Now What?

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

You've worked your fingers to the bone on your masterpiece. It's been edited, vetted, reedited and rewritten more times than you can remember. You've finally got it where it really kicks butt! You've put it up on Kindle and had a soft cover version put up on Create Space. You've written emails to your friends to spread the word, built a website for your novel, even established a Facebook page to promote the thing. And you've even put a series of ads up on Goodreads, a market place with over 21 million potential readers on it. And you've gotten a series of great reviews, mostly 4 and 5 star ratings from those who have read your work. And still you're only selling 1 or 2 E-books a month and no soft covers! What more do you have to do to get the word out there? This is not going anywhere near as well as I hoped it would. Even my promotional deals that I have put up have garnered only a few sales. What more can one do to make people notice your book? How do you get the word out beyond your circle of friends and family? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Melville · Jul 4, 2014

First, you need to define your expectations.

What specifically did you hope to achieve when you started on your self-publication journey?

What did you realistically expect to achieve?

What is your end goal?

Why isn't having your book published and out in the world enough? This is actually a serious question for you.

cornflake · Jul 4, 2014

Melville said:
First, you need to define your expectations.

What specifically did you hope to achieve when you started on your self-publication journey?

What did you realistically expect to achieve?

What is your end goal?

Why isn't having your book published and out in the world enough? This is actually a serious question for you.

Exactly this. I'd add to Melville's excellent questions perhaps one more: Why did you decide to self-publish, as opposed to trade?

Any publishing can be a long game.

I went and looked at your book on Amazon. Not for nothing, but the description needs editing, and the book could use some too. It's not terrible (though I'd say description really needs help and isn't exactly presenting your book well), but within the first couple of pages there are a number of errors with punctuation, among other things.

GinJones · Jul 4, 2014

Write the next book. And the one after that. And the one after that.

Seriously. More books is far more effective than just about anything else you, as an indvidual, can do. Once you have a backlist, then advertising and other marketing/PR stuff makes sense. For one book, not so much.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

Cornflake,

I agonized over punctuation errors for months and months before I put this thing out. Hiring a professional editor was out of the question as they are simply too expensive, so if some punctuation errors made it through to the final product, there's not much I can do about that now. If someone wants to edit this book for free so I can correct any punctuation, please let me know. I'm willing to work with anyone to make this book as good as it can be. I just can't pay them. I don't think punctuation is keeping people away, though. I just think no one knows the thing is even out there. That's what I'm looking to address. As for the description, please tell me what is wrong with it. I have really had most of my trouble in writing such a thing, whether it was this description or if it was just a query letter when I was still trying to go the traditional commercial route. That description was culled from my last Q, which had been vetted here on Absolute Write in their Query Letter Hell section some time ago. They liked it then. What's wrong with it now?

Melville,

Having the book out in the public is great. I love it when someone says they want to read it and buys it for themselves. Then when I get a good review, it makes me even more happier. HOWEVER, I do have bigger dreams for this story and am looking for a much wider audience for it. I'm not looking to be a millionaire, mind you, but I haven't even come close to covering the expenses I incurred for the graphic artist who did my cover. Sorry, but I do want to make SOME money here.

Old Hack · Jul 4, 2014

Grizzle, read these threads:

How to promote your book like an intelligent human being and not an SEO Dweeb

Copywriting (for back covers)

They're both really useful, I think.

I read the first few paras of your book: "bindle" should be "bundle", I think. And might "foamer" mean "former"? I didn't think your punctuation was terribly off--I've definitely seen worse--but you might want to read it through again, and perhaps run it through a spell-check.

davidjgalloway · Jul 4, 2014

I think the ideas other people have said are good ones, and you should follow them. But also I think you shouldn't equate this forum with your website--in other words, TAKE DOWN any mention of your sales not being what you hoped, or anything negative AT ALL. Nobody wants to hear you complain (even if you deserve to.) Complain here, complain to your family, but never complain to your readership or to the world via the site. Nobody wants the sob story. One ebook a day = "sales are steady, and picking up!" It's the same way you never tell people a negative if they ask how business is going. First, they don't want to hear it and, second, it projects a poor image of you and your work. ALWAYS be upbeat. And I think you will succeed, but it may take longer than you thought.

I also think you might try to focus more on the fact that you are an expert in this area. Even though it is fiction, you have expertise that some of us making up stuff don't have. And I think with your background, if you're good with speaking publicly, a reading at a local bookstore could be very effective. So try to build on that. And yes, post something about your followup, your sequel, your prequel, your new project. Creative production ends with DEATH, not because you published one book. It's a long, LONG journey (we all hope).

