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Marketing Tactics
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How do you promote Book 2 when no one read Book 1?
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Hi JD, got a couple questions to start off with:How many books are going to be in the series? If it's just these two, then I would suggest doing some price break promotions on both books (first free, second at 99¢) to begin gaining readership. If there are more to be written, it might be best to have your series complete or close to complete before you start heavily promoting.
Also, you mentioned revamping. This is good because it brings your book back into the spotlight, but you also want to make sure people are aware that it's the same book. If you've pulled your book and republished under a new name, anyone who might have had the original book will not be pleased to find they've bought the same book again.
Beyond that, as we've said a million times, marketing results aren't set in stone. Everyone will see different results. Check through our archives for various things that have worked for different authors here and do some experiments of your own.
What is your social media coverage? What is your social media platforms? Do you post regularly? Also, do you have a website? One thing I have learned is Quality Quantity, meaning producing books often. These don't need to be full-length novels; they can be novellas or short stories.
The more you produce, the more people notice you. It is a numbers game.
How many writer groups and forums are you a participate? Supporting others can help you in the long run.
Creating talk about your writing helps and helping other authors makes you feel good.
First, be sure of your target audience. I know friends and family are often not the best people to try to get to read your books. Are they only ebooks or are they printed? I take a book with me wherever I go but if they are only on line you have to start by selling yourself and then introduce the books.
I'm doing a buy one get one free promotion at the moment but that is when I am speaking at local events.
Good Luck.
My story is almost identical to that of JD. I started writing since 2010, although I first published last August. There were some downloads during the free promotion, but I haven't made any sales yet. Also, I'm extremely low on budget right now. Have spent almost all I have to get the book well-polished before publication.
I'm actually going through the same thing right now. I'm offering a novella that came after the first book that I wrote( neither of which no one will read), for free right now. It's really sad when you offer a book for free and still can't get any downloads so I figured I'd was doing something wrong and I have turned to Pinterest to get some light shed on my books. That's probably a good idea if you can manage that because that's all image based, you can gain lots of followers and there's lots of traffic to be driven to your books, your website, social media etc. through Pinterest. What I did was I pinned pictures of my novel covers from my website to my board( which showcases nothing but my current books - I also have regular boards that I Pin other stuff I'm interested in so I don't look like I'm just on Pinterest to find people to follow me. If you haven't been on Pinterest before once you get on it's hard to get off because there's so many things to see LOL) but I made sure to sign up with Amazon's affiliate program first. I use the affiliate link to my book in the Pinterest pin on my board so not only will I get a sale from the book but I get kickback money from Amazon anytime somebody buys something by going to Amazon through my website (even if it's not in my book!). Still trying to tweak that and figure it out because the social media stuff is overwhelming at times. The market is very oversaturated for social media as well as for Indie publishing and it is so much information, a lot of it conflicting, it will make you feel like you're losing your mind if you're not accustomed to dealing with this stuff. So what I started doing too was looking up marketing techniques on Pinterest to get step-by-step visuals and ideas on how to promote my books. I just started doing that this week so I will keep you guys posted as to how it works out. I also uploaded trailers for my books onto YouTube after creating a channel(where I am the only subscriber, so that tells you how good it's going so far LOL), which I monetize through Google AdSense. Every time someone clicks my video, comments, whatever that's more kickback money from Google on top of Amazon. Same thing goes for the blog, monetize with AdSense and let them display ads on the side of your blog and web site(if you have one) Are you comfortable with blogging or talking about your work? Even though I have the gift of the gab I have a hard time blogging because I never know what to write about. But someone suggested to me don't just talk about your books, talk about everything. So I plan on doing a blog post on how I'm about to update my office where I do most of my writing and I figured it would give people a little glimpse into my real life where I'm not writing. since I drink coffee more than Anyone, I plan on doing a similar post on a coffee bar that I plan to put in my home office(just a little DIY project). I know it sounds a little over-the-top but I'm really trying everything I can to just get the readership that I need and get people interested in wanting to know more about me(both as a person and as a writer) and my books. Good luck!Erica;-)
Thank you all for your responses. I have whole saga envisioned but the current series will be four books. I planned on releasing various short stories as I worked on book 3. I also have a website where I regularly put up lore/backstory snippets and concept art that I do.As for social media, I'm all over the place. I post my art on Deviant Art, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram in an effort to draw attention to my work but it never really amounts to anything. I hashtag the crap out of everything I do but no one ever sees it. There is just way too much stuff on the Internet and I just can't compete. I tried to stay active in writing communities like AO3 and Wattpad but just met with more of the same.
