Now What?

Grizzletoad, I agree that you should re-work your blurb, and you are, so that's good. Find some bloggers whose blogs you like and offer them a trade, they guest spot on your blog and you do the same on theirs.
Read the links suggested in this thread. There is a lot on AW about how to promote your book. The truth is that there are a ton of self published books out there, so it is hard to get sales, especially for a first book. Work on building a body of work by writing the next book, and then the next. I think folks are more willing to buy from someone that has more than one book out there.
Etherme, who posted in this thread, has done a brilliant job promoting his book. Take a look at his book's blurb. It's a well done example. he's got some good suggestions for you too.

I agree with Julianne. There are all sorts of things you can do to promote your book: but having more books out is probably the most important one.

I actually really like the cover. The font and size is quite easy to read, and it is evident what the book is about.

I didn't see an Amazon Author Central profile for you, but I admit that site does not seem to be working for me tonight. I am from NJ, so this book pulled me in right away.

My advice as a new author: Keep writing as they said. My first book I was proud of, and it was ok... many readers loved it... they found it funny and entertaining. My second book was longer and much better. Now I am about to publish my third, and the writing is even better. This is a learning process. I have found people who are condescending with the "if you want to self-pub, you should know better" attitude. But no one starts out knowing everything about any profession/job until they do it.

I would suggest www.prowritingaid.com It is a FREE service (up to 3000 words at a time), and it will give you reports of repetitive words, weak verbs, number of adverbs, sentence length, and more. Is it good enough to replace a pro editor? Of course not. But it is better to use it and catch mistakes you would not have, than to not try it. For $35 per year you can edit the works directly, saving you a ton of time.

As far as marketing... as they said, the best way is to network with other authors. I truly believe that my online sales have come from author's blogs. I tend to sell much better in person with paperbacks... but another crazy thing--- audiobooks! My audiobooks out sold my ebooks last month 6:1 Are they a ton of money? No.... but having audiobooks costs no money to produce (if you share the royalties with the narrator), and readers think you are more credible. PLUS... there is a whole market out there I never thought about---long haul truck drivers! They get bored with the same songs playing on the radio constantly and they can't watch movies. So they listen to audiobooks.

I can point you to some great author groups if you like. There are a couple where we as a group are tweeting one author from the group each day... we are liking each other's FB pages and sharing posts with our own readers. And I will interview you for my blog if you like.

Write to me on facebook at Rhoda D'Ettore

I was interested and went and took a look. You're writing isn't bad, didn't spot any real errors, but a couple of things stood out, mostly having to do with the time sense

I didn't get why there was a prologue. What did it establish? What time frame? Ends w/a heart attack, no follow up

Chapter 1 then starts w/a blast and sure death approaching, then has a flashback to an accident, then cuts to 12 hours earlier, and some guy named Pat who had something happen to him.

So, in the first few pages we have four different time periods, and maybe 5 major incidences (heart attack, train approaching car, an older car wreck, and something involving Pat: and then a mystery woman w;/no shoe that appears to be the real start of the story???) Plus we've got more names than I can handle, and they're all talking guy and shop talk to each other in a similar way.

I'm confused. I've got this personal limitation--I can only handle so many names at once, especially if they haven't become "active" in the novel yet.

But it basically read well. Perfectly readable. I'd say the high level organization might need some work, but mostly cut and pasting, high level stuff. Simplify and streamline. My own opinion is all.

Without reading more, if I were your beta I'd recomend cutting the prolog. The opening to Chapter one is exciting, and I get the "12 hour earlier" as a classic thriller device.

grizzletoad1 said:

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.

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Talk with your target audience, not at them, talk with them, discuss, interact, identify who they are, don't guess who they are, don't think of promotion, think of building relationships, understanding the reader, gain insights into what influences the reader.

Before trying to sell, try to understand.