What am i doing wrong

[Sharon]

Questions: do you have a FB fan page set up for yourself as an author? (Do this. Invite your entire friends list to join if they like -- and don't cross-post unless it's something really bit. That way, you won't be spamming people.)

Could you define "not so long ago"? Weeks, days, months?

Are you sharing information (where allowed) in FB and GoodReads groups about your book?

Are you doing promotions related to your book (e.g., "It's XYZ Week, and in honor thereof you can get my book for 50 percent off until Sunday)?

Are you tweeting your book links?

Marketing is 99 percent relationship-building. And making sure you don't expect *anything* in return is the name of the game.

[David]

Can't add anything to Sharon's comments other than to promote your book through email listing sites.

As Sharon says, build relationships too, without being pushy. Readers who like you as an individual and enjoy your writing will help to sell your books by word of mouth.

[Quoleena]

I pasted your link in my browser (I don't ever click on direct links), and it doesn't work. I checked out your profile, and though you have an Amazon.com and Createspace link for purchasing your book, those websites don't show your book, Tom the Dragon, as listed. If people can't find it, they can't buy it. On another note, the description is the first of your writing the reader sees. If it's not crisply edited, a reader may not give your book the chance it may deserve. I hope that helps a bit. Best of luck!

[Peggy]

I find that the more books I write, the better mine sell. I wrote my first one in 2010. It has taken all this time and 15 books later before I have started seeing a little success.

[J.S.]

According to your GR listing, it was only released 7th of Feb, right?

Very, very early days. No reason for you to start worrying.

Those people who won your book in the giveaways may very well not have even got around to reading it yet.

Just keep on plugging it (as you have and in the ways suggested above), reviews will come...though it's likely to be in a slow trickle.

[Jenna]

I agree with Sharon, David and Quoleena said. Be sure the book is available on Amazon.com. I would suggest finding a professional to write your book description. If you can't afford to pay someone, maybe look for a local writer who is proficient at copywriting and you guys could work out a trade or something. Honestly, the description you have now might not grab the attention of readers. I second the suggestion of building an email list. I think this is the best way to maintain some control over communicating with your readers. Although you definitely should have a FB page, website, etc., you can't always count on these to get info to your peeps. As you build your email list, be sure the focus is on building relationships with these people. Take the time to send them personal emails with questions about their lives and always give them something of value every single time you communicate with them.

[Michael]

Bare in mind that, as a self-published author, it's incredibly unlikely that your books will sell in large quantities.

Secondly, neither the cover nor the synopsis for your book give the impression that the book is worthy of purchase; they've got 'homemade' written all over them. Given that you're from Romania I'm assuming that English isn't your first language, which means you'll find things even harder.

Whenever I release a book, I assume that I'm not going to sell any copies at all - I write and self-publish because I enjoy it.

[Tom]

Hi Balazs,

I echo Quoleena's concern about your book not being available anywhere else besides Lulu (where I also don't see it for free; on my screen, it says $1.54). Amazon is arguably the largest market for ebooks, so having it available there is the bare minimum for getting your book seen. Other markets include Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.

I also agree with the note about your description; it seems rough and unedited, which is an immediate turn-off to people checking out your book.

Another point that hasn't been mentioned yet is the cover art, which wouldn't currently draw me in to look at your book.

I don't think marketing is the problem with your book, at least not yet. It was only published within the last week, according to Lulu, so there hasn't been enough time for people to really discover your book.

My advice would be to make it available in more places, but only after you first invest in cleaner cover art and look into finding some readers willing to help you edit your book. Finances will probably limit you from getting the best services, but another patient pair of eyes can go a long way in helping you address any problems with your book.

[David]

Where did you promote for 50.00 per month, Victoria? Worth mentioning so others don't get burnt. A listing site is only as good as their subscriber list.

There are plenty of sites that offer a free listing like readcheaply.com, and some really great ones that charge between $5 and $25 as a one off payment like ereader news today.