I barely have time to write let alone spend hours upon hours a day messing around on social media. I also don't have the personality for it. Like I said, some people thrive on it but I can't. I'm not a social person, even in more traditional settings. (I'm basically Mr. Darcy. An INTJ if you're into Briggs-Meyers) I hate attention, which is ironic because I also need outside edification and positive encouragement. Alas, such is my fate.
In a perfect world I'd have a publicist do all this stuff for me and I'd just show up for signings and interviews. I don't think I'm cut out to be a a successful indie writer, at least not yet. Maybe time, more content, and a spot of good luck will help me get there.
I would suggest making the first book free and trying to build an audience through Instafreebie and Bookfunnel. I know giving it away sucks when you're hoping for sales, but it seems to be the way forward... I'm no expert, and my book isn't selling much either, but that seems to be what people are doing, and they have success that way.
J.D. wrote: "Thank you all for your responses. I have whole saga envisioned but the current series will be four books. I planned on releasing various short stories as I worked on book 3. I also have a website w..."I have nothing to offer, just that I relate to this a lot J.D.
I think giveaways have helped. I'm not sure if they translated to sales, but certainly I've gotten noticed a little that way. Best investment of all I think.
I have heard people suggest getting a new front cover.
Samuel wrote: "(1) Producing [quality] books often. These don't need to be full-length novels...The more you produce, the more people notice you. It is a numbers game. (2) Supporting others can help you in the long run."These 2 are the most important. All the media rituals have failed for me except these 2 methods which result in genuine human response at least. I trust sales will follow eventually. :=)
J.N. wrote: "I find that flailing aimlessly against the wind, while superficially fruitless and wasteful, does offer a surprisingly good workout."S.W. wrote: "Samuel wrote: "(1) Producing [quality] books often. These don't need to be full-length novels...The more you produce, the more people notice you. It is a numbers game. (2) Supporting others can hel..."
As newly indy pub writer I found the marketing was harder than writing the book! Firstly locating my audience (YA/Teen equine fiction readers) online as a group is impossible, I'm very active on FB, LinkedIn and my website. But after daily posting for a couple of mths, I've begun selling which is very cool. I think the biggest thing for those starting out is to get someone or a group to help work through yr novel before you publish it so it's really good. I had an unknown woman recently send me an unsolicited mss to read (200 pgs!) and I read the first para which had various tenses and povs so I didn't know who was what or where and when. It seems once the skills are solid, the marketing plans can actually kick in and work. Best of luck with it!
I find that flailing aimlessly against the wind, while superficially fruitless and wasteful, does offer a surprisingly good workout.
Hola JD, Te entiendo perfectamente, yo estoy igual, no se que hacer ya para dar a conocer mi novela. Por lo poco que he aprendido en todo este tiempo, tengo entendido que la mejor plataforma para dar a conocer tu libro es Amazon, ya que vende el 81% a nivel mundial de libro electrónico y el 41% de libro en papel. Resumiendo...si consigues comentarios de tu libro el Amazon conseguirás que tu libro se lea, yo se lo he pedido a familiares y amigos, pero como tu dices... o no tienen tiempo, o no se acuerdan, en fin... nos movemos en arenas movedizas... Seguir luchando es lo que nos queda...Ánimo!
So let me first state that I am not selling a ton of books either. I, too, have a series and I think it's very hard to have book 1 done but not the others up for grab yet. I think that turns away a lot of readers who don't want to start something they can't immediately get at least the second installment of. It also makes it hard to work the magic of freebies and discounts, where one book immediately attracts (at least hopefully) the sale of another. So if you believe you have something special, writing those other books is probably priority #1, or at least #2. Making sure you harness the power of Amazon during book #2's launch would be incredibly smart too. I didn't for book #1 and that was a HUGE mistake on my part.
BUT...I don't want to just end my thoughts there. This summer I read a book by Simon Sinek, "Start With Why," and there is some incredibly good advice in this book made for leaders and innovators as a whole, not just writers.
