Hello, I seek advice...

[Rusty]

Hello,

How do I get my sci-fi book on the list of books to be read by this group? Or, how does it work?

My sci-fi book is the first of a 4 book series, book 2 due out this Dec. Everything, me, the 120,000 words of my book...all of it could be BS but one thing is not...the Kirkus review. I allowed them to publish the full review because ever word was amazingly fantastic! http://tinyurl.com/kjmnyyu Please check it out.

Reader reviews are also fantastic but sales are dismal...no one knows about the book exists and I'm new at this and just starting.

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Rusty Williamson
Sci-fi for the 21st Century
www.RustyWilliamson.com
www.TheSpiralSlayers.com

[Budd, Dictator of Indoctrination]

Rusty,
Our book of the month is chosen by a monthly poll. We generally don't put self published works on the poll as they don't usually garner any votes against more popular books and authors. Self published works are generally an unknown quantity. I am asking everyone as part of the group to read a book every month. Sure, most people do not participate, but some people are very consistent in reading what we suggest. I can't in good faith, put a book on our reading list that I personally can't vouch for or that popular opinion can't vouch for.

I understand that you need to get your book out there and that you need to raise awareness for it. As the book of the month, that just isn't likely to happen at this point. Fortunately, we do have options for authors to promote their work.

Feel free to advertise your books in our book promotion folder. If you have free books or the book goes on sale, you can link to it in the Sales/free books folder. I have not received any feedback from authors on whether these sections have increased sales or not. I think these type of sections help if someone is active in that group. Not just trying to get you active in this group, but from other groups I am in, when the author of a book comments a lot and creates online friendships, the people in that group are more willing to take a chance on their book.

Hope this helps.

[Eric]

Hi Rusty,

Writing a book is only one portion of the process these days. The marketing of said book is a very important part of its future. If you're self-published, then you won't have the assistance of a publisher, an agent, or marketing staff. This means you'll have to do all that work yourself on top of actually writing/publishing the book itself. That's a big chunk to bite off and chew.

I wish you the best and commend you for your ambitions.

Regards,

~Eric