Inkshares Community discussion
Promotional Strategy Discussion
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Advice for Nerdist Contestants
Hello fellow writers. I am also a writer.I also did the Sword & Laser Collection contest. Here's the insight I wrote down after the facts.
http://www.jfdubeau.com/babbling-eloq...
My advice would be to work together. Promote the works of similar authors rather than your own work. I've adopted this approach with Blood Dawn and have found that it brings us all together much stronger than we would be otherwise. We all want to succeed, after all, and I truly believe many people working together with common vision go a lot further than several people working separately.
This community has been wonderful, and whatever happens with the Nerdist contest, I hope we all keep in touch.
John wrote: "My advice would be to work together. Promote the works of similar authors rather than your own work. I've adopted this approach with Blood Dawn and have found that it brings us all together much st..."This is actually possible to demonstrate mathematically. Assuming a certain average of followers per aspiring writer. If each writer brings his readership to Inkshares but only focuses them on him, each reader will buy X copies of his book. Each reader is, however, unlikely to buy more than 1 (or 3 if they really want their name in the book).
If, however, each reader is encouraged to explore more than one writer they are more likely to order multiple books. Now these books won't be from the writer that attracted them initially. There is a critical mass where enough readers are in the ecosystem that their cross-buying doesn't just increase pre-orders; it gets books funded.
I want Inkshares to reach that critical mass. That's why it's important to encourage our readers to look at other books because they need to become part of the ecosystem instead of just showing up, pre-ordering our book and leaving forever.
J-F wrote: "I want Inkshares to reach that critical mass. That's why it's important to encourage our readers to look at other books because they need to become part of the ecosystem instead of just showing up, pre-ordering our book and leaving forever."Totally agree with this! One great thing about us forming this group -- and continuing to grow it -- is that even after we reach our funding goals, we still have books we want to sell to readers. Why not keep working together? This is just such a great way to do things!
John wrote: "J-F wrote: "I want Inkshares to reach that critical mass. That's why it's important to encourage our readers to look at other books because they need to become part of the ecosystem instead of just..."That's kind of the trap we have to avoid falling into; to think that this contest is a) a one time thing and b) all there is to Inkshares.
Inkshares has to become a marketplace of literature. These contests are a way of attracting writers and the credit system of attracting readers, but once the machine is in motion, once people browse Inkshares for new things to read, they won't be as necessary. Our job as writers and participants this experience is to get to that point as fast as possible.
Almost half the pre-orders I have for God in the Shed are strangers. Not fellow writers, not friends and family. That means that if Inkshares had more traffic then it does now, I could fund organically through the site. And I'm sure it's the same for several if not most of us.
Think about that: You post your book, promote it a little, have FUN with your campaign, and have a good chance of funding without a contest or much effort.
That's the future we're trying to build with this.
J-F wrote: "Think about that: You post your book, promote it a little, have FUN with your campaign, and have a good chance of funding without a contest or much effort.That's the future we're trying to build with this.
"
In a way, what we are doing right now by forming this group is creating an open-ended win-win contest where rather than focusing on just the top five entrants winning by the end of September, we are focusing on all of us winning for as long as we continue to contribute to the Inkshares community.
!!
I've said it before and I'll say it gain: I want to break this contest. I want there to be seven or eight books that are funded by the end of this contest. What's Inkshares gonna do then? Sure, Nerdist can pick a favourite from the top five. But what about the free rides to get published? The top five HAVE their funding and more. What are you gonna offer us now Inkshares?
Mod
I agree with JF and John. With all of us centralizing our readers into the site and encouraging them to support the community, we can build an ecosystem where consistent funding through the Inkshares model is a viable option. I'm excited to see what the future holds.
I'm still working on trying to promote my book. I've posted on social media, but I'm just not getting the pre-orders I need. I know my novel is geared towards YA readers (I don't know the age range for writers/readers on Inkshares) and I worry that because my book is for teenagers it won't get the attention needed to fund.
Mod
Alas I have less time now that I'm in school full time and working part time. That will cut into my promotion time. Oh well, I'll just keep working on it.
