NOTV Fun and Indie Author Updatery
When I wrote my two nonfiction books, I had no fing clue about the book promotion/marketing/publicity game. I did invest and experiment with PPC ads at GoodReads, Google, Reddit, and even Facebook. For the record, GoodReads is a pretty sound investment. Google even did decent numbers, but then everybody jumped on that gravy train, key words got expensive, and major publishers priced me out.
(Shakes fist).
As you may have gathered, The Night of the Virgin, has already appeared on iTunes for PreOrder and is even here at GoodReads. If you've been reading my monthly Tiny Letter, you'd have read some fun facts about my reading habits and, more importantly, that NOTV is basically done. After 10 months of editing and hiring a pro editor - formerly a senior editor at Bloomsbury - it's printing press ready.
So why the wait?
Reason number uno: super unscientific beliefs held by me. Namely, that novels and most books sell better when published at the start of summer. I don't envision NOTV as a bestseller or a beach read, but the English-speaking world loads up on books in May and June.
Secondly, and more scientifically: reviews. Press. Publicity. For my nonfiction books, I had no clue just how powerful and influential book reviews were. Thus, I've been tracking down cool sites, be they blogs, medium-sized sites, niche sites, or major news orgs, to whom my agent-publicist will send advanced copies in January/February.
I've actually already sent a few copies to cool people at cool sites - NOTV is about 80,000 words long, and I assume people have a 'to read" queue as long as mine, so I wanted to ship out copies ASAP.
I've also sent a few copies to readers that I know on Twitter and GoodReads; folks who have liked my writing for awhile. I know that seems a bit slanted, but there are so many "paid for" positive reviews in this world (which I flat out reject), that I don't feel bad zipping advanced copies out to longtime fans. I can only send so much.
Yes, I am pirating my work in a sense. In a bigger sense, though, I write to be read. I'm not hurling sentences and grafs out into the void just because I can. Also, most major publishing houses have a special email listserv for beta readers and blog reviewers. In a sense, I gotta compete with the Joneses.
Thus, between you and me, would you like an eBook version or paperback of NOTV to read and review on GoodReads (honestly preferred - no need to kiss my ass)? If so, message me here on GoodReads by the end of September. I only have so many copies left of the paperback to dish out, though. And a tiny mailing budget. And I probably can't send any more copies to spots outside the US.
Please keep this offer to GoodReads and I"ll also post it on my private, invite-only subreddit. No Twitter. No Facebook. It's not that I'm embarrassed - it's that I can't really hand out a whole shitload of copies per se. I'll have to start saying no, and that's no fun.
EDITOR'S NOTE - Still have a few copies, so I plugged it on Twitter.
(Shakes fist).
As you may have gathered, The Night of the Virgin, has already appeared on iTunes for PreOrder and is even here at GoodReads. If you've been reading my monthly Tiny Letter, you'd have read some fun facts about my reading habits and, more importantly, that NOTV is basically done. After 10 months of editing and hiring a pro editor - formerly a senior editor at Bloomsbury - it's printing press ready.
So why the wait?
Reason number uno: super unscientific beliefs held by me. Namely, that novels and most books sell better when published at the start of summer. I don't envision NOTV as a bestseller or a beach read, but the English-speaking world loads up on books in May and June.
Secondly, and more scientifically: reviews. Press. Publicity. For my nonfiction books, I had no clue just how powerful and influential book reviews were. Thus, I've been tracking down cool sites, be they blogs, medium-sized sites, niche sites, or major news orgs, to whom my agent-publicist will send advanced copies in January/February.
I've actually already sent a few copies to cool people at cool sites - NOTV is about 80,000 words long, and I assume people have a 'to read" queue as long as mine, so I wanted to ship out copies ASAP.
I've also sent a few copies to readers that I know on Twitter and GoodReads; folks who have liked my writing for awhile. I know that seems a bit slanted, but there are so many "paid for" positive reviews in this world (which I flat out reject), that I don't feel bad zipping advanced copies out to longtime fans. I can only send so much.
Yes, I am pirating my work in a sense. In a bigger sense, though, I write to be read. I'm not hurling sentences and grafs out into the void just because I can. Also, most major publishing houses have a special email listserv for beta readers and blog reviewers. In a sense, I gotta compete with the Joneses.
Thus, between you and me, would you like an eBook version or paperback of NOTV to read and review on GoodReads (honestly preferred - no need to kiss my ass)? If so, message me here on GoodReads by the end of September. I only have so many copies left of the paperback to dish out, though. And a tiny mailing budget. And I probably can't send any more copies to spots outside the US.
Please keep this offer to GoodReads and I"ll also post it on my private, invite-only subreddit. No Twitter. No Facebook. It's not that I'm embarrassed - it's that I can't really hand out a whole shitload of copies per se. I'll have to start saying no, and that's no fun.
EDITOR'S NOTE - Still have a few copies, so I plugged it on Twitter.
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