Name your most successful marketing technique

[Norm]

Deborah wrote: "I'm having a book trailer made of my new one and I'm doing blog tours, guest blog posts, and cover reveals. First time for all of this, so the jury's still out. I throwing a bunch of stuff out ther..."

I'm curious Deborah. How will you monitor which of these efforts is being the most successful?

Norm Hamilton, Writer, Copy-Editor, Proofreader
Author of From Thine Own Well , Sarah’s Embrace , The Digital Eye
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[Kevin]

What type of success have people had using book trailers?

[Stephen]

Marcy wrote: "I just visited Fiverr for the first time. Has anyone used any services found there? To me it looks like one great big bakery full of enticing desserts--but then I clicked on one who tweets your boo..."

I've looked on Fiverr too and it is kind of a mixed bag. I've considered somethings on there but not committed to anything as of yet. Although I wonder what kind of editing you get for those that do 5000 word for $5.

[Marcy]

I wouldn't hire someone on Fiverr for editing. I was thinking more for promotion. Maybe reviewing.

Deborah--or anyone--what are "cover reveals"?

[Stephen]

Marcy wrote: "I wouldn't hire someone on Fiverr for editing. I was thinking more for promotion. Maybe reviewing.

Deborah--or anyone--what are "cover reveals"?"

Seriously neither would I for editing. But I have seen a couple for cover creators, some of the promotion ones look promising too. And for $5 it's not a lot to loose.

[Ken]

Marcy wrote:
"Ken, what do you mean, why is this a matter of principle? What is wrong with using such services? Can you explain?"

Ken wrote: "As someone who earns a living (or tries to, anyway) as a freelancer, I refuse to use sites like Fiverr.

I'm not saying you can't get acceptable quality from them, but it's more a matter of princi..."

Sorry for the delayed response. I'd forgotten about this post :)

Sites like Fiverr undermine the business of professional, full-time freelancers by promising to do work at ridiculously low rates. It essentially becomes a race to the bottom and often, you get what you pay for. ELance is similar; you often get really low bids on jobs from desperate freelancers in some countries.

[Marcy]

Yes, I know about Elance! I stopped using them after getting only one job I'd do bc of the rates. Whenever I send a quote to one of their "employers" they tell me my prices are too high. I get that all over the Internet, tho; yet the Ed Freelance Assn. lists suggested fees ten higher than anything I've ever charged: (http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php#!).
Fiverr seems different to me somewhow just bc it's a gimmick.

[Ken]

I'd say the EFA rates are a decent range; for some of my work, they'd actually fall on the low side. I don't edit fiction, though.

[L.M.]

Abby wrote: "Ereader News Today put me at #1 on Amazon's bestseller list in September, stayed there for two weeks and been in the Top 50 ever since. Best promotion site I've tried. And it's cheap. You need at l..."

That sounds interesting Abby. What's the website for Ereader News? I'd like to check that out.

[L.M.]

M. wrote: "Marcy wrote: "I just visited Fiverr for the first time. Has anyone used any services found there? To me it looks like one great big bakery full of enticing desserts--but then I clicked on one who t..."

Does anyone, but me, think its cheesy for them to sell you Twitter followers? And for as little as a dollar?

[Marcy]

Ken wrote: "I'd say the EFA rates are a decent range; for some of my work, they'd actually fall on the low side. I don't edit fiction, though."

Really? Well, I'm always apologizing for my rates, which are lower than EFAs; or else I'm being rejected bc they are "too high." Do you edit very technical language kinds of documents maybe?

[M.]

L.M. wrote: "M. wrote: "Marcy wrote: "I just visited Fiverr for the first time. Has anyone used any services found there? To me it looks like one great big bakery full of enticing desserts--but then I clicked o..."

L.M. -- You are way too kind. You're taking an anthropomorphic approach to bots. One thousand twitter follower accounts take one keystroke to generate with a well-constructed iMacros or uBot script.

An unemployed heroine addict in his pajamas living in a Budapest garage can generate a million twitter followers and non-PVA Facebook accouts in one night when he's sober.

We live in a different world now. There are no more humans. There are only proxies of humans. If all these sound crazy to you, you should read my book Automated Marketing with Webbots.

And if you're not willing to spend the whopping $4.79 on my book, PM me. I will give a copy to you free of charge, so that you can lose your digital virginity today!

[Marcy]

LOLOL!!!
I told you, I love the cover!

[Marcy]

I'm not being mean I swear, but I cannot resist pointing out how much I also love the phrase "heroine addict"!

[Edward]

Marcy wrote: "I'm not being mean I swear, but I cannot resist pointing out how much I also love the phrase "heroine addict"!"

Those are the ones what read a lot of romances, right?

[Edward]

Just teasin' ya, M. :)

[Marcy]

I already figured that's what a heroine addict would be.

[M.]

Typos courtesy of iPhone...

[Cris]

Not looking to change the subject, but has anyone had any experience with PR firms or promo companies. I'm looking to generate some traffic toward my book and this posting on every ebook website and FB group doesn't seem to be working.

[Marcy]

Glad you changed the subject, how much longer can we flog the heroine addict typo?

[M.]

Cris wrote: "Not looking to change the subject, but has anyone had any experience with PR firms or promo companies. I'm looking to generate some traffic toward my book and this posting on every ebook website an..."

A Bookbub run is a far more sensible investment than a PR gig, if you can get them to list your book(s).

Unless the PR firm is targeting a specific niche, you are basically throwing your money at the problem.

And throwing money at your marketing problem is a very competitive game. Do you know how much Harper Collins spent on The Fifth Wave's advertisement? -- A humble $760K.