Jim wrote: "First of all, if you only have three clearly friends and family aren't doing their jobs. Remind them about your book and that it's only ten dollars which is doable, about the cost of a Chipotle bur..."Thanks for the advice. I didn't know I could go into the library and promote. I have no idea about youth programs to go to :/. Even teenagers get allowances, or work a bit.
I have no idea about podcasting. I've heard about it, but it's something very very new to me.
Mod
Hey folks! So, I was talking with a few other writer friends of mine and we decided to made a page for authors (story tellers) and enthusiasts to get together to talk about the creative process--particularly how it relates to Myth, and how we, as storytellers, are creating MODERN Myths!
I JUST created this group on FB, and would LOVE if other Inkshares authors did guest postings where they could promote their work. I really don't want it to be a book promo SPAM, but a place where folks can talk about their creative process and why/how their story is important to humanity from a mythological perspective.
At its foundation, the group is dedicated to the interactions between C.G. Jung (and other psychologists), Joseph Campbell (and other philosophers,) Hero's Journey (and other story models) and how it all impacts us, as writers, as we create our "Modern Myths" in the form of Epic Fantasy/Sci-Fi storytelling!
If it was not obvious, my friends and I are HUGE geeks... So yeah.....
But, back on point: Starting Sept 1st we will begin a serial daily blog posting on the topic of "Creating the Modern Myth: A Hero’s Journey for the Technological Age" as the daily launchpad for our round table talks in the group. And I'd love for you Inkshares authors to contribute with your your stories so we can have ongoing discussions in which we share share ideas, ideologies, and passion!|
As of 3:33 PM ET 8/28 the group has 367 people in it, which is FREAKING amazing considering I just started it this week. (I wish I had that many backers for my book, haha!)
Here is a direct link to the FB group:
https://www.facebook.com/CreatingMode...
For more detailed information about the group you can visit my blog here:
http://apotheosisstudios.com/blog/201...
So, please join us over on "Creating Modern Myths" I think it will be a great way for Inkshare authors to bond over a shared passion, share storytelling ideologists, learn, grow, and ALSO, promote our books.
If you have any questions please let me know!
In closing, I'll leave you with a nice little quotation which, I feel, sums it all up very nicely:
"Authors describe a truth which cannot be told, show with images which can only be discovered on one's own, and point to a place within our readers so Ultimate--it can only be personally discovered, but never fully known. Despite this difficult undertaking, there is no reason any of us should take up the noble task of myth making, alone."
Thank you guys for inviting me to join the group- new to GoodReads and Inkshares, but I agree with what a lot of you are saying about how this collaborative adventure is greater than the sum of its parts, win or lose. I'm trying to get around to reading everything else that's posted, and what I have read so far really takes the edge out of this contest and humanizes the competition. I highly doubt any of us wrote a book or are setting out to write a book without an intense love, appreciation and passion for the written word. Even writing a shitty book would be a huge undertaking and from what I can tell you guys are all putting out some pretty amazing work! I have PTSD, so I am really putting a lot of eggs in the Social Media basket because interacting with people face to face is difficult and not my most effective means of communication.
Not unlike the Daredevil (nerd alert), I sometimes feel like the loss of my ability to function in the real world has honed my social media senses in compensation. lol
If anyone is looking for advice or has any questions, I'm more than happy to lend whatever assistance I can as I'm sure I'll be asking most of you for something at one point or another.
Thanks again!
Yeah, I wanna know how the hell you can be so relentless! You are right on my heels!Slow down LOL!!!!!
Also, we should friend / follow each other and back each other. What I've found is the real strength of this contest, is sort of getting all of us to meet each other.
Regardless of the contest, having writer friends for feedback, critical feedback, really harsh critical feedback that is absolutely vital to a good draft....
Is really important. Knowing people outside of your personal network to help with stuff, and help in turn, is proving to be the best "win" of this contest so far.
Richard wrote: "Also, we should friend / follow each other and back each other. What I've found is the real strength of this contest, is sort of getting all of us to meet each other."Every time I see someone pop up here who I haven't friended yet, I'm friend requesting them! Let's make a network stronger than chain mail.
Richard wrote: "Yeah, I wanna know how the hell you can be so relentless! You are right on my heels!Slow down LOL!!!!!
