This chapter is dedicated to the part of my character that you’ve yet to read about: my inner businesswoman. I foreshadowed this event in an earlier post when I mentioned my major in Finance. The degree required marketing classes, and as such I’ve come up with a list of suggestions for authors who choose the self-publishing route. I should note these items are in no way guaranteed to work.
~ If a multi-book series, publish books about three months apart. This is when big websites greatly lower their advertisements of your book unless sales have done remarkably well. Although it may take you longer to finish a novel, simply wait to publish the first until you feel comfortable that you’d complete the second in time and so on.
~ Once Book #2 sales decline past your personal desired level, donate only the first book to libraries. This will force them to buy your other books once they’ve fallen in love with your series.
* Choose cities you donate to based on the population demographic (look for your books’ target group)
* You can add more books to the library once
~ Optimal dates to sell eBook by genre:
* January-April: Romance, Self-help, Business books, Cookery
* May-August: Adventure, Fantasy, Travel
* September-November: Academic, Horror, Paranormal
* December-January: Children, Cookery, Illustrated, Quiz, Dictionaries and quirky fun books [1]
~ Every three books, offer a deal for set.
* Example: You’re selling each book for $2.99. Sales are starting to steadily
decline for Book #3. Offer Books #1-#3 for $4.99.
* Example: You’re selling each book for $2.99. Sales are starting to steadily
decline for Book #6. Offer Books #4-#6 for $4.99.
~ Use every avenue to promote Publishing Date. Examples:
* Twitter
^ use trending hashtags and relate to your story
^ create unique hashtag and try to get it trending
* Facebook
^groups
* Instagram
~ Reach out to freelance book reviewers. The standard is that you give them a free copy for an unbiased review.
* Continue going back to the same reviewers each book. Build a
professional relationship with them. They might eventually let your books
“cut lines” when you reach out to them.
~ Listen to feedback. If your readers tweet or ask a lot about a certain character or pairing, take note. Use that popularity and see if you can create a standalone about them.
* Do not sacrifice quality to try to force a sale. This will only anger your
readers, especially since it was one of their favorite characters you just
ruined, and you may lose loyal regular buyers.
~ Create and/or utilize website. Your author persona should already have one of these, so now use it. Post about the books. Ask your followers questions. Give them something to interact with where possible.
* Subscribers List. Once they sign up, you’ve got them trapped for any news that you feel is relevant about the series!
~ Hold fan art contest about book’s characters. Offer appropriate monetary rewards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
* Utilize social media to promote
~ Post a serial/short stories on your website in the same world/universe as your series. Again, do not sacrifice quality.
[1] Rooney, Mich. “Reaching Readers: Best Timing for Book Launches.” SelfPublishing Advice Center. N.p., 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 31 May 2017.