Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Earlier this year, my second novel Rage's Echo was released upon the unsuspecting public. Early reviews were positive overall. The people who read it enjoyed it and said they could tell that my writing had improved since my first novel was released in 2011.

The biggest problem I've encountered since releasing Rage's Echo is this: I can't seem to get many new readers interested in picking it up no matter how hard I try to market it.

This problem might lie in the fact that I don't write in one genre. When I write, I don't take genre into consideration. I have stories to tell and I tell them. I don't want my work to be pigeonholed. Rage's Echo might be considered a Christian novel, as the characters grapple with their faith. It might be considered horror since one of the main characters is a vengeful ghost who also longs for redemption. It could even be classified as suspense, or even a thriller.

Those who have reviewed Rage's Echo say that it is nothing like anything they have read, and I suppose they might be right. My female protagonist isn't some drop-dead gorgeous blond who wears size 0 pants--she's a twenty-one-year old ghost hunter who marches to the beat of her own drum. The man who loves her has cerebral palsy. And not to mention Jerry, the ghost, who suffered so much pain in life that he wishes to get revenge upon those who caused it.

I know that a great deal of fiction these days follows a formula. I avoid formula at all costs because I want my stories to stand on their own and not be one of a thousand other stories like them. I will never sell out just to make a quick dollar. But if people are reluctant to pick up one of my stories because it isn't like all the other books they've read so far, what am I to do?



www.jsbaileywrites.com

Sounds like your novel is a supernatural thriller. Genres are not pigeon holes they are a guide to help readers figure out if they want to give your book a try. I write in Scifi and supernatural romance/action/thriller/espionage/etc. But with the mainstream stuff I have seen out there no your book is not "too different." As for marketing, you need to find a group that your novel appeals to. That is your market. That is who you focus on. Now it could be bored lonely housewives (50 shades) or sexually developing Teens (Twilight)or it could be both or neither. If your first book was similar, you can use your current fan base as an idea who your writing is relating to.

You may also try reaching out to various forums related to one or several of the genres your work fits in to. I think it's good that you're writing the stories that come to you and not forcing them to "fit" into one category or another and yet even without trying they inevitably end up somewhere, as you know. So maybe if you reach out to even one of the genres you might find more people who are interested in your novel as a whole or give you more feedback as to what, in their opinion, isn't quite working.

I might also add that from what I understand the market is pretty well flooded with supernatural-type books right now, among other genres as well. Your competition may be a lot higher than you think.

With that in mind, it's already hard to find an audience in today's world because there are more books being self-published than ever before, more than any reader can come up with. I think most authors agree that writing the book is just the beginning, marketing and promoting your book is a whole other ride. More than anything I think you probably just need to do a lot more market research and promotional work for your book. I published a poetry book, which is a tough genre to sell in if you're basically a nobody, so I can appreciate the challenge of finding your audience.

I wish you all the best and hey maybe check out some other discussions in this group and others about how to gain/find more readers. :-) Keep us posted on how things go.


Sincerely,
eLPy
author of "That Which Lives Within"
www.littlefacepublications.com

JS, I had a look on Amazon, is Rage's Echo available as an e-book?

You are potentially missing out on a huge segment of the market by only having a paperback. E-books are much easier to send to reviewers, offer as prizes in giveaways/competitions and many people are more inclined to load up their kindle for the holidays and not lug physical copies around :)

A.W. wrote: "JS, I had a look on Amazon, is Rage's Echo available as an e-book?

You are potentially missing out on a huge segment of the market by only having a paperback. E-books are much easier to send to r..."

I agree an eBook is a smart investment. They are also cheaper which makes people more likely to take a chance on them.

Charles wrote: "J.S. wrote: "Earlier this year, my second novel Rage's Echo was released upon the unsuspecting public. Early reviews were positive overall. The people who read it enjoyed it and sai..."

Well done Charles! I don't have her book but I am on Joanna Penn's mailing list if you will. You make a great point about making a marketing plan, that's something I was just saying in "What do Self-published authors need to do to get more readers" thread, that I know I need to make more of an actual plan.