Also, we should friend / follow each other and back each other. What I've found is the real..."
I AM following you! :)
To answer what was probably a rhetorical question, I've spent a lot of man hours calling and messaging people directly- none of the copy and paste stuff either. I've also had a good deal of experience with online promotions, but most of all I've managed to put together a dedicated team of close people who I trust to help me push the promotions beyond my organic reach.
My boyfriend wants to help me promote my book. I'm trying to tell people I work with, but it's a small group. I might try reaching out to my little sister. She's 17 and might know friends who would want to preorder my book.
Some how I must of missed you. Okay, grabbed your book and clicked follow.
It's alright Richard :). Thanks for increasing my pre-order to 4 :D. I don't know what the YA following on Inkshares is, or if it's more of an adult audience. Granted I'm 28 and still read YA books and love them to death.
Some really good suggestions here. I need to step up my self-promotion game. I've gotten only a few preorders from friends mostly so far. I need to reach out to more people directly as suggested but like many of us author-types, I'm so terribly shy about that sort of thing... I guess I should get over it and get hustling, haha. I think supporting each other is a great idea as well. K.E. I love fantasy YA (and I'm almost 32!) so I went ahead and preordered your book!
I think one stumbling block my book suffers from is being niche within a niche - it's fantasy, but also (gay) romance, which while popular among a certain crowd it doesn't seem to quite fit in with the competition on this contest. Maybe I should have waited and entered a romance competition! Someone get "Smart Bitches, Trashy Books" on the line... ;)
How's everyone doing after the weekend?
E. R. wrote: "...I need to step up my self-promotion game. I've gotten only a few preorders from friends mostly so far. I need to reach out to more people directly as suggested bu..."Erin, my hope is that our Promotional Kit thread will be a great place where we can all dip in and randomly decide to feature an author of choice to our readers. For example, next reader update I share, I'm going to end it with someone's promo kit from here (Who will it be? Hmm...I'm going to have to put your names in a hat). If we all did stuff like that, then we have all our pooled readerships who are seeing us.
There is a little rule in marketing, I think it's called the law of seven, though I could be wrong. Show someone something seven times, and they're likely to go check it out. The problem right now is on Inkshares there's just so many books! You might be seen once, people will look, nod, smile politely, and say, "Maybe later." So, us pitching to our readships, guest blogging with each other, sharing on twitter of Facebook, all this stuff boosts exposure. On top of that, often times your readers trust you and your opinion, so they're more likely to check out someone you recommend rather than were that person to pitch to them as a stranger.
As for your niche, you're absolutely right that's important. I think there's nothing wrong with suggesting readers of fantasy check out a sci fi book, because there will be a reasonable intersection of readers who like fantasy who also like sci fi. Same goes with romance. I have romance galore in my novel, though it's not a romance at all. I just write about people in an imaginary world with magic, and, well, people fall in love, be they two men, two women, or the heteronorm (in fact, in my world, due to the cultural influence of the monosex Dwarf Men on humans, it is as normal for two men to be together as a man and a woman -- it is called the Northern Ways, after the North Kingdom which developed in the bosom of the Dwarf Men). I love fantasy books, so when I see they have a unique blend of something else, I'm game, so long as I'm still reading a fantasy book.
Anyway, random thoughts concluded.
John - Thanks so much! I appreciate the thoughts. I always prefer a little romance in my books! I think the promotional kits are a great idea. I think creating a community where everyone can help each other is certainly a huge step forward for us all. Even if we all can't win, we'll at least be moving forward with our goals in one way or another. For instance, even if I don't win or get published by Inkshares there are other venues I plan on investigating once the contest is over - self publishing and otherwise. It will be great to work together on this journey!
Mod
Niche or not. I liked your concept and pre-ordered it.
Joe wrote: "E.R. -Niche or not. I liked your concept and pre-ordered it."
Thanks so much, Joe! :)
Okay, so this isn't exactly advice... more like inspiration for all you fans of the "World is Screwed, Robots Gonna Kill Us!" genre. I saw this and thought this was a group of people that might enjoy having the daylights scared out of them. :Dhttp://anonhq.com/artificially-intell...