Simon highly recommends that one strive to have something so good, so needed in the world, and such a clear message of it's "why" that it eventually sells itself. (Obviously, you still need to pair it up with strategic marketing or the world won't know about it!)
But the point is, many of us put ourselves in a cycle of "carrots and sticks." We see everyone with every product in the world offering this promo, deep discount, or freebie in order to catch a quick buy. However, now that everyone in the world does that (for the most part), you have to work even that much harder to add more gimics or more free value to catch someone's attention the next time around. And that's very hard as one can grow an enormous TBR pile off of free books that can last an eternity.
So it's really important that we not fall into a trap where we are writing one book after another, just so that we have something free to promote what we wrote last time. It can be a vicious cycle and cost us more time than the money we make in the long run. (If you're doing it merely for the love of writing, then no worries. If you're going into debt from writing and chasing your tail like a rabid raccoon, then PROBLEMS!!! LOL)
Instead, Simon suggests to have a strong product that a small percentage of the world recognizes as being something they believe in and that they believe is different and set apart from the rest. ( Whether it's being a product or a story, it doesn't matter.)
That small population of "influencers" will naturally champion it for you and, just like buying a Mac over a pc, they won't care that they had to pay a little more for it. They may even brag about that. They just like knowing they have something really good that fits their lifestyle and their belief system. People want to be inspired, not just briefly entertained, and they will pay an honest amount for something they believe in.
That's him, not me. But I was inspired enough that I'm giving it at least 1-2 years of trust that he's on to something :)
J.N. wrote: "Very well stated."Thank you!
I'm not selling millions, but I'm selling steadily, so here's what I found: Book one will sell (in my experience) if book two is out there or soon coming out- do make use of pre-order features with book 2 as this means you sell more on Release Day.
I also made book 1 free for a LIMITED time when book 2 came out (and promoted the free book using Book Lemur and a couple of other outlets) which did mean lots of book 1 was bought, therefore making you more visible on Amazon.
In terms of social media, I don't know if many authors get lots of sales that way, but I find it useful to get involve with giveaways and newsletter swaps etc with other authors, which do result in sales.
Like I said, I'm no expert, but these things worked for me!
Another author once told me to keep my expectations modest and see anything that exceeds them as a bonus, and I think that's a good way to look at it.
I've been following this with interest but I have little I can say except I learnt in business that first establish credibility, then establish visibility.I've worked hard to make my novels credible, making them visible is so very difficult in an overcrowded market - yes overcrowded. And it's getting harder. All some of us can hope for is a miracle or that several million would-be authors drop out. A miracle might be the best hope!
I was asked to donate a copy of my book for a fundraiser to be auctioned off. The auctioneer had read my book and she was able to raise 175.00 for a museum. A few days later my book sales went up. it was well worth the donation and the aviation museum made a few bucks.
Hi Alex, 30 sales a day at 0.99 is great.
That is so stinking awesome, Alex! You have kicked me in the butt this morning to spend my time today working on book 2 and get that bad boy out there. I do plan to do some spells of $0.99 cent promos and then maybe once a year, 2 day only freebie through heivyweights like Free Booksy and Bookbub, etc., when book 2 releases. I just don't want to have to permanently mark book 1 as free if I don't have to. Or have my going rate be $0.99 on the new one.
All in time. We try things and look back to see if they're working. But I would be quite happy to see 30 books sold per day, especially if I could get them at the $2.99 rate. My current quarterly goal is to sell 7 books a day at $2.99. The most I have ever sold in a day was 166, and I will confess that was through a $0.99 cent promo with BargainBooksy.
Alright! Off to write she goes....
I'm fascinated that you imply visibility is easier in the UK than in the US. For me it is completely the other way round. No complaints, I hasten to add - it is truly wonderful to kick off in the biggest market. But the UK? Visibility? How do you achieve vis? I'm English, the books are all set in England but within a few days of my first book being published on Amazon, the US sales started to exceed the UK ones. I hadn't, even in my wildest dreams, thought of selling any in the US.So how, Alex, have you done this? (I've hurriedly made a note to put book 1 of the trilogy free after my next KCD which is already booked). Visibility in UK!!! How, Alex how?
