Isis Sousa's Blog: Tragic Books' news - Posts Tagged "tips"

First of all, this is a post where I share the experience of what has worked for me so far. My books have a very specific niche, they are not for everybody – and each book out there may have tactics that may work better than those here…

The other thing is that I am a brand new author myself (author by accident) and am still trying to find my spot in the light – and note I sell very few copies a month as such - , however, these few tips I am sharing are starting to build up positive results for my work. Without further ado… Hope it helps you as well!

On Publishing:

- Publish your work on multiple platforms – Amazon, Smashwords, LULU, Blurb, Draft2Digital, etc. Plan your book distribution globally. Doing that, you will open the doors to potential readers from several countries, who are able to buy your work from their favorite shops and webshops. (When you make your work available at one channel only, such as Amazon, you give your potential readers no options, no freedom in choosing where she /he would like to buy your book.)

Have no budget? No problems! I never have one as well. I publish my print books via LULU. It means the only expense I need to have (once the manuscript is ready and edited) is to purchase a proof copy for approval. (In my case, I like to have the print copy proofed, too. But if you can’t pay a person to do that, take it easy and do it yourself, ask a friend, or exchange services with another author.)

- Multiple formats are important. When you publish your work as only ebook or only paperback, again, you limit the options for your readers. Everyone or most people like to read in a favorite format or specific format in a specific situation. For example: I like to read ebooks, but some days, due to eye fatigue, I like to read only print books. By making your book out in different formats, you make your work more desirable to potential readers.

- If you publish only ebooks, remember to make them available as Epub as well (not only as Kindle, as I see many authors doing). On the book giveaways that I do, 60% + of the winners always request Epub. It is only in the US that I’d say 50% of the winners on my giveaways request Kindle format. Not everybody has a Kindle or Kindle app – so get your book on LULU, Smashwords, Draft2Digital – these are free and will distribute your book worldwide as Epub + you can set a Kindle, too, of course, and have both formats!

Marketing:
Here are some free or very affordable ways to make some nice marketing to raise awareness of your title and get some reviews:

- Giveaways – Set up a print book giveaway on GoodReads, there are very cheap ways to do it, as for example, giving away one print copy to people in your country, if you don’t have a budget.

Can’t make a print giveaway? No problems, chap! Make ebook giveaways (remember to have both Kindle and Epub freebies available!). Two great sites for ebook giveaways are LibraryThing.com and BookLikes.com - it won’t cost you a thing, other than sending the files to the winners! Voi lá!

- Are you part of GoodReads groups? There are many groups where you can make a thread and offer free copies of your book in exchange for a review and those copies can be ebook :)

- If you have a little extra, you can purchase a Blog Tour service, or Blitz for as little as 30$, the smallest packages. Blog tours are a nice way to do some PR and reach new readers. You can use it also to giveaway free e-books.

- Partner with other authors and bloggers, by exchanging links or paying/trading ads in their blogs

- If you have a little extra budget, partner with a Facebook group, magazine, newspaper, website where you can place an ad. Remember to select those according to your niche. If you write horror, you may advertise with a partner that has a horror audience/readership, for example.

- Fair price: I have seen some author selling their books at horrible prices. If your book is too expensive, less likely people is going to buy it. A fair price makes readers happy :)

- Social media (my opinion, feel free to disagree): keep the bloody social media social! There’s nothing more annoying than people trying to sell books - or whatever –on social media :P

Write a new book
This is something I first heard and learned of Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords: Your new book is the best marketing tool for your other books. Write something good, great, and after some books, your titles will market each other. Don’t forget to include samples of previous books on your new books :)

If it takes too long for you to write a novel, don’t get stuck: write a short story, then, heh!

That’s all, folks!

I am an indie author who writes on her free time and benefits of using FREE self-publishing services. If it wasn’t for these platforms, I probably would not be publishing books right now, since I wouldn’t be able to afford paid services and my work would most likely not interest bigger presses.

In my two years self-publishing journey I have tested both print and e-book publishing platforms and now I’d like to share some of my insights with you.

This a looong article, but hope it will be helpful to you: https://tragicbooks.com/2017/01/02/my...

...And Happy New Year! :D