Robert wrote: "Okay, so this isn't exactly advice... more like inspiration for all you fans of the "World is Screwed, Robots Gonna Kill Us!" genre. I saw this and thought this was a group of people that might enj..."The AI was fed Dick's works. That's its vocabulary. It doesn't even have a world view to weigh it against. We are a long ways from robots killing us. In fact, a robot uprising is an embarrassingly unlikely scenario.
Sorry, just trying to be conversational. I know I'm not the best at it, but I'd like to get to know you all a little better. Plus, it was a nice diversion from having been hustling to no real avail yesterday. I'm sure you can feel me there at least. ha ha ha
Robert wrote: "Sorry, just trying to be conversational. I know I'm not the best at it, but I'd like to get to know you all a little better. Plus, it was a nice diversion from having been hustling to no real avail..."Oh yeah. I feel you.
You'll have to forgive me. 'Evil, human destroying AI' is a pet peeve of mine. I get irrationally irritated when it's assume robots are going to murder us all. I might need to see someone about that.
Thank you so much for the invite! I can't wait to catch up on discussions. No matter what happens with the contest-- I am so glad to have found Inkshares...and subsequently, all of you!
I've been staring at this empty box in this thread for a while now. I was trying to distill my "expertise" into something digestible and brief, but realized that advice from one of the more spectacular flame-outs of the previous S&L contest was probably not going to be especially useful.I also had to fight back my natural inclination to be cynical and glass-half-empty (huge success, as you can see).
And really, just about everything that needs to be said has already been said up above - by Joe, by J-F, and many others.
I absolutely echo the big points above:
- Maximize social media (within reason) while not expecting miracles from it
- Real-life connections are precious as gold
- And working as a team already seems to be paying dividends (this sort of community, replete with veterans of past wars, would have been a godsend back in April)
But if I was to submit one piece of advice, it would be this:
Be elastic.
Be elastic in your methods, be elastic with your expectations, be elastic with your emotions (which WILL at some point get the better of you).
Be elastic in your relationships with your audience, your buyers, and your fellow competitors - prepare space in your outlook and your (for lack of a better word) heart that can grow to accept when things don't go your way, or when a person needs a boost.
This is the one thing I wish someone had told me when I was getting involved.
I got overly invested. I got my expectations SUPER out of whack. I got touchy and competitive and resentful.
It sucked, is what I'm trying to say. And I could have prevented it.
So, listen to all of the very smart people up above me in this thread, and have fun, and keep writing no matter what.
I've had my doubts about funding, but this group and the fact that my friends and family have shown that they are supporting my book has helped.If my book doesn't get funded in the time allotted, I'll pick myself back up and try again. As far as I know Inkshares allows you to try again to fund your book.
There are things I wish I knew starting out, but I'm trying now. I think if I knew more about Inkshares and how it worked would have helped me start out better, but what's done is done.
There's still a month to go. If we've learned anything about the last contest is that things can shift very swiftly. Also, if you don't fund this go around it doesn't mean your bookie bad or can't fund. The contest is a pretty harsh crucible for this kind of campaign. The reader/book ratio is probably pretty weird and people's efforts are concentrated into half the time a normal campaign is expected to take.
Keep doing your thing. Refine your book page. Contact everyone you know. Make it about your book and your story first and foremost and learn. Learn for next time.
Because win or fail, there should be a next time.
Is there anyone who hasn't backed my book, or I haven't backed theirs yet. Let me know. Jameson had a fantastic point about building a community and working together. We are the authors that are chatting with each other and are being bloodied by Inkshare's and forged in the fires of this contest.And things will continue beyond this contest. So, if you don't see CrankyBolt or Richard Heinz in your "I've ordered your book". Send me a pitch or a pm. It's not much, but I would like to work very much with the people here in this group. Even post contest.
Mod
It is important to be mindful of yourself and not only focus on the numbers, or else your personal relationships and well-being will pay the price.
I just joined the group. Thanks all for the advice specially the blog posts from former contestants, that was quite helpful.This contest has become a full time job on top of my 9 to 5, and reading this thread has given me some perspective. Good luck everybody and feel free to reach out to me I am happy to help in any way I can.