Best of luck.

grizzletoad1 said:
You've worked your fingers to the bone on your masterpiece. It's been edited, vetted, reedited and rewritten more times than you can remember. You've finally got it where it really kicks butt! You've put it up on Kindle and had a soft cover version put up on Create Space. You've written emails to your friends to spread the word, built a website for your novel, even established a Facebook page to promote the thing. And you've even put a series of ads up on Goodreads, a market place with over 21 million potential readers on it. And you've gotten a series of great reviews, mostly 4 and 5 star ratings from those who have read your work. And still you're only selling 1 or 2 E-books a month and no soft covers! What more do you have to do to get the word out there? This is not going anywhere near as well as I hoped it would. Even my promotional deals that I have put up have garnered only a few sales. What more can one do to make people notice your book? How do you get the word out beyond your circle of friends and family? Any ideas would be appreciated.

etherme · Jul 4, 2014

Grizzletoad, I've done a good amount of marketing for my first novel, and it's definitely helped. That said, at this point I'm not interested in making money--I'm interested in building a fan base. Ask libraries if they will catalog the book, and offer to donate copies. Go to goodreads and librarything and do book giveaways. Offer review copies to book bloggers and newspapers. You need to sell yourself as much as the work. Unless a first novel goes viral, I don't think too many people make a good chunk of cash from it. Just my 2 cents!

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

Hack,

No, those words are correct as spelt. Bindle is the term for that little bag hoboes used to make out of rags that they then carried over their shoulders on a stick. It's stereotypical, but in that instance in the story, it's meant to be. "Foamer" is a sort of made up word. Its a derogatory term railroaders use to describe rail buffs. There are more "colorful" ones, but I didn't think they'd be appropriate, especially that early in the story. (Foamer means a person who foams at the mouth whenever they see a train.)

Old Hack · Jul 4, 2014

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. The words seemed wrong to me but I am notoriously pedantic.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

Galloawyprof,

Agreed. I'd never put that stuff up on my website. I have asked if anyone is buying on my Facebook site, but the website is just full of background info regarding the novel.

Etherme,

Also agreed. I used to be in sales some time ago and know that most of the game is in selling yourself. I have no problem with that. My problem is that to me it seems I can't get anyone to look my way so that I can even engage them. There has been no feedback on my website, except for spam (which I have now curtailed) and the few reviews I've received from my book, most of which are 4 and 5 star. Even my lone 3 star review had kind words about the story itself. I just can't seem to find a way to reach more people than my small circle of family, friends and coworkers.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

Hack,

Pedantic! I had to look that one up. Neat word. I'd have to say I'm the same way too.

davidjgalloway · Jul 4, 2014

Okay, I'm confused, then. Because it's on your blog right now--the post from 6/26 talks about sales. So everybody is reading that. Has read it. Will read it. Did I misunderstand what you said below?

grizzletoad1 said:
Gallowayprof,
Agreed. I'd never put that stuff up on my website. I have asked if anyone is buying on my Facebook site, but the website is just full of background info regarding the novel.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

That was embarrassing! Yeah there it was. I really didn't remember doing that. No excuses. It has been taken down. Thanks for pointing it out.

davidjgalloway · Jul 4, 2014

Thank goodness

. You're welcome. Maybe you're blogging in your sleep!

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

G-prof

Yeap! That sounds about right!

cornflake · Jul 4, 2014

grizzletoad1 said:
Cornflake,

I agonized over punctuation errors for months and months before I put this thing out. Hiring a professional editor was out of the question as they are simply too expensive, so if some punctuation errors made it through to the final product, there's not much I can do about that now. If someone wants to edit this book for free so I can correct any punctuation, please let me know. I'm willing to work with anyone to make this book as good as it can be. I just can't pay them. I don't think punctuation is keeping people away, though. I just think no one knows the thing is even out there. That's what I'm looking to address. As for the description, please tell me what is wrong with it. I have really had most of my trouble in writing such a thing, whether it was this description or if it was just a query letter when I was still trying to go the traditional commercial route. That description was culled from my last Q, which had been vetted here on Absolute Write in their Query Letter Hell section some time ago. They liked it then. What's wrong with it now?

Melville,

Having the book out in the public is great. I love it when someone says they want to read it and buys it for themselves. Then when I get a good review, it makes me even more happier. HOWEVER, I do have bigger dreams for this story and am looking for a much wider audience for it. I'm not looking to be a millionaire, mind you, but I haven't even come close to covering the expenses I incurred for the graphic artist who did my cover. Sorry, but I do want to make SOME money here.

I don't think punctuation will stop anyone either - at least certainly not yours. I've seen some that would.