[Mellie]

I'm sorry, but even for free I wouldn't download it. There are just too many fantastic free books out there. Your blurb doesn't grab me, nor does the cover. The stilted language and grammatical errors in the blurb are a huge red flag.

Did you have critique partners go through the manuscript and help you work on plot, characterisation, pacing, spelling and grammar? Have you used a professional editor?

Publishing is easy, publishing well and having a product people will pay for, is the hard bit.

[D.S.]

You might also considering reworking the cover, so that it at least doesn't get warped on lulu. You might want to find communities interested in Dragons and get involved. Involved as in not mentioning your book all of the time, but try to get known.
If people get interested in you they'll get interested in your book.
I was lucky to have joined communities that shared interest in topic's my first book was about. Haven't scratched the 100 yet, but I got at least five reviews from it.

[Sulaiman]

Okay, if you can send me an Advanced Reader's copy (PDF), I'd write a review, possibly try writing a good blurb for you and get a decent cover. And I won't charge you, okay?

I'm being as helpful as I can be. Since I'm good at GFX and writing. Helping you won't be a big deal for me.

Best of luck.

[[deleted user]]

Write as many books as it takes to hold a million words (for me that is around 10 books), then see how you are doing.

[Eve]

I think you should put a photo on your Goodreads profile page. It's more personable.

[Dwayne]

Balazs wrote: "Please tell me what I'm doing wrong"

You have published one item that I can find and you published it two weeks ago. It will take time, maybe a lot of time, to see it go out.

At a glance, I wasn't impressed with the cover. This is a lesson I'm learning myself and am in the process of redoing many of my covers as I've been told some of mine are boring. So, please understand I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm teaching a lesson I had to learn, too.

The description of your story stops me cold. Rich, handsome boy that all the girls want? He sounds way too perfect. Humanize him a little. Give him some flaws. I know you said he has a secret, but that won't be enough to get most people interested.

[R.F.G.]

You need a better cover, a better blurb, and some patience as well. You have an author's spotlight on Lulu with nothing in it. Your GR author's page is basically waiting to be filled in.

If you want potential readers to take your work seriously these are all things you need to take care of. Different things get the attention of different readers, but when they see details where little or no effort has been made they often shy away.

[Dwayne]

R.F.G. wrote: "Your GR author's page is basically waiting to be filled in."

Good points. Much as I hate looking at my silly mug, I put my photo on my Goodreads page just so people will know what kind of yahoo wrote the stuff I'm pushing.

I'm learning that interaction with readers and other writers can help boost some interest in your work. So, like R.F.G. said fill in those profiles and put some photos up. Get involved in discussions. Let people get to know you.

[R.F.G.]

This is part of why I used the same profile / spotlight foto for Amazon, Lulu, and GR, it shows the potential reader the kind of once-yondering person who wrote the books listed.

The truth is I don't actively promote but I still have sales from time to time.

[R.F.G.]

Balazs,

One thing that might help your book move is to pull it from circulation and have someone do some objective editing, and then have someone else read over the edited version.

[Elizabeth]

Edit. Edit. Edit.

[Quoleena]

...and then Edit.Edit.Edit some more =:)

I read somewhere that writers should read their book 10 times before publishing. After this past month of uploading one updated version after another, I see why! It's amazing how much gets missed when your brain knows what should be there. A missing quotation mark, letter, or word was what it came down to in this last read-through. I just hope I've FINALLY caught them all.

[Jon]

I agree with pretty much everything that is said on here except the idea that self-published will not sell well...and I will get to that.

Here are my top 10 suggestions.
*****NOTE...they are not in any particular order, however #10 should be your first step.


1. Go to fiverr.com and find someone to create you a new cover. It costs $5 and there are some great ones out there. You might get one or two that are not as good before you find one that you like, (but you can look at samples of their work before you buy), but even if you go through 1 or 2, then you have paid $10-15 for an excellent cover.

2. BUILD YOUR LIST. Nothing is more important than building your list of fans. It not only helps with this book but anything that you write in the future.