Ricardo wrote: "I just joined the group. Thanks all for the advice specially the blog posts from former contestants, that was quite helpful.This contest has become a full time job on top of my 9 to 5, and reading ..."Welcome! Good luck with your promoting. It's work, but fun at the same time.
Not in the contest, but good luck to you all and I'm happy to help promote your books any way I can. Not really sure what that is, though. I'm pretty new/bad at the whole promotion side of this.
Adam wrote: " I'm pretty new/bad at the whole promotion side of this."i'm with you on that, I've had a long day promoting today, about 7 hours straight just following and pitching to about 350 people, rewriting my campaign page, making a facebook page and sharing it around (link at the end of the post for those interested)
all for a grand total of 4 followers on my book...lol
but it was a good day, i got a surprising amount done (no writing though..hmph), and hopefully those pitches will start rolling out to people tomorrow.
FB page link: https://www.facebook.com/ghostsofwarn...
Pitching your book to 350 people tells me you either are extremely dedicated or you got too much spare time. Given that we are writers, I'm guessing it's just dedication.
Yicheng wrote: "Pitching your book to 350 people tells me you either are extremely dedicated or you got too much spare time. Given that we are writers, I'm guessing it's just dedication."Yicheng and Paul, I've found pitching has about 2-5% return. However, not all at once. I've had people I pitched in July order a copy at the end of August. here's my thought on pitching:
We are looking for layers of exposure. Pitching is just one of them. Most people who see our pitches are not going to buy our books because there's just too many pitches (or they aren't logging into their Inkshares account because they signed up just to support their friend's book). But, all that pitching is important, because you are SEEN.
Add to that you being mentioned in an author's reader update once in a while. Add to that being seen in the Momentum newsletter. Add to that being seen in the Buzzzing directory. Add to that being seen as a reviewer in comments, or a book review on a book's page. Add to that showing up as a similar book on another book. Layers of exposure.
Eventually, if someone sees something enough times, they finally get curious. And if you have a great cover, great project page, great sample chapter, great pitch, some great reviews ... it all comes around. All of which is to make the point that pitches are not a waste of time at all -- they just aren't the be all end all.
I'm still waiting for K.E. Matsen to check my pitch :). At this point, I'm not above flailing and waving my arms around because Goodreads PM's suck, and Inkshares won't allow us direct communications. So, I need her to email me. Because... questions..So, that said: K.E.! Been trying to flag you!! Email me! Check your pitches! I has questions!
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Okay, that aside, actual advice for what's been working and what's not been?
This contest seems different than the last one, which isn't about the most number of preorders, but rather unique reader counts. I'll be honest... I don't sleep to much atm and I am constantly talking to people, or at least I try to be.
I've dialed back a bit and settled into reading and reviewing and highlighting excerpts on other peoples work for a break, and it's been healthy for me. So, I've stopped the hard campaigning. But it's all about talking to people face to face, and closing the deal right there. Using their iphone if you need for finalization.
The problems are: There aren't a lot of readers... annd... when your social network runs out. You have to get REAL creative in finding ways to stalk your local starbucks or game store. My single best day so far, was me standing outside with a giant sign that said "Demon stole my taco! WTF" #theseventhage.
I've...
Bought a lot of coffee.
A.
Lot.
Richard wrote: "I'm still waiting for K.E. Matsen to check my pitch :). At this point, I'm not above flailing and waving my arms around because Goodreads PM's suck, and Inkshares won't allow us direct communicatio..."Oh also wik, email: knitting.artist.616@gmail.com
I just want to say that this whole experience is so new to me. I am feverishly trying to finish my book, while learning this whole marketing and pitching concepts. I want to thank all of you for the advice listed here as I am already seeing returns on the communications with all of you. I only wish I could order a copy of everyone of your books (alas my family must eat -- they're so needy).With that I want to say I am throwing recommendations and follows out as much as I can. I think it is great and creates that "layers of exposure" if we at least support, follow, recommend and/or pre-order from each other as much as possible. I hope we all get to see our worlds find light in some readers hearts and minds.
http://www.josephterzieva.com/blog/20...