Promoting Erotic Fiction -- Ideas for self-promo & for working together w/ multiple authors

Brindle Chase

Dancing on the edge
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I've been at it for 3 years now. I cannot tell you what works.

The best spike in sales on existing books I have ever gotten, was with the release of a new book, so I maintain that addage. The best promotion is a new book.

Blog tours, book forums, etc... all seem to be authors advertising to authors. Very few readers participate in these yahoo groups and blogs. Review sites gain a trickle of sales, but if you have to buy them a book, its often not a gain in the long run for the amount of sales it will garner. I've bought advertisements and they yield a trickle of sales, often not mounting up to the cost of the ad.

The very best trick I have learned is putting a book out free, then when its amazon rank climbs, then switching it to a price and the sales roll in for awhile. As your rank dwindles though, they come slower and slower. So, for Amazon, rank is everything IMHO, if you do not have an established readership. Which for a bottom tier author like me, I have only a small readership upon which I can rely.

All my efforts through what seem to be the normal channels of my peers has been fairly fruitless. Time is a huge issue for me, as I have hardly any and spend what litttle i have writing, rather than promoting. So when I do promote, I need something that produces.

Last thought (I tend to ramble) ... after ceasing all efforts to promote my books, my sales continue at pretty much the same pace. New releases bring a nice spike for a month or three and then levels drop back to normal.


I am currently working on a new tactic. Anthologies. By getting my name in anthologies with higher tiered authors, I hope to gain some exposure. My first will come out in August, so I'll be watching for sales spikes on my backlist and let you know the results.
 

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author
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Quick update re: the blog hop --- just finalizing a few details, and I'll be sending the schedule/instructions out. This week got a little crazy because I ended up getting ahold of a horse sooner than I expected, and I've also got some deadline madness on my end, but you'll all see the info shortly. Don't panic: the hop doesn't start until May 8th because I didn't want to have it start in the middle of the RT conference. We've got time. :)
 

Princess Marina

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Thank you and please keep me informed of any progress and deadlines!
 
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MsLaylaCakes

Playing the waiting game
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I know we've discussed how The Next Big Thing Blog Hop fizzled a bit--but I've been tagged :p. Anyone have an upcoming release on the horizon and would like me to tag them? My post goes up on May 6. It's a really easy blog post, if nothing else.


Here are the rules:

• You post on your own blog or as a guest blogger on someone else's, and then invite others to participate.
• Respond to the ten questions below about something you're currently writing or a book or story just published or forthcoming. Then tag five other writers you've invited to participate (note: "five" is an approximate number). Each of them would then tag five more writers, and so on.
• The posts follow a standard format.
 

eventidepress

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Does anyone have recs for good book review blogs to send self-pubbed novellas to for review? I put out a book under a pen name, but I'm kind of a n00b to the erotica market, still figuring things out >.>
 

jackbruns28

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I just thought of a brilliant? idea. Wait until Fifty Shades hits movie theaters. Then, with an armful of business cards promoting your e-book, hand them out like candy to those waiting in line like it was Halloween.
 

gingerwoman

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I just thought of a brilliant? idea. Wait until Fifty Shades hits movie theaters. Then, with an armful of business cards promoting your e-book, hand them out like candy to those waiting in line like it was Halloween.
That's a terrific idea!
 

DunstanCraig

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I'm working on a audio catalog of my short stories. It's basically my wife or I reading them. I'm thinking of making videos with images of book covers and such with the audio and posting them to porn sites.

Anyone have experience with this?

I'll share results when I have.
 

DunstanCraig

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Jackburns reminded me of something else.

I wanted to get some cards made up with something like a free download code on them and leave them at all the local sex shops. If they'll have me that is.
 

SierraLee

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It's over a year since the blog hop happened - does anyone who participated have anything to say about it? Or new thoughts about promotion since posting here?

*goes back to read through the entire thread*
 

wordsmithy

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Goodreads paid advertising?

Has anyone here paid to advertise with Goodreads? (And would you care to tell about it?)

They have an inquiry form, but don't quote any prices, so any info about it would be great.
 

Filigree

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Exquisite Quills Summer Themes 2015

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.co.uk/

Great free resource via a generous blog group, if you tailor entries to their themes. Here are the summer themes, since they've changed.

<We're switching things up for summer over on the Exquisite Quills blog. Check out our new line up:

Monday - Summer Heat is back! Share a sexy, sensual, sizzling, or scorching snippet.

Tuesday - Stellar Reviews! Have a great review? Share a larger bit with us.

Wednesday - Cattle Call! Do you dream of Hollywood actors playing roles from your books? Tell us who.

Thursday - Follow Me, Follow you. We're network building. Share your social links.

Friday - First Lines! Share the first three lines from any chapter.

Sunday - Sunday 7. Share seven of your best sentences.

Be sure to read the details for the day before posting. Our goal is greater exposure and highlighting our creativity through specially tailored memes.

If you'd like to contribute meme ideas or would like the HTML code for creating those nice and neat blue links for your EQ posts, please contact me off loop. Remember, the EQ blog belongs to all of us. The more we share the greater our reach! So far 1500 visitors a week and counting. :)

Rose Anderson
Love Waits in Unexpected Places
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/>
 

MissyMay

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One thing I recommend against is abusing social media.

Same with Facebook. I can't tell you how many people I've unsubscribed to because my newsfeed was getting cluttered.

Yes! :rant: Please don't abuse Facebook author groups, either! I found an erotica group to join (and it wasn't specifically a promo group), but the only posts in there were authors advertising their books! First of all, if everyone is only there to promote their books, probably no one there is going to read them; other authors just looking to advertise aren't the target market. Second, author groups are usually meant for asking and answering author-related questions. It completely ruins it when it becomes solely promotional.
 

DexyDoo

I typed "semen" how many times???
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Hi there!
I'm hosting a Halloween Promo. All genres accepted. 99 cents to 2.99 books. Halloweeny-type theme. More info on the form. :) Would love for you to join.
FORM