3. Promote promote promote....but do not promote to the same people over and over again. That becomes spam and they drop off your list. Make the communication with your list important, inspiring, insightful, entertaining, and/or informative. Fans want to get to know you.

4. If you do not have a blog...get one and post regularly. Promote the hell out of it. Get as many followers as you can. And like your correspondence...make it worth them reading or they will stop.

5. Find internet radio stations who are looking for guests to put on. Many of them love to interview authors about their books.

6. If you are not a skilled speaker/presenter....join a Toastmasters club.

7. Build your list....I know I said it before, but this one bears repeating.

8. Do not listen to those who say that you will not sell many books. You will sell as many books as you are willing to work for. Most authors do not realize that getting the book in print - or ebook - or both is only the starting point. Promoting must become part of your normal day. I have only written two books, but I have sold over 10,000 copies because I promote and grow my list every day.

9. If it is only on ebook, I strongly encourage getting it into print. I do not know why people only do one or the other. You took time to create your book, edit the hell out of it and get it ready for readers...why eliminate a huge chunk of potential readers. Printing through companies like CreateSpace.com has become so cost efficient even for just small runs that I cannot imagine only doing ebooks in today's market.

10. Balazs brought up a good point. If you have not had it professionally edited, that is a cost that is worth the price. Shop around and find someone who has editing experience in your genre and age. The last thing you want is to start getting bad reviews if your book is not professional quality.

[Groovy]

I looked at your book also, and what others are saying about the quality of the cover and grammar are correct. Maybe you should invest in creative writing classes.

I know what helped me tremendously was reading every book I could on the writing process. These books by Noah Lukeman were a blessing. I suggest you purchase them, and study them the way you're studying for your exams:)



A DASH OF STYLE: THE ART AND MASTERY OF PUNCTUATION



THE PLOT THICKENS: 8 WAYS TO BRING FICTION TO LIFE

Before you publish anymore books, perfect your craft. I'm still learning. I hope this helps.

[Quoleena]

Jon wrote: "I agree with pretty much everything that is said on here except the idea that self-published will not sell well...and I will get to that.

Here are my top 10 suggestions.
1. Go to fiverr.com and f..."

Here's a question if you feel comfortable answering: how long after you published did you sell your first, say, 10? What about how long after did you see notable sales, meaning enough to pay real bills?

I know it's different for everyone, but with all these "overnight success" stories of self-published authors, the internet likes to makes us all think that their books were published one day, and the next week they made thousands, followed by a landslide into the realm of millionaire best-seller the week after that.

[R.F.G.]

Jon wrote: "I agree with pretty much everything that is said on here except the idea that self-published will not sell well...and I will get to that.

Here are my top 10 suggestions.
1. Go to fiverr.com and f..."

Jon,

The OP pulling the book and having it edited, copy-edited, proofread, and edited again should be step one instead of step ten.

[Jim]

Balazs,

Obviously, you have a story inside your head that you wish very much to share with others. The process is not easy, but you can do it.

The key ingredient to producing a book of which you can be proud is patience. Patience also happens to be one of the most difficult virtues to master. But, again, you can do it.

Write, rewrite, polish, and rewrite again until you know it is the best you can do. Then have the work copy edited and conceptually edited, if possible. The process will take time and, perhaps, money; however, the final product will prove well worth the investment.

The cover is usually the first thing that catches a potential customer's eye. Choose a graphic design artist, able to produce an attractive cover and effective spine and backmatter.

Once published, it is time to market, promote, and publicize. Again patience and effort are required.

Writing a book and having it published is difficult. If it weren't, there would be many more successful authors. Others have done this, so you know that it can be done. All you have to do is want to do it and be willing to do what it takes.

I wish you success.

[R.F.G.]

Balazs wrote: "I found a site called http://bubblecow.com/ and it promises to offer a free editing thing, although I'n not so sure that its free in the end
Still I am going to find out, I have nothing to lose"

Balazs: the site offers a free ebook to help but does charge for its services.

