K.S.
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
First, I want to say that Royce and Hadrian are some of the most fun characters I’ve read. Can’t wait to read more. Me and some friends have been publishing our books as a team. We have good feedback so far, but are struggling to find readers. Do you have any advice for us? What were some of the challenges when you first started and how did you overcome them? Anything you share will be much appreciated.
Michael J. Sullivan
Hey K.S. thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy the adventures of Royce and Hadrian, and congratulations on your own publishing. I just took a look at your goodreads page. And I do have some advice.
1. It's really, really hard to get traction with only one book released. Three is a magic number so I would ask you to concentrate on releasing more books and get to three as soon as you can. Don't worry too much about promoting book one because even if you get people to read it (and they like it) they'll want something else to read and you don't have anything. So advice #1 is to spend 90% - 95% of your time writing books #2 and #3 and once you get three books you can think about worrying about promotion.
2. So what do you do with that 5% - 10%? You should focus on getting reviews. Right now you have only 3 reviews on goodreads and none on Amazon. Again, it makes no sense to drive people to your books until you have some "third-party" validation that it is worth them checking out. What will happen is if you spend time getting them to your pages, they'll leave because they don't want to "risk" the read without anyone else weighing in first.
Now how to get reviewers? We'll don't go to your friends and family - you want INDEPENDENT reviews. Since you are already on goodreads, I suggest that you look for a book that is similar to yours, and find some people who have read that book and liked it. Then, strike up a conversation with them. Let them know you are a new author and you want to offer them a complimentary copy in the hopes of an HONEST review. If they do post a review on goodreads, ask them nicely if they would copy/paste it to Amazon.
Once you get 12 or so reviews on Amazon and about 25+ reviews here on goodreads, come back and ask me for next steps - as that should keep you busy for now ;-)
I wish you great success!
1. It's really, really hard to get traction with only one book released. Three is a magic number so I would ask you to concentrate on releasing more books and get to three as soon as you can. Don't worry too much about promoting book one because even if you get people to read it (and they like it) they'll want something else to read and you don't have anything. So advice #1 is to spend 90% - 95% of your time writing books #2 and #3 and once you get three books you can think about worrying about promotion.
2. So what do you do with that 5% - 10%? You should focus on getting reviews. Right now you have only 3 reviews on goodreads and none on Amazon. Again, it makes no sense to drive people to your books until you have some "third-party" validation that it is worth them checking out. What will happen is if you spend time getting them to your pages, they'll leave because they don't want to "risk" the read without anyone else weighing in first.
Now how to get reviewers? We'll don't go to your friends and family - you want INDEPENDENT reviews. Since you are already on goodreads, I suggest that you look for a book that is similar to yours, and find some people who have read that book and liked it. Then, strike up a conversation with them. Let them know you are a new author and you want to offer them a complimentary copy in the hopes of an HONEST review. If they do post a review on goodreads, ask them nicely if they would copy/paste it to Amazon.
Once you get 12 or so reviews on Amazon and about 25+ reviews here on goodreads, come back and ask me for next steps - as that should keep you busy for now ;-)
I wish you great success!
More Answered Questions
Joshua
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Michael, have you ever read the Drizzt Do'Urden series by R.A. Salvatore? I am currently cruising through them and I'm finding them to be a fun read. I see a lot of Hadrian and (post Hadrian's influence) Royce as well. I do have you to thank for getting me into the fantasy genre and look forward to your upcoming works. Josh
Elizabeth
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hi there, Not so much of a question, just yet another request that you PLEASE continue writing the adventures of Royce and Hadrian. Out of all of the books I've ever read, this is, quite honestly, one of my very favorite book series. I read the Chronicles and the Revelations all within a month and I literally missed the characters when I was finished (so much so that I've started all over again :)?
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