I was just saying, as I looked to see if there was anything about the look inside or such that might be hindering you.

I went back and found your old QLH thread to compare the description. I think the thing in QLH is more streamlined. The main things that bothered me with the Amazon description were the repetitive 'then this happens..then this happens...' thing, that you've got a misplaced modifier in the third sentence (your sentence literally says Laura is on a routine call to roust trespassers), and the questions to no one. The query doesn't have the 'then .... then...' or those.

I ike the ripping the veil of security thing, but I think the drama of it is then sort of extinguished by most of the next sentence. The 'veil of security' is dramatic. Following it with 'now...' is not, it prolongs; then the 'railroad to derail' is a bit clunky to me, and the 'greatest terrorist attack,' seems an afterthought.

Only my opinion; you can put the blurb up in QLH if you want to switch it around and want more opinions. I'm also not suggesting changing the blurb will get you lots of sales.

While I was looking for the QLH thread, I found one you posted asking what you should expect to make if you self-published. You got a lot of good responses there.

I don't

grizzletoad1 · Jul 4, 2014

Cornflake,

Yes the Q was more streamlined. I had to embellish it to turn it into a book blurb. For some reason, I could never boil my story down to the prerequisite 250 word query. It just never seemed to work. I always wound up putting too much in the Q. Then when I cut it down, the Q suffered from being too anemic. Could never find the right balance, and that carried over to the blurb. I could change the blurb on the Kindle and Create Space sites, but its also on the cover of my book, and that can't be changed, not without sending the changes back to the graphic artist, having him redo the cover and sending me back the new corrected file, all for a cost of course. I'll see what I can do on my end here. I remember those old threads on the site. I know that I'm not going to make a lot of money here and that's not what I'm trying to force here. What I want to do is to get the word out. I'd love to do a blog interview with someone who could review and help promote the book (or 2, or more of those!) But so far, no one even seems to be interested in that. Oh well. I'll just keep plugging. I know its a good story. I just have to hope others will find it and say the same thing about it too.

cornflake · Jul 4, 2014

If you want to change the blurb, I'd say do it even if the one on the cover is different. It's an ebook, for the most part, so I'd guess most people will read the description off the site they're looking at it on.

Marian Perera · Jul 4, 2014

Hi Grizzle,

I read the start of your book on Amazon. It's not badly written, but it didn't grip me either, and one thing I did find odd was that everyone's ages were given, from the models to the assistant to the photographer to the train itself. And although you clearly know the setting in and out, I felt like the details about trains tended to take over the story. But that's just one reader's opinion, and it's clear that others enjoyed the story. So best of luck in finding the right audience. Sorry I couldn't offer more help.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 5, 2014

Queen,

I thank you for at least taking a look at my novel. That's more than I could ask for.

RikWriter · Jul 5, 2014

To be honest, being that this is your first novel, you might have considered pricing it at 99 cents. Also, this is just me talking but I don't like your cover. It doesn't do a good job of presenting the genre you're book fits in.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 5, 2014

Cornflake and others,

I've posted my original and a reworked version of my blurb on Share Your Work. The thread is Another Blurb For Your Perusal. Take a look and join the conversation. I'd like to know how to make this as strong as it can be. Thanks.

Literateparakeet · Jul 6, 2014

Grizzle,

Have you read the self-publishing diaries in the self-pub forum? http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=47

They have a lot of great ideas about marketing. One of the ideas I got from them is Bookbub. I haven't tried it yet (my first book is too short), but people seem to find it very helpful. And that is just one of the gems I gleaned.

Different things work for different people, so it is nice to get a wide variety of ideas. Other ideas are Goodreads and LibraryThing giveaways.

grizzletoad1 · Jul 6, 2014

Parakeet,

I have a series of 6 ads running on Goodreads, and they seemed to help. It's just that I know I can do better sales wise and am looking for any way to accomplish that. I'll look into this Bookbub. As for free giveaways, I did that on Kindle Direct. Over 100 copies went out there, the hope being that I'll get a score of reviews or even some kind of blog interview in return. To date, I haven't gotten any bloggers interested. I can't say if the few reviews I have gotten so far on Kindle are from this giveaway either, but it doesn't seem like a free giveaway did me much good.

Now What?

Plodding around into things.

Reader first, writer second

practical experience, FTW

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Such a nasty woman

Opus is my guy.

Making my own luck

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Such a nasty woman

Plodding around into things.

Plodding around into things.

Opus is my guy.

Plodding around into things.

Opus is my guy.

Plodding around into things.

practical experience, FTW

Plodding around into things.

practical experience, FTW

starting over

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