YOUR BOOK DOESN'T SUCK

    So, you post and you advertise and think and think and think of new ways to push your work into the light, or the frame-- if you're into photo-bombing. Despite your efforts no one is buying your crappy, overworked book. Nobody cares and nothing you can do or say can generate any interest. You've even given away several copies on Kindle Select and none of the freeloaders people who took advantage of your generosity left a review, posted a share or even thanked you for it.

    At this point, you can do two things--not necessarily one or the other, you can do both.

    1. Wallow in self-pity. That's right, lapse into a melancholic fugue where all you can feel is the sting of salt on your lips from too many potato chips and lose your head in a fog of whiskey and Diet Coke. Go ahead. You're a loser; you're a fucking failure with a shit book nobody wants. FEEL LIKE SHIT--but write it down, you may need it later.
    2. Keep writing. Because that's what you do once you've had your most recent emotional meltdown. Those little episodes of depression and self-abuse can be cleansing, purging. (However, if they're part of your everyday life or you're reading this while sawing a cake knife across your wrist you might want to see somebody about that) a little wallow in the pig shit of our own self-loathing can have cathartic effects. The next time you present yourself before the page you may feel a lot differently.

   Remember, when we sat down to write, THAT WAS THE POINT. We wanted to write. This selling/not selling/bashing our heads against the Amazon reports screen wasn't part of the deal. So, forget that and keep writing. Back to where it all started.

  The people in your social network are not a target market; they're not there to buy your book. They have their own reasons for spending time online. So, find the people who are online to buy books. Find them in the Amazon forums and the writing sites like absolutewrite. A lot of writers use the Writer's Market Guide, although, I'm not sure how effective that publication is for e-books.

    Also, seek out other writers who are in the same boat. You don't have to form a coalition or e-book Writer's Union or anything, just make some friends. Help them sell their book and with a little luck and human decency, they'll reciprocate. That doesn't always work, I've found, but it does more often than not.

  I found Rob W. Hunt on litreactor yesterday. He is preparing an experiment with an e-book in the upcoming months. Those who follow this blog and that one will participate first-hand in what works and what doesn't when it comes to selling e-books. And as much as I'm looking forward to following that experiment, I'm not going to rest on it. There is worldwide web out there and as a salesman (bleah) I want to cover as much of it as possible.

    And I have to keep writing.
    And eating potato chips.
    And drinking whiskey.

TODAY IS CANCELED

     It is not a matter of control or background or even "why." It is not a political debate or an attack on any specific religion.

    A man hurt and killed people as they were enjoying a movie.

    Families are in a fog of pain and loss and nothing outside of that could possibly be more important.

    This day is for thinking of them.

THE PRESS RELEASE

     You have probably flipped through the local community section of your paper before and saw a byline or even a half-page announcement with a photo insert of the crazy, shady cat lady down the street. And if that picture caught your eye enough to read the article, you found out crazy, shady cat lady wrote a book about some other crazy, shady cat lady who planted the first begonias in St. Louis or something.

     Even if you didn't buy the book, or check out the copies she donated to your local library, maybe you found out something about crazy shady cat lady that made you think of her in a less dismissive way. Maybe you found out she was a college lit professor or an award-winning botanist and suddenly crazy, shady cat lady is regarded with respect.
     The book itself, probably didn't do well, at least not in your circles, it may have done very well and hold a place of very high esteem among her peers though, which is what she expected--and which is why your book, even if it's an e-book, should be in the paper, too.

                    A press release for an e-book? ARE YOU CRAZY?

   Well, yeah . . . so? It's still a good idea.

    Press release stuff   


    What is really important in your press release is where you're from, how long you've lived there, what school you went to, what neighborhood you live in. You are made of HOMETOWN.
 Of course you'll touch on your book and give a brief description of it, but what really matters here is YOU and your place in your town. Even if you just moved to a new town--especially if you just moved to a new town. As a new face, this will allow people to stop wondering about you and satisfy a lot of curiosity. As an old face in a hometown it may change radically your community's perception of you. (That stoner biker with the beard is an author? Really?) Your paper may even send around a reporter to find out more about you. 

BUT MY BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET
   That's okay. Chances are, your paper is on the Internet, too.

    And your local library, with some nudging, may prominently display the article along with an address to your book. 
    When I've mentioned the idea of a press release to others, I got the idea that few took it seriously because it's Kindle. But that perception is incorrect. The Kindle, the e-format, is more than viable, it is prospering. And, it's a forum in which artists are able to reach an audience unhindered by the selective filter of publishing houses. Personally, I have nothing against publishing houses. I greatly admire their quality control when it comes to a product, but their selectiveness is often short-sighted and many who have met with flat rejection from publishing houses have thrived in the e-book environment. The great hurdle, of course, is advertising. However, much in the way writers and artists have used the e-environment to bypass the control of publishing houses, with innovation and collaboration we can, as well, change the model of marketing. 