Amie wrote: "So let me first state that I am not selling a ton of books either. I, too, have a series and I think it's very hard to have book 1 done but not the others up for grab yet. I think that turns away a..."Those are some very encouraging words Amie, thanks for sharing them. I was also curious what all you meant by "harnessing the power of Amazon." I feel like there is so much I don't really know and I've been at this a while.
Thanks, Alex. It's Scotland or Cornwall that seem to be top of the UK location charts, certainly in my genre. At least you also are mystified. You advertise on US sites and get sales in the UK?!! I'm going to start playing with prices when my third book of the trilogy is published.
Alex- I have noticed that with UK, Australia, and Canada. I was super geeked during my promo when I woke up the next morning to find I was in #16 place for historical romance in Canada and #711 overall for all of Amazon - CA. (The highest I had made it in Historical Romance USA was like 74th place I think, which is somewhere around 6,500 place overall.)I thought I had hit the jackpot, LOL, as their are over 70,000 historical romance titles on Amazon-CA alone. But then the numbers came in...only a percentage of my USA sales. (Tear slowly falls down cheek.) BUT the high visibility did get me thinking, should I be buying ads that target Amazon CA and Canadians??? (Aussies, too.)
J.D. - There is an amazing free video training that was up a few months ago by Adam Houge. I searched my inbox for the link and it seems because it was being temporarily offered by Derek Doepker that it's no longer active for free. I will keep my eye out if they revisit the webinar opportunity, as they typically do repeat such offers every now and then.
But some of the key takeaways that I saw were stumbling blocks for me is that as a non KDP published author, I'm instantly kicked out of Amazon Ads, Kindle Unlimited, Countdowns, highly successful release days, even the way that the search engine pulls data for readers looking for keywords. Grrrr!
Amazon uses an algorithm, and that system puts heavier weight on KDP authors. Namely because Amazon makes more money from their own talent. Another instance is new releases. With my publisher, my release date was viewed by Amazon as the day that my publisher submitted my book to them. Unfortunately, Amazon didn't post the book to their online stores till one week following, thereby booting my book out of "New Releases." That hurt, LOL. It was seen as last week's, which isn't seen at all. Just saying :P
These are just a few things. He really goes in depth about how to pad a launch as gradual and soft in the beginning, then a big bump, so you trick the system into allowing you to ride the charts longer.
It's a great 70 minute or so tutorial.
To message 13. That is one of the best responses I have ever seen. It is exactly how I feel. Brilliantly well said. Thank you! I feel like I'm getting nowhere. I am beginning to think I have have a better shot at submitting my writing to certified publishers. I'm not a social kind of guy. Social media is out. I think I should just look up how to copywrite material. The answers are most likely clearer.
I just want to thank everyone posting here for all their suggestions and insights. New to this like so many, my head is spinning. I thought working for an attorney for 27 years was mentally challenging but entering the world of self-publishing and promoting/ advertising outweighs it a hundred fold! Reading these posts makes me feel a little better and gives me courage to continue on!
You're welcome, Elizabeth - we've all been there and needed to learn. Oh, and by the way, it gets better, but only a little better - there's shedloads to learn.
Don’t write it for them, write to get it out of you.
Grace wrote: "I'm not selling millions, but I'm selling steadily, so here's what I found: Book one will sell (in my experience) if book two is out there or soon coming out- do make use of pre-order features wi..."
I hadn't heard about Book Lemur until I read your post. I just completed a weeklong Kindle sale ($1.99 instead of the regular $2.99). I sold 25 books over seven days. I ran a targeted ad on Facebook throughout. On my best day, I sold 9 ebooks. That was the day I also advertised the sale on Book Lemur. Of course, I have no way of knowing how many of those sales came from the $15 or $16 I spent advertising on Facebook that day or how many sales my $36 Book Lemur email spot garnered. And given that my royalty on Amazon was $1.27/ebook, I lost money either way (and more both ways). But I did get the satisfaction of knowing more people had bought my book and some confidence they would read it and possibly rate/review it.
I self-pubed Book 1 back in 2012. Forgive me but I just find that particular shortening of the word published to be funny and wanted to see if I was the only immature one out there? As to no one buying book 1, try throwing marketing dollars at it if you want to get it out there. You can find all kinds of people to edit and do you a better cover as well if needed. Or just do like message 36 says:
Don’t write it for them, write to get it out of you.
