Why Constant Exposure is Important

This will be a short blog piece.  It can be summed up in this sentence:

My recent sales figures have sucked!

I mean really sucked.  With exception of the sales of my most recent novel distributed through my publisher, my sales have been non-existent lately.  I know people use that phrase non-existent to mean, only a few, but I mean I’ve had no sales is three weeks on my backlog of ebooks.  

Now, to be honest, I have a novella and a handful of short stories along a flash fiction collection there.  The novella has been my best seller -- up to now.

What can I attribute this to?  

Lack of exposure.  Besides my novel, (published in late July), I’ve had nothing new to promote.   Now, that doesn’t mean I have nothing to promote and that’s the rub. I’m missing the fact that I have material to promote, but I’m just not doing it and that’s my problem.  

I’ve been locked too much into the “one-and-done” marketing syndrome.  I release an ebook, I market it around once and let that be it.  

That being said, there is a tenuous balance between marketing and spam.  You certainly don’t want to annoy people with spam, but shooting up one flare of promotion isn’t going to cut it.  

Pepsi and Coke don’t run one ad, they constantly advertise.  Again, having a small product line, I don’t need to be as aggressive as Pepsi or Coke, but I can’t let a single promotional effort be my total promotional effort.  

So, look for more promotional efforts from me.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

My Book Launch

I’m a little late at reporting on this since the blessed event was just over three weeks ago, but I guess better late than never is a good policy. Plus it allows me to have some other data.

I launched my first published novel, Sanctuary from the Dead, on July 26.  Let me be honest, what I know about book launches can be summed up on a few paragraphs.  I had participated in one other launch a fellow writer friend of mine convened.  (He interviewed me.)  I did some homework, read some blogs, but really I went with what I knew and used my gut to guide me.

Here’s some particulars:

Pre-Promotion:  I placed announcements for the event on several different community of interest sites (e.g zombie sites) and on several different Facebook pages.

Venue:  Facebook.  I used my writer’s FB page instead of an event page, hoping to drive up my ‘Likes’ -- which did work to some degree.  I did get 12 new Likes.

Process:  The event lasted 4 hours.  I had a planned out schedule putting up a new post every 15 minutes initially and then going to every 30 minutes later in the event.  The posts consisted of announcements, links to free short stories, and links to my blog where I had author interviews.

Live Interviews vs. Canned Author Interviews:  The one launch I participated in, the host did live Facebook interviews with authors (with me being one of them).  He reported that it was a lot of work and was not sure it was worth it.  I used pre-written interviews and posted links to my blog where they resided.  I can say that having participated in another launch event where the author did live interviews and I might try that.

Giving Things Away:  I released links to three free short stories and a collection of flash stories on Amazon throughout the night.  I moved 227 free ebooks that night.   Hopefully people are reading those stories and liking them, ergo giving me more exposure more and new readers.

Final Tally:

227 free ebooks given away

12 new Likes to my Facebook page  

20 Books sold within 3 weeks of release

NOTE:  I figure quite a few people came to the launch because the amount of free ebooks that got downloaded.

Lessons Learned:

Do more up front promotion

Maybe do live author interviews

Consider an event page so that I can track how many people came

15 Minute Marketing

For many writers, marketing is one of the last things they want to do.  Writers want to write.  (Or, at least, they should.)

For the indie writer, marketing is a must, though.  Without it, readers won’t discover your work and then your books don’t get read.  But it seems such a daunting task.  At this current moment, I have two pages of a list of single spaced items of places and strategies I should be doing to market my latest book.  Taking them all in at once makes me want to hide under my desk.

But, as with the joke about eating an elephant  (Q: How do you eat a whole elephant?  A: A bite at a time.) taking them a few at time, say 15 minutes a day, makes the overall task more manageable.  

So, for now, I’m trying to do that.  I’ll let you know what I find out.  

Sanctuary from the Dead Video Trailer

Do you want to get a feel for my book, Sanctuary from the Dead?  Then check out this video trailer for it.

Too Many Words

Another author posted a link to a blog post about writing on her Facebook page.  The author of the blog post provided a list of items that make a for a good story that is marketable.  One of them really struck me. Here's the quote:

Wordiness or overwriting — the book is not excessively wordy, particularly, no rambling descriptions, dumps of information, unnecessary repetition or irrelevant scenes.

[SOURCE:  http://marketingtips4authors.blogspot.com/2013/04/get-exposure-on-awesome-indies.html?spref=fb]

As I kid, when I envisioned a writer, I saw someone who was very learned and they used long and complicated words.  They might even smoke a pipe and wear jackets with patches on their sleeves.  (Ahh, the mystery of childhood misconceptions.)