If there is a college in your general area try contacting the English department -- there may be students there willing to help you polish your work up in exchange for experience.

If you had posed your original question on Lulu's user-forums you the messages would have been similar.

[Sheila]

My opinions:

1) You need an editor who is proficient in English, and knows how a book should be written. It's likely going to cost you quite a bit of money. You might try looking for someone at a local university (a professor or upper-level student) who would be willing to help, perhaps for a small fee.

2) You need a better cover. I don't care for fiverr myself, but if all you can afford is $5, then you might want to look around to see if you can get something suitable. There are places with decent premades for little money (somewhere around $30 and up), if you can afford it.

Or, you could spend a few dollars for a piece of stock art that might work better than what you have, provided you have some level of graphics skills and can use typography effectively.

3) Get on Amazon. Nobody is going to buy from Lulu. I'm not even sure why you went that route, as publishing on Amazon is easy and free.

4) Stop paying to market this book. It's not ready for sales as is, and having only one book to promote is pretty much useless for long-term benefit anyway. You might get a sales bump, but with nothing for the reader to buy next, it won't last.

5) Write more. You need to practice your craft before you can expect people to pay you for it. The days of buyers snatching up any old thing are long gone. Remember, just because you wrote a book doesn't mean it's ready for publication.

6) Stop looking for reviews until you've fixed the issues noted. You'll invariably get one-stars, which are depressing and put readers off.

Study books that are selling well in your genre (which I'd guess is YA, dragon-shifters) and see how they do covers, blurbs, plotting, etc. You can download free books from Amazon to read, just pick the top five or ten.

Find any writing books you can, and read them. Most libraries have some, or can get them. Writing books tend to have exercises at the end of each chapter. Do them. Practice, practice, practice. If you have stories to tell, and are willing to learn (or to learn how to find people who can help), you can get better.

[Jon]

Quoleena wrote: Here's a question if you feel comfortable answering: how long after you published did you sell your first, say, 10? What about how long after did you see notable sales, meaning enough to pay real bills?

Excellent questions. And I agree. Anyone who says that you can write a book and be an overnight success is either already famous or lying.

With my first book, I had no marketing experience. I did, however, have a substantial list of contacts from my other endeavors in life. The first questions is a little skewed because of that. I pre-sold just under 50 books in the month before it was in print. HOWEVER, after those 50, and another 30 that I quickly sold, I did not sell 20 more in the first 6 months. This caused me to do a lot of research.

By the time my second book was almost done, I had sold over 100 pre-sales and sales have been good on both books since then.

I do have one advantage over many authors in that I am a professional speaker and sell a lot at the back of the room. But, were I not a public speaker, I would be setting up opportunities to speak on my subject(s) anyway in order to generate sales.

[Jon]

R.F.G. wrote: "The OP pulling the book and having it edited, copy-edited, proofread, and edited again should be step one instead of step ten. "

You make an excellent point. I should have pointed out that they are not in order and stressed that point 10 is definitely the first step. I will go back and fix that.

[R.F.G.]

Balazs wrote: "I'm improving pronunciation errors at the moment
I wrote the book half on the computer half on the phone, that caused some problems for me because after i put a , and a new word came it pushed them..."

I've actually heard of other people trying to write books using a telefon. Trying to compose a book that way really doesn't work.

If you have a computer and a program such as LibreOffice, the spell-checker is a good place to start.

[Preston]

I'm soon to publish my first novel, and my marketing is definitely on the weak side. I'll get around to it, eventually. Anyway, I've lost count of how many re-reads and edits I've made of my manuscript.

It has gone through multiple beta readers, some paid and some not. I've also hired a copyeditor and proofreader, and my final expenses came to about $700. I also made my own cover.

I'm writing in the hopes that some people will enjoy my book. Do not write or publish to sell, or else you'll go crazy.

[Theresa]

Many people have already given excellent advice. Sheila has a very good point. If you are planning to publish the book in English, you need to take some classes in English or find an editor/proofreader who is proficient in English. Spell-check can only get you so far.