     The function of your local newspaper is to inform, and you should be part of that, just as much as the crazy, shady cat lady. If you've done your work, dotted your is and crossed your ts, the people who live around you should know about it. You may be surprised how many of them will happily support your efforts. 

        

Featured Writer: Reina Salt

Graveyard Blues (Night Blues)
A sticker campaign

     This picture is actually larger than the sticker. Also, on the sticker is the price and web address for the download. It is a fairly inexpensive way to make your novel ubiquitous and a fun way to involve friends in your sales.
     Everybody loves stickers. I have one of these on the cover of my laptop at the moment and hope to add more from other writing friends. I'm going to see if I can get Reina to stop by and give us more information on costs, the businesses that make stickers or even how to print them at home. This is a step away from the Internet and it's a good one. Stickers placed in strategic areas, on doors, escalators, even bathroom stalls, can stay forever and have a way of becoming part of the accepted scenery. When they are in plain public view, it can also change the way the author is perceived by the public. Your name is known. Someone says "Reina Salt" in the area where Reina lives and everyone remembers the sticker. They feel like they already know her, even if they haven't read her work. It's an inexpensive and brilliant way for the world to become familiar with the author. So, by sending stickers to your friends in your social network, you can easy paper the entire globe with your name.

      Reina Russell

As far as stickers go, I used printrunner.com for full color custom printing. The stickers came out really nicely and true to color, which is important. I went with a run of 250 stickers measuring 2" x 2.75" for about $30. If you order, be sure to ask for proof copy first, so that you can be sure that your image fits the sticker size. Bigger size means bigger cost, so you don't want to pay for blank edges that don't even have your stuff on it. It also doesn't hurt to look on google for coupon codes for sites like this, so be sure to do that. I think that I did, and ended up with something like free shipping.

They also do magnets, posters, and business cards, but the great thing about getting stickers done is that it doubles as a business card, really. If you keep a small handful of them with you at all times, you're ready to give someone one when people ask for it. Which happens pretty often, actually.

On Twitter and Facebook, I had some nice success flat out offering free stickers to people. It's a cool design by the talented Troy Dilport, and it's accessible, so people wanted them. One guy put them on his guitars! For the cost of a stamp, it's a good investment in regards to visibility and reaching out there.

HOW?

You've written your novel; you've revised and revised, edited, had other people read it and hopefully they edited it and gave you constructive criticism beyond "It's great. I really liked it." You've gone through the headache of formatting for Kindle or finding someone who knows what they're doing to format it for you, and, finally, you've uploaded it to Amazon and clicked the PUBLISH button . . . and then.

How do you sell it? How does an unknown, burgeoning novelist get the word out about the product he/she has just established?

THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG

To collect and compile the ideas of writers everywhere in one place. It's a big world and when you've come this far, you may suddenly feel as though your voice is too small to be heard. The links you posted on your facebook and twitter, disappear like hamburger wrappers on a freeway in the neverending stream of memes and status updates and only your mom bothered to share it.

You feel invisible.

So, what do you do?

That's what everyone who comes across this blog by googling tips and tricks and "how to sell your novel" wants to know.

While I have already seen some people use sticker campaigns and blog features effectively, there are countless other ways to put your novels and stories in the field of public vision without spending a lot of money and while keeping most of it right where your product is--on the Internet.

My first suggestion involves the frontier opened to us by Amazon and the Kindle. As writers responsible for our own product packaging we are given an opportunity very few--if any--writers who work for a publishing house enjoy: to choose our own covers and book art. I have the good fortune of knowing many artists, though I cannot, through any means of self, draw a stick man without making him look physically handicapped. So, it occurred to me that an art contest would not only guarantee eye-catching covers, it would also spread the word about the book. Plus, the winner of that contest may also want their art to be seen, and purchased as much as possible. Your efforts to sell have just doubled and you've made a contribution to your circle of artists. Everybody wins.
What are prizes for runners-up? Whatever you choose. Probably Amazon giftcards.

More ideas later.

If you have ideas to share, please post them in the comments section. Join the fun. We have an enormous opportunity here to break wide open the wall that faces down every unknown author hoping for an audience.

Please don't post anything illegal or otherwise unsavory. We don't need trouble. We want to help writers sell their work.