Jan 30, 2017
Want more reviews? Set up a giveaway or contest on Facebook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCaSlq7RhzY) or Goodreads . It’s really that simple.
Just remember to Tweet about it on Twitter, send out emails, or better yet, announce it in your monthly newsletter, on your website and blog. Done.
There’s a cool site called RaffleCopter that will help take the guess work out of creating a giveaway and picking a winner. On the flipside you can create a list in MailChimp with an entry form and gather winners or if you’re a Google Docs kind of person – create a form in Google Docs to share in your newsletter, on your website and blog and in your Facebook and Twitter posts. Once the contest ends you find an online number generator to randomly pick the winner(s).
Jan 23, 2017
You have an email list, right?! Yes. Great!!! No? Let’s talk! You NEED a list!! NOW!
Seriously, an email list is imperative for authors. Whether it contains family, friends, ex-whatevers, co-workers, local chamber of commerce members, attendees from your book signing or reading, wherever you get them you need a list!
You can sign up for MailChimp.com for free. It’s free to use for lists (that mean a combination of lists or a single list) of 2,000 subscribers. You can upload what you have in a CSV file. The cool thing about MailChimp is it won’t import duplicates. No more comparing lists of hunting for duplicate email addresses. Nice.
MailChimp also offers a very user-friendly interface so that you create a newsletter, simple announcements, etc., to stay in contact with your readers. You can break up your lists into personal contacts, reviewers, newsletter, etc. With each list you have the ability to create a signup form that you can send in an email or announcement or embedded on your website. MailChimp also integrates with Facebook! Now you have no excuse for not starting and growing a list.
MailChimp Disclaimer: I love MailChimp.com and have set up several authors with this application. I am not affiliated in any way with MailChimp.com. I just like the simplicity and ease of use. There are many, many other applications that have the same and/or similar features so please do your homework and research the best option for you.
Jan 16, 2017
Okay, let’s talk about distribution. Where are your books being sold? Mainly online? Good. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Google Books, Scribd and Smashwords? Where else? Did you know that where you choose to have your book printed impacts your distribution?
Yep, a lot of self-published authors choose to use CreateSpace (because Amazon owns it, duh.) and IngramSpark mainly because of the enhanced distribution. IngramSpark offers a broader range of distribution markets around the world. I know, Amazon is the place to be, I agree. But why not take a chance and see if ingramSpark’s distribution system can add a few sales to your bottom line. You don’t have to publish with IngramSpark, just set up an account and upload your files. They take it from there. Use CreateSpace for your Amazon sales. Bingo! The best of both worlds!
Jan 9, 2017
Every author should be at the very least on Facebook and Twitter . Social media is where the majority of readers get their information on authors, new releases, books on sale and reviews. There are specific Facebook Groups that are dedicated to simply promoting author’s books.
If you have a personal Facebook account then you can set up an author page. It’s very simple to do. Once it’s set up, you can post about your book being on sale, or it’s release date or your next book signing.
Don’t forget you can hold events on Facebook too. I was fortunate to be a part of one of my author’s Romance Writers Gone Wild event in November this year. It was amazing! So many authors volunteered their time and a few bucks for the overall prizes and to share books excerpts, interesting facts, reveal covers, announce new books and lots of other fun! There were over 600 Facebook attendees. You might want to look into doing something similar or just having your own Facebook Event.
GoodReads is a great place to get reviews as well as place a few ads or hold a giveaway.
Jan 2, 2017
You have a book and want to boost sales, great! How many reviews do you have?
Reviews are key to getting more sales because people want to know if your book is worth their money (always a first consideration) and time (strong second consideration). They will read your book’s review on Amazon and Goodreads to see what other people say about your book. You need reviews.
Okay, how do you get reviews? You can take the time to research book reviewer websites and blogs to see if they review your genre, what their backlog is (typically 3-4 months out), create a spreadsheet and then send out your emails and wait. OR you could spend a few bucks and sign up for review book tour with sites like TastyBookTours.com , CoffeeTimeRomance.com , NightOwlReviews.com , GoddessFish.com , InD’Tale Magazine Reviews . These sites will, for a nominal fee, take your book’s information and ARC and send it out for review with their current reviewer list. The reviewers then list a review on their website and Amazon. Some will list the review on multiple sites. Nice huh?
And don’t forget about Goodreads. Their main goal is book reviews! It’s free to sign up and put your books out there for your readers to find. (Don’t ignore Goodreads advertising and giveaways – great way to get attention!)
This is the best way to receive unbiased reviews and get a social media promotion going for your book as well. Check out these sites for other promotional opportunities like book cover reveal tours or featured author spots.
