Marketing and submitting

Well I have spent a lot of time perusing all the different ways to advertise and I have decided to “go it alone” and do the best I can with my skills (or perhaps lack of) and alongside creating ways to market my books I have also decided to do a few submissions to Agents/Publishers in the process.

Of course I have already had one or two rejections (the joys of electronic submissions means the rejections come back faster). I’ve also had some “we will think about it” so that can only be a good thing. No matter though I can;t do any more than I am doing to promote The Magdon at the moment.

Once such idea was to create a book trailer.

A book trailer? How on earth would I go about that with just me and my absolute zero experience of filming anything. Of course I’ve said before, I see what I write in my head as if it were a film so perhaps it’s something I could do.

So I thought what would work….I can’t afford actors, I can’t afford camera crews and everything so what did I have that would reflect a bit of a teaser?

Then I started to pull together all the things I have made and built as part of making the Magdon story real for my children.

A sword here, a skull, a diary, some maps, letters, bandages……

The pile grew.

Then I had an idea and quickly grabbed my digital camera. We aren’t talking some all singing all dancing fandangled device. It is a bog standard piece of kit.

Down into my cellar I went and pictured in my head what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to look.

It was simple. I did a few “takes” as it were and then got what I wanted with a few adjustments.

Straight onto the laptop and I know the music I wanted – promptly pointed out by my darling wife that copyright and royalties would be an issue. Damnit. Free source music and a powerful enough track was found, not nearly as good for what I was planning but it would do.

Using software installed on the laptop I did the best I could with the resources I had and do you know what……………..I’m rather pleased with it.

So really what have I learned this week? If you have an idea then run with it. If you have  vision then see it. If you believe in your “product” then promote it. As I have learned there is only one person who truly believes in what I have created and that’s me – I am slowly converting people to my vision but it takes time and I am doing everything I can to self promote and gain some momentum with this.

Here is the link to the finished product!

TRAILER

Alongside this I am running a standard Goodreads competition but have also done my own “like & share” style Facebook competition for a signed copy of my book. It’s all working to slowly but surely expose The Magdon to more and more people. Who knows if it will work, all I know is I can honestly say I am trying.