D.R. Perry's Blog, page 9

Lucy, You've Got Some Reading To Do!

I'm so excited to read both of these! The one on the left is the Stardust, Always anthology to benefit St. Jude's Research. The one on the right is the first book of The Portal Prophecies by C.A. King. Click the pictures to find these books for yourself, in either paperback or ebook format!

While I read, I plan to listen to some music by this amazing fellow.

Live, From North Scituate, It's...Saturday Morning!

Going to the country, 
Gonna meet a lot of authors
Going to the country
Gonna meet a lot of authors.

Ahem. Well I sure am glad authors don't come from a can and were put there by a man in a factory downtown. Sounds pretty uncomfortable and not my kind of party. At. All. But the North Scituate Farmer's Market isn't remotely like being inside a can. It's nice and open, no need for a can opener. It even has a gazebo, though I recommend bringing friends if you plan to face it. No one should face the gazebo alone. 

Anyway, if you're in Rhode Island this Saturday morning, why not get some fresh air, good food, and spiffy new reading material? I'll be there with at least my first two books (Book 3 is still in the mail) and a pen. A gaggle of other authors will be there, too, courtesy of ARIA. The farmer's market has a spiffy directions page and everything. 

Not 42, But Close!

I can't believe what happened. Let me show you! Yup, that's Barely Awake, sitting right next to Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel, Mort. It happened last night, which really put a dent in my sleep time. I don't mind. That's what coffee is for! 

Of Wolf and Peace is Live!

It's out in ebook form here. Here's the description: 
If you don’t own your mistakes they’ll own you. 

Wolf shifter Josh Dennison shouldn’t tempt coincidence, or he’ll end up ill-fated, like his missing brother and maimed sister. The wolves pledged neutrality when the Goblin King and Sidhe Queen split up centuries ago. But he’s falling for the one woman he can’t have, a Kelpie whose magic comes straight from the Goblin King’s court. 

Nox Phillips has hidden on campus since she undid the Queen’s punishing spell. When she and Josh work together again, their mutual attraction can’t be denied. But for any favor shown to one Faerie court, a price must be paid to the other. Nothing can erase Nox’s guilt or prevent the Sidhe Queen from putting her on trial. How far will Josh go to save her? ​

Meet Me At Support The Fort!

Tomorrow morning, I'll be hosting for an hour to benefit the Canadian Red Cross in its efforts to help the people of Alberta. I'll be taking over at 10am EST. Join me for an hour of fun book chat and stick around for the other authors, including E.A. Copen, J.D. Cunegan, and Carol Ann King!

Guest Post by Brandon Varnell!

Hey guys! I have a guest post from a colleague and fellow writer! Hi, Brandon! Thanks for offering your sage Senpai knowledge about these little corners of the internet called Facebook and Twitter that is fascinating to us writer types. Here's a bit about him: 
Brandon Varnell is a writer... the end.

... Just kidding.