I have stories in my head and I just really want to get them out of there so I can stop forgetting stuff when i go to the store...
I have found this thread really interesting and informative, yet at times terrifying!I am currently trying the traditional way of publishing, having finished my novel this year. I have had interest from an agent and independent publisher, the former didn't take the interest any further, the latter I still await a final response from.
The plan is to try and get it out the traditional route for at least a year and if that fails I will self publish...
So far I have created alot of visual stuff with quotes from my book before sharing on Twitter, Facebook, etc and whilst I get some engagement, as people have already raised there is so much visual content out there it makes it near impossible to cut through all the noise! I have also done a number of blog posts, but find it a challenge getting traffic to the blog...
I am now in the stage of trying to do a bit more networking, using Goodreads, trying to engage with other authors, which I seem to be getting some results with having recently interviewed someone on my blog (even though no one read it ha).
One thing that I really identified with was Amies comment in message 15 about getting a small group of influencers to champion the book and push it to others etc, something about that really resonated with me. Book 1 in my series is set in Edinburgh, where I've lived all my life and there are some really tough inner city areas its based around where I have a lot of friends from when I was younger. My feeling is if I can really engage these people in my book given it is set in their world, hopefully it can cause a ripple effect.
Anyway, not exactly sure where I'm going with this, just kinda throwing my thoughts out there in the hope that I get some words of inspiration back!
Marketing wise, I think you should promote them as a 2 in 1 package. Another way is to write book 2 in a way that it can become its own standalone book!
I'm starting to see that marketing Book 2 has some collateral boost to Book 1 as well. If the ad hooks potential readers for Book 2, once they see it's part of a series some percentage of them will figure they should start at the beginning. If you don't have the marketing dollars to promote both books aggressively, advertising your most recent work may bump both of them.
Apparently, and I've seen this in a few places, marketing number 2 can actually increase sales of number 1, but not always to the extent you would like to see. Some people may not care that it is number 2 and read it and then not like it because they are missing valuable information - but not buy book 1 because they think it would be a waste of time. Which is okay, people have their own opinions, that's what literature is about. Now, what does seem to work with it is showing that you have multiple books. The more you write and publish that are good quality, the more likely you are to start getting readers when they like some of your books. That's how you start a following. For instance, I started reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets before I read Sorcerer's Stone (mainly because my brother and I had to share and he called dibs on that one). But I still went back and eventually read the first book, then the second again, then bought the third and so on. I was obviously hooked. So, even if they read it out of order, they may still become interested enough to go back and get the first part. If the books are not part of a series, then they may still buy it if they liked what you had to say in your following books.
I've been looking into the option of book signings and book readings. Even if you show up with your own books, it's better than nothing. If your book is listed online at Barnes and Noble, you can order some copies to be shipped to the store and then ask how to go about making an event for a book signing. It doesn't cost them money, and it can bring them more sales if advertised with news groups or on the radio. You'll want to do this with a few bookstores, and go in a circle. When you complete your circle, start at bookstore 1 and work your way through the circle again. The more people see it, the more they will gain curiosity. And they may just walk up to your table to find out what it is about, try and find it on the bookstore's shelves or even look it up online! And remember, a signed copy will sell better than a blank copy. So whatever you do not sell when you do your signing they may ask you to sign so they can mark it as a signed copy to sell while you're not there, which can still be lucrative for both parties involved.
J.D. wrote: "Hello all. I've been in the Self-Publishing world for about 5 years now. Long story short, I've been working on a fantasy series for a while and I self-pubed Book 1 back in 2012 and didn't have muc..."Hi J.D., I'm facing the same issues. Switch doctorate for postdoc and you just described my life as well. In a way, it is sad to know that other people are also struggling, but then, at least we're not alone in those struggles.
Try setting the first one to free, advertise it and make sure book number two is there with it to buy on your landing page. It works for me as a reader. If I like book 1, I'll go back and buy book 2, etc until I get bored with the series or it ends. Several indie authors have hooked me on their books in that manner. If I like the series, I'll pay up to $4.99 if it is one I can't put down. If they are novellas, up to $2.99. For beginning indies, $0.99 to $3.99 is normally the max. I do like that free book, and yes I do read them so I get a good taste of the characters, settings and writer's style.
