Marketing Experiment for December 2015
December 2015 has been an interesting experiment in marketing book one of The Stone’s Blade series, The Blood. In preparation for the upcoming release of the second installment of the series, The Balance, I launch a multi-pronged social media announcement scheduled across three different sites.
I began the month with by paying for several advertisements on a website for readers called BookDaily. Their daily e-mails to general audiences and targeted e-mails for readers of specific genres included a brief blurb, copy of the cover and link to Amazon for purchase along with the first chapter as a sample.
Then I set up a five day FREE Kindle download from Amazon which ran from December 18 through the 22nd. This was been a very interesting result. Day One 148 downloads, Day Two 158 downloads, Day Three 40 downloads, Day Four 231 downloads, Day five 92 downloads. The jump on day four is directly related to a single day announcement on Goodreads of the free Kindle version.
On December 22 I decided to check on the rankings: this was my posting on Facebook: So here’s the good news on the Kindle down loads and rankings on Amazon for The Blood.
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,048 Free in Kindle Store
#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera
If you look carefully you will notice that I broke into the top 10 in two categories – Time Travel and Space Opera! Thank you to everyone who downloaded the past five days. I look forward to seeing your reviews when you get the chance to post. I hope you enjoy the read.
Then on the evening of the 23rd I returned to Amazon to see how far the book had dropped in the rankings. This was what I found:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,432 Paid in Kindle Store. #403 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel. #1614 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera. #1871 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery
A fascinating difference, don’t you think? Now I am hoping that of the total of 669 downloads of the Kindle version at least 65 (I’m thinking 10%) will actually read it and perhaps post honest reviews to Amazon and or Goodreads. That will have wait I guess because it should take most readers a couple of weeks to read. I mean a lot of people actually collect free downloads and probably read none of them. I hope to see an uptick in the number of reviews around the end of February 2016. That’s when I am hoping to get The Balance out. Somehow I am hoping for some bleed over from all the Kindle downloads of The Blood to purchases of either the Kindle or paperback version of The Balance.
This marketing is all a learning process. I really just want to write the stories but I must learn how to be more effective in my marketing – essentially no one else is going to do this for me. I promised the characters I would write their stories and I promised to do my very best. Learning marketing of fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy is not an easy task and I believe it will be worth it. My goal is to break even. At an average of $3 to $5 profit from each book I must sell at least 2,000+ paperbacks just to break even on The Blood. I believe this is possible. I will be patient. Most series don’t really get noticed until at least the third installment is well into publication. I have five titles. I truly can hardly wait to get started on number three, The Blades. Yet, again, I must wait and be patient. Number two, The Balance demands my attention for now. I promise it will be good. I am doing my best and with help and guidance from my editor, proofreader, book designer and a couple of beta readers, it is worth the wait.
Have you read The Blood yet? What do you think? Please post a review on Amazon, Goodreads or BookDaily. Don’t keep it a secret.
I thank you for sharing the stories of The Stone’s Blade.
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Charles, two things I have learned is that 1) the story has to be written first and 2) then you must take the time to get it edited by someone other than yourself, then you can begin to market it. Use a network of people, programs and opportunities - don't keep it a secret. Carry a box of books with you, have a one-sheet available to hand out to bookstore owners, libraries, locations where you might find tie-ins to your story, etc. When people ask what you do, tell them that you write and have published a book, hand them a bookmark or a business card with links on them to where they can purchase it. I will look up your Seven World's series, Charles. Thanks for responding.
Do you have a plan to market your series? Have you chosen at least three social media sites to focus your efforts on?
I agree completely about writing, and writing well being the number 1 priority. As for editing, I'm fortunate to have a hawkeyed writer's group, and experience as an editor myself. That, a couple of good beta reads, and many, many pass-through edits on my own produce very clean copy.
Marketing's a different story. I write under a pen name for a number of reasons, so I cyber-market. I appreciated seeing your experience on Kindle/Goodreads downloads. As for paid advertising, I've gotten some very good reviews, and my first novel Dancing With The Dead, is up for a couple of awards, so I'm writing my butt off to get the second one in the series completed, and waiting to see what happens with the awards. At that point, I'll probably go with some paid advertising.
Congrats on the awards for your first book. The paid advertising on BookDaily is the first time I've tried it. We will see. December was the first month. I am thinking of stopping it in February depending on the number of hits or purchases "The Blood" gets between now and then. Glad to hear you have a good writer's group. Which awards is "Dancing With the Dead" up for? How did you go about getting it considered? I m always looking for ways to get the word out - I may not use them but I do need to know about them. "The Blood" won three awards in the 2014 EVVY Awards held by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. I hope to enter the second book, "The Balance," in same by end of May 2016. Good that you are paying attention to what you are writing and making the effort to make it good before publishing.
You might want to post a thread on Goodreads asking what the folks there think about different awards. You'll get a lot of feedback I'm sure. Glad to hear you won three awards at the 2014 EVVY's. I think they're a worthwhile award program. I have been a judge for the EVVY's for two years now, but I have not been asked to read your book--I'd remember it.
Charles Freedom Long