Today, I think I'm going to ramble a bit about time and the struggles of self-promoting. I've read a few blogs, articles, or comments today that indicate that many people feel as though they are wasting their time blogging, twittering, or self-promoting in general.
I sometimes wonder that myself. Then I open my e-mail, see some new follows on twitter and/or many re-tweets helping me promote our book or helping me help others promote their books or blogs. The word is spreading. So I wonder why have we had so few sales. Is our book just so controversial that no one wishes to purchase it. Is our book too overpriced for some to consider it. If we do lower the price will anyone buy it. Will putting out a second and third book make a difference in our over all sales.
I don't honestly know what the future holds but I'm willing to keep fighting the good fight until I can not fight any longer. Thanks Triberr tribe-mate and new friend, Jeff B., for your inspirational blog posts but especially the one about your Grandfather in World War II. Side note to those of you who are just starting out or still in the process of writing, you might want to look at Jeff B.'s thoughts on ten things Author's should ask themselves.
A final random thought, I learned a few months ago that you shouldn't go into being an author because you'll get big bucks right off the bat. You go into it for the long haul. Not everybody can be an overnight success but if you don't try then you'll never know how you'll do.
Okay, I have one more thought. Maybe you can help us keep a positive attitude during our fight to get noticed and/or purchased by just leaving us a positive (G-rated) comment.
Thanks and have a great one!
Lynn Hallbrooks
co-author & PR person for David McKoy
http://www.callsignwreckingcrew.com
I know how you feel Lynn. I wonder when I look at the people who go to my blog, follwers on twitter and all the things I do to promote, how come more have't sold? And I 've come to the same conclusion you have. It's just a matter of time and all you can do is keep on writing. :)
ReplyDeleteThink of it as "building the platform" on which you will support this book and many to come.
ReplyDeleteWhen people buy an existing business instead of starting one from scratch they pay a premium because the existing business already has a platform, customers who know what the business is, where it is, and a previous experience with the business. As Indie authors we are more like the person who tries to start a business from scratch. Initially it is expensive and time consuming to build a platform. Many don't have the capital, perseverance or energy to make it a success. But if you keep at it until you have a sustaining platform, you can build on it with each succeeding release.
Cheers,
Pete
Can I suggest that you follow @GreatDismal for a really good example of an author's life on twitter. I think that people who simply tweet links to their book or use overt hype get ignored a lot. Certainly, I have stopped even following fellow authors when I look at their twitter timeline and see nothing but links to amazon.
ReplyDeleteBoth blogging and twitter are best used as ways to allow a reader in to your process, your research, things that catch your eye and inspire you.
Social media is not a successful way to sell your books. It's a very cool way to form relationships with your readers and then let THEM promote your work via recommendations.
Just my two cents worth.
Thanks Shannon. We will keep at it.
ReplyDeletePete,
ReplyDeleteOf course you are right. You know you pay money for a business but they don't require you to have any knowledge of how to run one. I wish I had someone to teach me the ways of the business. In this case library books didn't prepare us for what was to come.
If I took a different course I wouldn't have gotten to meet so many nice and interesting people.
Remittance Girl thanks for your suggestion of following @GreatDismal. I have done this and will see what happens.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by and have a great one!
This is a message (with permission since Blogger was apparently having issues) from a fellow Triberr Tribemate, Alisha Paige:
ReplyDeleteKeep it up, Lynn! I know how you feel. It seems like it takes forever to build a readership. I hear it takes a good 10 years to do so and I've been at it for four years. Feels longer though. I was given some good advice with regards to promo. Do what you enjoy. Like blogging, tweeting. So that's what I do. We can't do it all, especially as indie authors and it is so very hard to balance and make time for our writing, not to mention our loved ones. Shannon is right. It is just a matter of time. Keep chugging along and your readership will grow. Great post!"
Lynn Hallbrooks replies:
Thanks Alisha. I appreciate all your efforts trying to get this comment posted. I'm not sure what the issue is with Blogger some days.
As for readership, I hope that people start reading our book before the time frame in our book...then it won't be the near future...it'll be the present or worse the past. yikes!
Thanks for the posting. I share your thoughts. As I said before you can either build a platform or keep writing. It's a full-time job....If you have the "full time" for it.Even being at meetings and book signings where I gave a good speech about my book, few were sold in spite of obvious interests and "How exciting!" plus congratulations. And I learned: stop asking friends...even they are sometimes hard to get.We'll struggle on ...jointly! Hugs, S.
ReplyDeleteThanks Siggy. I know, I try to divide out my 'Working Time' but it isn't easy to do all that needs to get done without something getting left undone for a bit.
ReplyDeleteYes we will continue on jointly. Thanks for being one of our strongest supporters and great friend from the beginning.
I think that earlier on I expected that this electronic promotion venue would somehow be a faster route to book sales, at least faster than the old method of submitting manuscripts to publishers and getting enough rejection slips to paper the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel! Turns out this is much harder because there is so much more competition when all an author has to do is write up a good promo and click enter. I suspect none of us have the time it would take to statistically improve the odds by posting enough "pitches" to reach millions of readers per day. The only books I've sold were to friends and family before I even began promoting online. But, eyes on the prize in spite of it all! Like others have said, you have to lay the foundation...and this is going to be a long process!
ReplyDeleteLynn,
ReplyDeleteYou took the words right out of my mouth! Great post! Off to tweet.
Sandy
Thanks Jo for your insight.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandy!
I'm with you on this. I've been working on my platform for about 2 months, and things are slowly moving forward, very slowly, but at least they are moving. As long as I have something to fight for and gaining some really good friends in the process, I'm in for the long haul no matter what. You keep up the fight too, Lynn. As authors and friends, we can all work together to help each other make it through.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracy. I agree, with the help of all my friends both old and new, I can get through most anything. We shall continue to learn and grow in our endeavors to gain a platform that works for each of us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a supportive friend.
Hi, Lynn. Another great blog. Check your email :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim.
ReplyDeleteI responded back.
Have a great one!