Try going back and updating book one with maybe a new cover, different blurb and tagline. That might also help.
Marília wrote: "Hi J.D., I'm facing the same issues. Switch doctorate for postdoc and you just described my life as well. In a way, it is sad to know that other people are also struggling, but then, at least we're not alone in those struggles... "Welcome to the club Marília! Who would have thought something we love and pour our hearts into could turn out to be more stressful than academics? I know I'd much rather be working on another dissertation than trying to figure out successful marketing tactics.
I'm glad to see this post is still alive and well. It's been a while since I've checked in. Since then my wife and I are expecting our first child. We're having a girl in a few short months which is super exciting. I also managed to finalize and publish the second book in my series by the end of the year, which was my goal. Unfortunately, none of my marketing has been very successful. I did manage to secure an author table at a local book store Memorial Day weekend, though. I'm looking forward to that and it's nice to have some time to prepare some more artwork and such. Maybe even have a free short story to give away by then too.
Congratulations on your new little one and new book. For my series, I have put prob 90% of my advertising efforts and dollars into marketing the first book, even as I continued to release the sequels. Your free short story idea is great. Wishing you all the best on your event!
Erica wrote: "I'm actually going through the same thing right now. I'm offering a novella that came after the first book that I wrote( neither of which no one will read), for free right now. It's really sad when..."You are not alone and I feel your pain. I am writing the third book of my trilogy at the moment, historical novels set in the 19th Century. I published the first two books on Amazon and sold zilch, bearing in mind this was my first attempt at writing and very green around the gills, so learning as I went along I took a hard look at the books and decided to retire them. The size was all wrong as were the covers so I downsized to what I call normal paperback size and changed the covers, I also re-titled the first book, and changed the blurb on the back covers. I spent a few hundred pounds on a copy editor (I work on a very small budget) which helped a lot and confirmed a few things that bothered me. I re-published the first novel late last year and got a few sales, I emailed historical associations, Caledonian, (the two main protagonists are young Scotsmen) Scottish and Robert burns societies all over the world, I sold a few books but still not living in the Bahamas. I'm about to re-publish the second re-conditioned book an hopefully get a response. I like the youtube idea, I have recorded songs on there so I am going to have a look at that. Oh and forget family, friends and colleagues, they are not interested except for "That's nice" or "Good for you... nice hobby". Good luck everyone... happy writing.
C.M., you nailed it!I don't write it for them, I write to get it out of me. Though, I try as much as I can to promote but at the end, it feels better knowing that someday it will be recognized if it's worth it. No matter how long it takes, if you have published a good stuff, someday it must be acknowledged.
Nnaji wrote: "C.M., you nailed it!I don't write it for them, I write to get it out of me. Though, I try as much as I can to promote but at the end, it feels better knowing that someday it will be recognized if..."
That's exactly the thinking I have, NEVER GIVE UP. If you believe in yourself and your writing and keep doing what you're doing to promote your books then eventually someone out there will realise there is a market for you. many years ago I took a cassette tape with songs I had written to I don't know how many record companies and producers, years it took sleeping in reception halls until one producer got fed up with me knocking on the door. He liked the chorus of one song, I sat up all night re-writing the verses and recorded a demo the next day. A year later the producer started his own record label and my song went to number one (in South Africa) I made half a dozen albums after that. The point is I never gave up... NEVER GIVE UP.
Regardless, it is what it is and it's probably my own fault for sucking at self-promotion. I'm in the last stages of finalizing book 2 and would greatly appreciate any advice as to how I should go about promoting it. Obviously no one is going to want to read the second book in a series that no one has ever heard of before, so creating a fanbase is crucial. For a couple years I've been posting promotional and concept art that I do on Deviant Art, FB, and Tumblr and it's the same. Barely anyone ever sees it and it never translates into sales. I also tried putting book 1 on Wattpad for a while but didn't have much success there either. I know a lot of people thrive on social media but for some reason I just never have success with it.
So what should I do from here? Should I try giveaways of book 1 to help promote book 2, and if I do, where should I do them? Or should I promote the upcoming book 2 by trying to re-promote book 1 better? I try, but I have no mind for marketing. I can invent histories and languages easily enough, but when it comes to figuring out effective sales strategies I feel like a kid that needs training wheels.