Hey JT's on there too! Hey there! Perhaps Charles you'll swing by and share your experiences. JS you might well enjoy and learn from what people are sharing about what has worked for them or they think might work!

AW: Yes I saw her book on Amazon. I'm no expert but her kindle price of $8.99 in my opinion is a bit steep. JS, while you've published before, as a relatively unknown author I personally think it's best for such an author to price their book lower in order to attract a wider audience. People are a bit leery to spend money on something that could be a miss and more likely to take the miss if they didn't spend much on it. I know that doesn't sound great but it's true.

For example, have you heard of Hugh Howey? From what I know he started out selling his novellas (which can now be bought as Omnibuses running around 500 pages if I recall for around $5-6) for $0.99 because he was a nobody. Now he's a bestselling author and as I said his kindle versions are still pretty cheap. Just a thought.


take care,
eLPy

A.W. wrote: "JS, I had a look on Amazon, is Rage's Echo available as an e-book?

You are potentially missing out on a huge segment of the market by only having a paperback. E-books are much easier to send to r..."

Yes, Rage's Echo is available for both Kindle and Nook. Unfortunately my publisher set the ebook price at about $8.99 and won't budge on pricing no matter how much I pester them about it. :(

I don't believe in formula writing either. A novel should be novel in some way.

Patrick Loafman
Author of Somewhere Upriver

J.S. wrote: "A.W. wrote: "JS, I had a look on Amazon, is Rage's Echo available as an e-book?

You are potentially missing out on a huge segment of the market by only having a paperback. E-books are much easier..."

Who's your publisher? And did you sell your digital rights?

Just hit the 1000th mark on Amazon selling my eBook for Kindle. Not quite sure what I did as I tried to do a little bit of everything. Put the book up on Amazon in July, got no sales. Then in August I got five. The big push came at the end of September when Ereader News Today posted my book, I got over 350 sales the first day, a hundred more the next. It's has been doing good ever since. And now that I've reached 1,000 sales, does look like Amazon is helping more. Just keep at it is my advice. Try everything. Do blog tours, book signings, radio shows, whatever you can do. Marketing is a full time job.

That's weird, it doesn't come up when I search for it.

$8.99 is way above the average list price of $3.99. Has your publisher explained their pricing strategy, it seems a tad out of touch? :(

A.W. wrote: "That's weird, it doesn't come up when I search for it.

$8.99 is way above the average list price of $3.99. Has your publisher explained their pricing strategy, it seems a tad out of touch? :("

They won't explain and they won't compromise. I'm seriously considering terminating my contract with them. I could rant more, but for the sake of professionalism I'll leave it at that.

You might want to seriously consider that JS, unless they are selling substantial numbers of e-books at that price point?

I am outside the US and cannot find your kindle book, which makes me suspect they have set it up as only available to the US market, which again limits your sale options.

I definitely agree with the pricing issue. These problems are one of the reasons I've given up on going through publishers.
I seem to have run into a similar problem with my latest novel though. My novel is post-apocalyptic fantasy with multiple characters and different stories told from different points of view. Plus, there's a touch of erotica. My book is only $2.99 though. I don't know if I should lower the price, raise the price or what.
I suspect the problem might be the cover. I ended up doing it myself and I like the way it came out. The trouble is that it loses something in the translation to thumb nail size. I think I might need to redo it. What do you all think? http://www.amazon.com/Embers-Ancient-...

Pricing is a key to attracting new readers. Mine is set at $4.99. I am thinking about lowering it. Most people will risk $5 on a book but more likely $3 or $4.

You're a Cristian, be thankful you don't write non-fiction poetry about real issues. Then you couldn't give your book away, no matter how hard you tried.

Spring wrote: "I definitely agree with the pricing issue. These problems are one of the reasons I've given up on going through publishers.
I seem to have run into a similar problem with my latest novel though. M..."

I sent you a private message.