Brandon Varnell is the writer of the American Kitsune series. He has absolutely no skill at anything aside from writing and looking half-baked. He used to play guitar, but due to laziness, he never went anywhere with it. He also used to play a lot of video games, but after suffering this terrible affliction called book addiction, he only plays occasionally these days. Brandon lives mostly within his own imagination, but can occasionally be found in Phoenix, Arizona. Marketing using Facebook and Twitter Ads
You’re a self-published author who now has a couple of books out. All of them are lovely, with gorgeous cover designs, quality formatting, are excellently edited, and—most importantly—best seller material. Unfortunately, you’re a self-published author, so nobody knows that you exist. You don’t have a large marketing team who's got your back, you don’t have a publishing company who’s willing to take a share of the marketing burden. You are on your own.
Marketing is a daunting task for authors. Let’s face it, very few authors make good marketers. We’re not interested in advertising. We’re interested in writing. So, how does an author who isn’t interested in or doesn’t know how to market supposed to let everyone know that their books are awesome, that they exist, and that readers should read them?
Ads on facebook and twitter might be one method of doing this. Authors can pay for sponsored ads on facebook and twitter, who will then promote your ad to a targeted audience of your choosing. However, the question that a lot of authors will probably ask is: Does it work?
The answer to that question is ambiguous. To be perfectly blunt, there’s no true way to tell if your advertising is reaching its target market. That said, I’ve done my own marketing campaign on both twitter and facebook, and I am writing this post in order to share my knowledge and opinions.
​This is my sponsored ad for Facebook. As you can see from the information provided, this ad has reached 17,664 people, 709 people have interacted with it, and I spent $50.00 on this ad. Is this money well spent? Let’s take a look at the information.
17,664 people have seen this post. Most of these people didn’t click on my link. However, they have seen it. One of a self-published author’s greatest obstacles is getting readers to realize that they exist, that they have books out that are worth reading. With this ad, I now have 17,664 people who now know that my books exist. They might not do anything with this knowledge, but a few might be curious enough to at least check it out.
709 people have interacted with this ad. If you look at the information above, you can see what these people have done. 578 people have clicked on the link that will take them to my Amazon author’s page, 10 people have liked my page, 79 people have liked my post, 31 people have commented, and 11 people have shared it. This means that, outside of the 17,664 people who this sponsored ad was posted in front of, I’ve gained more organic views through shares, likes, and comments.
Now, I actually did another form of advertising with this post called a boost enhancement. Basically, I created this sponsored ad with a $50.00 price range. I then boosted this ad with another $50.00.
Here are the results: ​Looking at the ad after it was boosted, you’ll see that, instead of 17,000 people , I’ve actually reached 27,102 people. I also have more likes, shares, and comments thanks to the boost.
Does this mean that advertising on facebook is a sure bet for sales? No, but it is a good way of letting people know that you have a story worth reading.
Now that we’ve seen the facebook side of things, let’s take a look at my twitter ad.
​Twitter has a way of promoting ads for a price, similar in many ways to facebook, though also somewhat different. Essentially, what you do is create a promoted ad, which is available to anyone who has a twitter account.
As you can see from the image, I placed $100.00 on my ad, and then had it run through the days of May 1st through the 7th. By doing this, my ad received 80,100 impressions within that time frame, which means that 80,100 people saw it. Of those 80,100, only about 1,000 clicked on the link, and there’s no telling how many of those people actually bought my book. I’m guessing there may have been anywhere from 10-15 sales from this advertisement, but no more than that.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “If you only sold 10 or 20 books, then isn’t paying for advertising not worth it?”
The answer is, again, ambiguous. One of the many aspects about advertising that a lot of people don’t realize is that advertising is not about selling more of your product. Yes, that is the end desire. You want your books to sell, you want to make money off of them. However, advertising isn’t about making the sales. It’s about letting the people who wouldn’t have otherwise seen your book know that you exist, that your books exist.
In this regard, the twitter ad has succeeded. Over 80,000 people who wouldn’t have otherwise known that my books are out there and available now know. Maybe they don’t do anything with this knowledge, but that is not something that can be helped.
Selling is a tricky business. You can’t determine who will and won’t buy your book. Just creating an ad that says, “Hey! Buy my book!” doesn’t necessarily mean that people will buy your book. There are factors to consider, variables that we cannot begin to measure: How much money do these people have to spend, are they interested in what you’re offering, and is this the right time for them to buy? We don’t know whether or not these people can afford to buy your book, or if they’re even interested in it. As authors, all we can do is try and reach out to them and hope that some of them show interest.
Now for my final analysis and the answer to your biggest question: Is advertising on facebook and twitter worth it?
The answer to that question is dependent on what you want. If you’re looking for sales, then you’re likely going to be disappointed. Ads don’t necessarily generate sales. They create awareness. So, if awareness is your goal, then I can tell you that ads DO work, and here is the proof: ​Take a look at these images. These images show you what the people who have bought my fourth book, A Fox’s Family, also bought.
I am a parody writer. My series, American Kitsune, is an anime inspired series that was based off of the harem/romantic comedy genre that’s become so prevalent in anime, manga, and Japanese light novels. As you can see from these images, the people who’ve bought my book have bought similar products:
Spice and Wolf—a popular light novel series where the hero is a traveling merchant and the heroine is a wolf deity.
Fairy Tail—an incredibly popular shōnen anime that has a lot of action and fan service.
Monster Musume—a New York Times bestselling harem manga series about a young man cohabiting with several monster girls.
These people are my target market. They are the ones who I not only want to sell my books to, but who would appreciate my books the most. Are these sales due to my advertising on facebook and twitter? Maybe not all of them, but there is a good chance that some of them are, and those people who enjoyed my books will go on to spread the word to their friends. After all, word of mouth is still the best method of advertising.
So, if you want people to become aware of your books, then you need to get it in front of people. Facebook and twitter ads can do that. You might not make many sales at first, but this is a good way to let people know about your books. Just make sure that you have more than one book published first. Three would be the minimum I'd recommend, but having more would be ideal.
Good luck and happy writing.

