Pulling trigger on book 2

[Mike]

Hi all,

I've got my second book ready and I'm trying to work out the best time to put it out there - should i wait for my first book to come off of its current KU run so I can put the first book on instafreebie to try and drum up interest, or should I just whack my second book out there ASAP because building up my library of published work is what will drive sales?

Any views, as ever, greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Carole]

This is a great time to release a book. It's right before summer and that's the best marketing tool- a great summer read or this is the book to take on vacation. We always had solid results when we released this time of year.

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Congratulations and good luck, Mike. Hugs

[Mike]

Thanks Carole, I'm leaning towards getting it out there sooner rather than later. I'm thinking of putting together a launch package (or more likely, paying someone else to do it for me), will update on what difference it makes this time around vs the first book that i just pushed out without any fanfare, or even a professional cover!

[Mike]

Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger) wrote: "Congratulations and good luck, Mike. Hugs"

thanks Sam :)

[Carole]

Mike wrote: "Thanks Carole, I'm leaning towards getting it out there sooner rather than later. I'm thinking of putting together a launch package (or more likely, paying someone else to do it for me), will updat..."

Julie always did a slow build for my son's books- like a tease. She made these fun Facebook parties and would get people guessing what the book was about. We gave out prizes related to the books- For The Flip we gave out Home Depot gift cards- small amounts. For Pokergeist, customized decks of cards. We gave out suntan lotion, beach bags, Halloween candy for a monster book, even Starbucks gifts cards in case they spent the entire night reading 'cause they couldn't put the book down. It worked- his books always started with a bang.

[Ember-Raine]

Hi Mike! I would say sooner rather than later! I myself have been releasing every two or so months to keep readers interest. I think if you get your library packed with books then other things will come a bit easier! People will trust your work and you will have a bit more wiggle room when it comes to marketing and such! Hope this helps!

[Erica]

Carole wrote: "Mike wrote: "Thanks Carole, I'm leaning towards getting it out there sooner rather than later. I'm thinking of putting together a launch package (or more likely, paying someone else to do it for me..."

I like the Starbucks gift cards idea! Lol

[Nat]

Ember wrote: "Hi Mike! I would say sooner rather than later! I myself have been releasing every two or so months to keep readers interest. I think if you get your library packed with books then other things will..."

I didn't realize that, Ember. Wow, that's great. I wish I had your dedication... And I think you're right too.

[Ember-Raine]

Thanks Nat! I saw a video series about how to have the perfect year releasing books from JA Huss and she gave the advice that an author should release as often as they can. 6 books a year and keep writing and promoting as much as possible! It's my plan for a successful year of book sales lol!

[Mike]

Ember wrote: "Thanks Nat! I saw a video series about how to have the perfect year releasing books from JA Huss and she gave the advice that an author should release as often as they can. 6 books a year and keep ..."

woweee, that is some serious dedication. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Nat]

Ember wrote: "Thanks Nat! I saw a video series about how to have the perfect year releasing books from JA Huss and she gave the advice that an author should release as often as they can. 6 books a year and keep ..."

Well if you need a boost or a push, let me know (on FB or TW or however.)

I wish I could do that. Maybe next year. I just don't have the mojo this year.

[Chris]

Hi Mike,

Just putting this out there just in case, but I advise having an ad to your first book to your second book, and vice versa. As in, you may want to resubmit your first book with the ad before you release the second one (certainly before you do any marketing). This is something we do in the book's we design and publish.

Chris

[Mike]

Chris wrote: "Hi Mike,

Just putting this out there just in case, but I advise having an ad to your first book to your second book, and vice versa. As in, you may want to resubmit your first book with the ad bef..."

thanks Chris, been putting off resubbing first book because it is just such a faff getting the layout right purely add one line but will do it this weekend :)

[Chris]

It gets more time consuming with each new entry in a series, too, lol. If you ever need help with design or subbing, or getting new designs for different formats, be sure to check us out - www.oldmatemedia.com

Best of luck!!

[Mike]

Hi all - i thought I'd just give a quick update on how opening weekend went.

I hired a guy that i know to be a successful self pub fantasy author (my genre is sci fi/fantasy) from the self pub sub reddit to arrange the launch for me after reading his extensive series of blogposts on how to do it, i was convinced he knew his stuff.

http://www.stuartthamanbooks.com/mark...

Here are the numbers - I paid US$1k.

It's steep but the guy comes with a guarantee that if you don't make that back in the first month, he will refund you the difference. Obvs that's a leap of faith.

As of 9am UK time on Monday June 5, I've had 34,720 page reads on Kindle, and 25 book downloads.

My existing book went to number 3 in the relevant sub category and in the top 3k of all kindle books and the latest book opened in the top 100 of the relevant sub category and is now at 88 in that category.

Email communications have been good throughout, with the guy asking relatively little from me to get the ball rolling. I think he does some pre-checks to make sure your book has a decent cover and has been edited etc before he agrees to take you on.

So do i think it was worth it? well, there's still some time left on the service to go, but I am pretty certain that I wouldn't have been able to hit those sorts of numbers unaided.

If you can afford it (and 1k is expensive!!!) then I would say it is definitely worth it.

[Amy]

That's a lot of money, if however you make your money back and it helps to build future sales-how awesome would that be! Good luck.

[Amy]

So would I. I'm not in a position to do so, but I've always been someone who likes to throw money at a problem to help it along. The last few years of not being able to do that have been stressful and tedious.

[Mike]

yeah I must admit that it was a very odd sensation to send so much money to someone over the internet from a forum for a service that is hard to quantify, but i just got a rebate for something that almost hit the 1k mark, so thought f**k it and went for it. :)

[Mike]

Alex I'm sure I remember reading on your blog that your epub career is your job now?

If so, you could write off the expense of hiring someone to market the book as tax deductible as it's a legitimate business expense.

Just a thought.

[Mike]

Alex wrote: "Mike wrote: "Alex I'm sure I remember reading on your blog that your epub career is your job now?

If so, you could write off the expense of hiring someone to market the book as tax deductible as ..."

aye fair enough - i'm sure you will get there!