Focus on books first. The one piece of advice that is constant throughout all those articles is to focus on books. Keep the main thing the main thing. Remember that your marketing efforts–no matter whether you chose to buy ads, blog, or use social media– mean nothing if you have no worthwhile books to share with your readers.

Full-time Writing

All in.

When I decided to self-publish my first novel Charlotte Collins, it was with the intention of proving that a market for such a book existed in order to earn a traditional publishing contract. You can read about the details here and here.

I soon discovered the possibilities of continuing to self-publish, and for a while, I worked as a freelance editor while also writing and publishing my own novels. This was difficult, and I worked almost all the time. So in August 2011, after the successful launches of Charlotte Collins and Absolute Liability, I decided it was time to go all in. I terminated my editing contract and began turning down freelance offers. I decided to try to live off my writing.

And I haven’t looked back since. The decision to become a full-time writer was easy for me to make because I had been living off the crazy fluctuations of freelance editing work for twelve years, and my husband had a steady paycheck in case I made a huge mistake. But over all, I knew what to expect, and I was 100 percent committed to writing and earning a living.

Today, I sold my 75,000th book. I still cannot wrap my mind around that number. I honestly cannot believe I have the opportunity to share my books with so many people, and I have loved getting to know readers, writers, and bloggers from the book world. In addition, my historical fiction novels are (or soon will be) published in France. FRANCE! Again, unbelievable. Absolute Liability made the Amazon Kindle Best Seller list for 8 weeks and the Indie Reader Best Seller list for 3. Crazy! I am so lucky to live at a time when publishing is expanding as it is.

Thinking about becoming a full-time writer? Here are some aspects to consider:

Sales fluctuate, and that means paychecks also fluctuate. Sometimes, it’s a boom or bust cycle, and you have to be prepared to deal with wild changes in monthly income. Just because you earn well one month does not mean you can automatically expect the same results the next. Budgeting is important.
Be serious. If you are thinking of being a full-time writer, it’s likely you are already serious about your career. You are self-motivated. Keep it up.
Continue to invest in your business. That means hire professionals to edit, proof, and create covers. Make your product as good as you possibly can.
Experiment. Try new advertising venues and sales platforms. And experiment with your writing too. The greatest aspect of indie pubbing is the freedom to do write what you want. Don’t allow yourself to follow the crowd. Write what you love.

Horseback Riding for Writers, Part 1

Darcy and I getting ready for an evening ride.

Today is my horse Darcy’s nineteenth birthday, so in honor of my perfect horse, I thought I’d take the opportunity to help clarify a few things about her species for my writer friends. So few people have the chance to interact with horses these days, and they end up getting a lot of ideas about them from TV, movies, or bad childhood experiences. Sometimes, horses are written almost as though they are cars: mindless, emotionless machines that live to serve. Or they come off as wild, untameable mysterious entities. In reality, horses are amazing animals–smart, fun, but also challenging.

Plenty of websites will describe tack, lifespan, breeds, etc, but I’d like to write more about the psychology of the horse and address some common errors that writers make when describing horses in books, movies, and TV.

I’m planning to make this a short series of blog posts, so if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below, and I’ll try to answer them. If I don’t know the answer, I know someone who does.

Survival Is the Horse’s Primary Concern

People look at a herd of horses in a pasture and see a peaceful, idyllic, pastoral scene, but there’s more going on in a herd than just munching hay.

The Horse Is a Prey Animal: One look at a horse should tell you that he is a prey animal. His eyes are positioned on the sides of his head, not the front like a predator. So what does that mean? His eye position and biology allow him to detect small movements on the horizon so he can have advance warning of a predator drawing near to the herd. In short, the horse is always looking for something to jump out of the woods and eat him. Even Old Glue the ancient work horse and Sweet Sally the lesson pony are keeping an eye out for danger.