Book Fanatics Event!

Hello, folks! I'll be hosting for an hour today, Saturday the 14th for the Book Fanatics Facebook page. 
Come on down, listen to some music, and play some games. You'll have chances to win ebook prizes and hear an announcement about PPC book 3.  
Head over here to check out posts by last night's hosts. 

Fangs for the Memories is live!

The second PPC book is live! Fangs for the Memories launched in Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited. Click the image to get the ebook! The print version is coming soon. Here's the description:

Memory is a tricky business.

No one remembers Maddie May. That’s fine with her; just a side effect of Umbral magic. Unfortunately, she has to take the Magic Theory Lab at Providence Paranormal College. Maddie won’t pass if the Professor can’t remember her.

Henry Baxter’s a psychic vampire who can store total recall for himself and others. He’s been in business since 1986, but new regulations mean he needs a degree to keep operating. Going back to college after sixty years on earth is definitely a drag, especially since society treats vampires as second-class citizens.

The woman everyone forgets and the man who remembers everything seem a natural pair. While Maddie’s all for it, Henry keeps pushing her away. But what if the only way they’ll survive is together?

While you're reading Fangs for the Memories, here's a drink that Henry would have liked back in his mortal days:
​
Red Death
1/2 oz vodka1/2 oz Southern Comfort
1/2 oz Southern Comfort
1/2 oz almond liqueur
1/2 oz triple sec1/2 oz sloe gin
1/2 oz sloe gin
1/2 oz lime juice
splash of grenadine
Shake with ice and serve. 

Dream of Indimagination

I had an absolute blast at the Indie Author Mega Release Party yesterday! I announced the second book in the Providence Paranormal College series, Fangs for the Memories.It'll be out by the end of April, but it should be up for pre-order by the 25th. That picture on the right up there is the cover.

I want to give a big thanks to Chelo over at Indimagination, who organized and ran the event. Here's a little ditty that's been kicking around in my brain since yesterday. The links in the song lyrics lead to the book those lyrics describe. It's a parody of this song right here:


Undead guy from who knows where
On paranormal investigations
Girls and bears at college
Make some sci-fi film quotations
And if you like these kinds of books
Check Indimagination.

It's a dystopian world
With teens sold off to corporations
A magic hit man has been hired
By a criminal organization
And these tomes were presented
By Indimagination

Pay attention to the comments
Enter contests and start playing
A quiz or caption you invent
Are sure to be engaging

Men in kilt uniforms
Shifters lovelorn
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination

Superhero girl out to save the world
Solve a mystery about her relation
Angry Norse gods' alliance frauds
With their fates in a new location
You find these stories at events done
By Indimagination

Politics and demon fear lead
To Paladins taking new stations
And Figments trouble writers
Trying to use their imagination
And if these ideas sound like fun
See Indimagination

If the writer's ways you praise
If you feel adulation
If you'd choose to leave reviews
It's cause for celebration

Rock stars from Texas they
Look back from L.A.
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination

War between the Faerie worlds
Means Megan's agitation
And Emma brews tea, reluctantly
While helping Detective Grayson
And you can meet the authors of these
Via Indimagination

Pay attention to the comments
Enter contests and start playing
A quiz or caption you invent
Are sure to be engaging

Knight training has begun
Dragons are no fun
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination
Check out Indimagination

Fight For Your Right to Release Party!

Click here to attend the event. I'll be following the hardest act ever when I host the Indie Author Mega Release Party set up by Zanzibar 7. Schwarzenegger on April 16. Yes, that's right. I've been slated right after the author of the amazing Paranromal Detective story, Grave Beginnings, the Otter Prince himself, R.R. Virdi. Maybe it's an initials author thing, I don't know. Anyway. I can still even anymore, so it's all good. 

This event is online on Facebook, happening all day. It starts at 10AM EST, and I'm on at 11AM, same bat time-zone. I have some big announcements planned for the Providence Paranormal series, so if you show up you will hear them first! Also on deck are some fun discussions on my process and inspiration sources, what else D.R. does besides writing, and a song parody. 

Stick around after I'm done and you get to hang out with Lee French, author of the fabulous Backyard Dragons and con-goer supreme. Check in at other points in the day, because it's 12 awesomesauce writers in 12 hours, with some amazeballs prizes delivered by rafflecopter. Click the image above to sign up for the Best Little Release Party in April!