Some of my first writing was a game to show how smart I was with my vocabulary.  I'd work every long word I could into my stories.  

Well, I got my own education on that approach when I released a mystery novel I was working on to a group of beta-readers.  One of the common threads of the critiques was that the book was "too wordy" and it "seemed over-written."  Other friends said I used too many long words, too.  

That stung. I worked really hard at being smart with my book and it back-fired. (It didn't help that the front end of the book was ponderously slow.)  

I've learned since then that I don't have to write 'dumb' or talk down to my readers, but I don't have to try to impress them with my vocabulary.  Writing clearly and succinctly seems to better connect with my readers. Since I write in genre fiction, this even more important.

Now, this doesn't mean that your book has to be dumb.  Not at all.  Readers love smart books, but over-smart writing doesn't always win them over.

So, the next time you decide to try an impress your readers with how smart you are, think again.

The Upsides and Downsides of Free

Thought I would share some Observations/Upsides/Downsides of giving books away.

Last week, I had a launch event on Facebook for my new book.  As a part of the way I enticed potential readers to the event (and get more Likes on my FB page), I gave away a lot of my short stories and flash crime collection.  In total, I gave away 227 ebooks.

Upsides:  More exposure and something to entice readers with.  Chance for more reviews -- the good kind

Downsides:  No income generated.  Chance for more reviews -- the negative kind

One person downloaded all four of my free ebooks and reviewed them all.  The reader gave me 2 - 5-Star ratings and 2 - 3-Star ratings.

Obviously, I love the 5-Star Ratings.  The 3-Star ratings, not so much.  But them's the breaks or so they say.

So, you now see the dangers of free.  But free is a necessary evil, I fear, at least for indie writers.

Author Interview with Dan Williams

Dan Williams is the author of the Mace of the Apocalypse series, featuring bounty hunter Mace and his trusty partner, Jade as they face against the undead.  The first book, Mace of the Apocalypse is followed by The Value of Jade and Children of the Apocalypse.  The final book in the series was just release and is titled, Legend of Mace.

You can learn more about Dan William’s writing life at:
http://danieljwilliamsauthor.com/

Why do you write?
Writing for me is more than just a hobby. From a young age it became an outlet to release pent-up frustration or creativity. Once a story takes root, it becomes ingrained in my subconscious and becomes something I can't help but think about and expand upon.

Tell me about your Mace of the Apocalypse series - who is Mace and what is he up against?

The Mace of the Apocalypse series starts off at the beginning stages of a zombie apocalypse. It focuses on a group of survivors who believe they have the antidote to the infection. It is a story about survival, adversity, and relationships in an atmosphere of complete horror.

The main character in the story, Mace, is a man who struggles with a dark past. He strives to find meaning and redemption in the present. The more I developed him the more I fell in love with his character. His past haunts him; he identifies with it and feels somewhat damaged. He is certainly not without his flaws. He sees his new role as a protector and risks everything for those he loves or feels responsible for.  

Why was your path to the zombie apocalypse and what influenced you to write about the undead?
In my opinion, there is nothing more terrifying than the thought of being pursued by a horde of undead corpses ravenous for human flesh. I have always been attracted to epic stories, and a zombie apocalypse is about as epic as I could imagine. People's reactions to that type of horror completely drew me in, and I wanted to explore that from a human perspective.

What’s it like writing a series -- do you like spending so much time with these characters?
I am so glad I decided to take this journey. The greatest aspect of writing a series is being able to delve further into my character's personalities. They are a part of me.  It is one of the most rewarding challenges I have ever undertaken. 

Was there a particular book or author that inspired you as a writer?

I would have to say The Stand by Stephen King. That was storytelling at its masterful best. It was such an epic tale, with rich characters, great pacing and originality: One of my favorites of all time.

What keeps you writing?
Writing is now a way of life. There is a freedom that comes when you completely let go of reality and immerse yourself in a world of your own creation. At this point, I can't imagine not writing. I recently signed with J Ellington Ashton press, and the knowledge I've gained is priceless. Learning to become a better writer is such a wonderful challenge.

What advice do you have for other writers?
The best advice I can give would be to just keep writing, take classes or workshops when you can, and learn from your mistakes. Don't take bad feedback personally. Everyone gets bad reviews. If you see a pattern emerging, look at it objectively and learn from it. Leave your ego at the door.

What’s up next for Dan Williams?"Now it's time to promote this series and see what happens. It's been a ball."

Dan Williams Bibliography:
Mace of the Apocalypse

Value of Jade

Children of the Apocalypse

Legend of Mace