Calling all indies to...use your free options!
Alright folks! Time to tally up some bumps and bruises gathered while fumbling through the world of *cringe* marketing.
Amazon
Keywords keywords!
One of the best uses of your marketing with Amazon, I've found, is to
1. use the giveaways option for ebooks, as it ends up way cheaper than a Goodreads one
2. read their content they suggest for marketing
One such read brought to my attention the importance of keywords!
Check and triple check and make good use of them!
Have a look in the marketing sections and don't be afraid to use their tools :)
Facebook boost posts
-great if you want some likes
-not so great for sales
-very low cost
I paid $6 ($3 each) to boost one post about Avalon Dreams, one about The Dragon Medallion. Simple stuff announcing a sale and includes the cover as pic.
For AD, got 296 people reached and 16 engagements.
For DM, got 216 people reached and 7 engagements.
No sales as I mentioned, but one interesting fact is it seems to have put me on Facebook's radar as odd people are starting to like my page's pics and posts - outside of the crowd that follows me. This means I'm showing up on their news feed, and their friends' when they like my stuff.
Btw, do pop by and say hello/like if you're in the area, I don't bite :)
Bookoftheday.org
I was super excited about this because it was low cost $11.99 and they seem to know what they're talking about.
Paid my dues, and...
....nothing. No sales, no website traffic, nada.
Not to say it doesn't work! Maybe others have had better results? They did what they promised, but I found It just didn't do anything for me, despite the promising information.
Moving on!
Paid website submissions
These are the websites you can submit your books to when you have sales. I would highly highly recommend using the free ones first and maybe 1 or 2 paid ones.
I usually submit to as many as I can (30-40) free and Include 1 paid feature for each book in the series.
I always get some traffic and sales and they're very low cost.
If your goal is to get on BookBub, get started with creating your author profile! Always good for exposure :)
One new thing I'll be trying for the following campaign: spacing out the days. To be continued...
Social media
80% content, 20% promo
Or so they say. Either way, I find it works. Since September I've been active on my twitter account @alexa_whitewolf and have managed to get myself up at around 160 followers (permanent ones).
I mix it up with quirky posts, pics, gifs, shares...
And to be honest, I like it better than FB. Go figure, eh? Maybe I'm holding a grudge for them cancelling my author account and forcing me to build a new author page
Blog tours
Reading this recent article about the use of blog tours. And that is my next item to be focused on. Here's a few Im considering http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2014/09/27-places-to-get-a-book-tour-and-the-top-ten/
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. I plan to try all the free/low cost ones first, then go from there.
Author Resources
There are, quite simply, tons of author resource places out there. AuthorsDB is one of them, Readersintheknow, Indies Unlimited another, and many more. Goodreads goes without saying, one interesting thread (many more!) :) Use them! Read their articles, as some have already tried many methods and can tell you which fail and which succeed. Don't be afraid to do your research and keep track of such things.
Readersintheknow has a very good post on the Amazon algorithm, full of information!
Last but not least:
Editing
This article has a list of editing tools that can check over your writing. While they do not replace an editor, if you're more DIY like I am sometimes, they can definitely come in handy.
And don't forget; whatever you try, keep records and try to track it as best as possible! If it works, repeat. If it doesn't, discard.
Try to have fun! Marketing is my most dreaded item aside from formatting, but I've found ways to make it fun. Namely, a big colourful and rainbow-y calendar that marks what my days are like! And a reminder app on my phone so I'm
Not stressing about what I'm forgetting to do :)
I'm no good at full on selling what I write. But I am good at talking about my books and ideas, and that's why I'm
focusing now on exposure. I think so long as you find a way to fit marketing into your days, then you'll be the better off for it!
What works for one of us doesn't always for the other, so don't despair! Pick yourself up and dust yourself over. Like my wise mom always says, "every kick in the butt is a step forward" :)
Share below if you've had experiences with any of the above!