There Is Safety in the Herd: The herd evolved as a means of keeping the species safe from predators. Even while eating peacefully, horses are checking the horizon for predators and will take off at a moment’s notice if danger arrives. The herd is organized into a hierarchy, with a leader, usually a mare, who is in charge of the group’s movements and who keeps the others in line. There are other roles in the herd, the most interesting to me is the Sentinel: the horse who takes on the role of lookout for the herd. While others are napping, the Sentinel is watching for predators. In the photo below, you can see that Darcy is outside the fence and tied to a trailer while I slave away trimming her hooves. Her herdmates have the entire pasture and fresh hay available, but their instinct to be together is so strong that they all stood in those exact places to wait for her to come back.

Darcy and Her Herd

Run Now, Ask Questions Later: Horses have evolved to run away from danger. It’s what has kept the species alive for all these years, so their first instinct when startled is to run, run, run. A horse can gallop 1/4 mile before its brain kicks in to assess what actually happened. In order to have a safe, fun riding horse, he must learn to overcome his natural instincts and trust his rider–a predator, by the way–who is on his back to keep him safe in the same way he might trust his herd leader.

Horses are very social creatures, and they depend on their herd for safety and companionship. And as prey animals, they are always on the lookout for potential danger and have a high flight instinct. By developing a trusting bond and practicing good training techniques, people can overcome these natural instincts and create a satisfying relationship for both horse and human.

At Fault: Now Available!

At Fault

Southern Fraud Thriller 3

Available Now!

Operating on an insider’s tip, Julia and Vincent must go undercover to infiltrate an organized fraud ring led by a cruel, manipulative boss. But the closer they come to identifying the size and scope of the organization, the more they realize that their source has withheld vital information, causing them to make errors in their investigation—errors that may have grave consequences for an innocent victim.

Meanwhile, Vincent and Julia must both confront mistakes from the past that could rise up to destroy their hopes for the future. Vincent’s tenuous relationship with his son is tested once again. And now that Julia’s search for her sister’s rapist has finally paid off, how will Tricia and the rest of the family react to the news that she has been hiding her investigation from them all?

Will Julia and Vincent unravel the fraud ring before someone innocent gets hurt? Will they be able to keep their families together? Will they cling to the belief that they have done right, or will they begin to see themselves as people At Fault?

________________________________________________________

Buy It Now!

Amazon: Kindle or Paperback

BN: Nook or Paperback

Kobo

Smashwords (any ebook format)

________________________________________________________

The Positive Aspects of Fear

When it comes to horses, I have always been what’s known in the biz as a “timid rider.” Translation: I experienced fear in situations that other riders did not. But while working with Laura Daley and writing our book Riding Fear Free: Help for Fearful Riders and Their Teachers, I learned that fear is not always bad. Fear is the body’s way of keeping itself safe from danger. You should experience fear when you enter a potentially dangerous environment: like going into a dark alley at night or riding a horse on the side of a cliff. When you feel fear, your body is physically changing so that you are ready to act: to fight or to flee.

Fear becomes unhealthy when your reaction to an event or situation is out of balance. For example, you feel the same level of fear walking in the middle of a safe park as you would in a dark alley or your arena becomes as scary as a sheer cliff. The fear does not match your actual circumstances.

What has this got to do with writing?

I often blog about writing and publishing fear free, but that doesn’t mean all fear is bad. Logical, balanced fear keeps writers from publishing books that are not ready for readers to see. It motivates us to try our best to produce our best work possible.

I have written (or co-written) and published 5  books, 1 short story, and 1 collection, and I am afraid every time. But it’s a healthy fear. It motivates me to write the best book I can, to hire the best editors possible, to make the best covers I am able to create, and to keep working until I get it right. I write to please myself. I write what I want to read, but I also write to please readers. I want people to enjoy my books. I want readers to fall in love with my characters. If I didn’t want these things, then I would not publish my books. I’d just keep them for myself.

Sometimes fear is good, and if I ever stop being afraid, then I will stop writing.