One of my major difficulties as an indie author (outside learning the ropes, mechanics, expectations, and hidden expenses is the outrageous price expected by Amazon of $25-$29 for a BIG book. (538 pages) I'm working on the e-book idea, but because of certain formatting issues that won't be easy. I've had several helpful hints so far. Working and progressing!

Mary wrote: "I'm working on the e-book idea, but because of certain formatting issues that won't be easy. ..."

Mary, PM me if you'd like a recommendation for a professional, reasonably priced e-book format conversion specialist. Although my own editing services don't include digital formatting, I have worked with some great folks who do that kind of work.

~Susan

Spring wrote: "I definitely agree with the pricing issue. These problems are one of the reasons I've given up on going through publishers.
I seem to have run into a similar problem with my latest novel though. M..."

I like the picture but the font, itself, and the color and size are off. I think you should change it. Some parts you can hardly read.

The owner of Smashwords wrote an article. After doing research he determined the best price for a book is $3.99. I think promos are good at $.99 but then Amazon gets 65% of your money. I also think that $2.99 is a good price. My suggestion, is you can pick your own price (not have it priced by your publisher) then take a look at the books on the bestseller list in your book's category. How are they priced and who wrote the books. That's your competition. Price accordingly.

Mary wrote: "One of my major difficulties as an indie author (outside learning the ropes, mechanics, expectations, and hidden expenses is the outrageous price expected by Amazon of $25-$29 for a BIG book. (538 ..."

Wishing you the best of luck, Mary!

Today I had a long talk on the phone with my publisher. They agreed to lower the price by a few dollars. It won't be $3.99 for the Kindle, but it will definitely be cheaper than it currently is.

And now we wait.

Fingers crossed for you JS, what a terrible situation to be in & I hope the price drop helps. Did you look at pulling your rights from Tate and self publishing?

A.W. wrote: "Fingers crossed for you JS, what a terrible situation to be in & I hope the price drop helps. Did you look at pulling your rights from Tate and self publishing?"

I've considered it but I don't want to do that just yet. I'm working on setting up some bookstore events and I know that isn't be as easy to do for books that are self-published due to the difficulty of returning the books that don't sell.

J.S. wrote: "A.W. wrote: "Fingers crossed for you JS, what a terrible situation to be in & I hope the price drop helps. Did you look at pulling your rights from Tate and self publishing?"

I've considered it bu..."

I would have to agree with AW, JS. Hopefully you can talk to some other book stores about hosting a self-published indie author and get a feel for how that process would work for you. I don't know that it is worth it to stay with your publisher to make that deal however.
Best of luck, JS!

It is £6.96 on Kindle in the UK. Sorry to sound harsh, but I wouldn't pay that for any mainstream published author let alone a new untried one. The problem is, you have reviews on amazon.com, but not amazon.co.uk. If I saw your book in the listings on .co.uk with no reviews at £6.96 I would just scroll past, not even clicking into it, so I wouldn't even be able to tell there are .com reviews. For a new untried, indie author, I would pay no more than £1.99 for an ebook.

Elaine wrote: "It is £6.96 on Kindle in the UK. Sorry to sound harsh, but I wouldn't pay that for any mainstream published author let alone a new untried one. The problem is, you have reviews on amazon.com, but n..."

The Kindle price has been dropped to $5.99 in the US and £3.79 in the UK. It's not ideal, but hopefully Rage's Echo will see a slight boost in sales.

5.99 is still to expensive for an unknown author.

Mine is currently $4.99 USD and I am considering dropping it a dollar or two.

Abby wrote: "Spring wrote: "I definitely agree with the pricing issue. These problems are one of the reasons I've given up on going through publishers.
I seem to have run into a similar problem with my latest ..."

Thanks! Yeah, that's what I've been hearing. I love the font, but it just doesn't work when the picture is smaller.

Trends have their waves and troughs ... Very frustrating to wait for the next high to bail you out ...

Vanessa wrote: "5.99 is still to expensive for an unknown author."

I plan on remedying the "unknown" part of that. ;) Just had a signing at Starbucks today and sold 5 copies. Baby steps!

OK, so I took the comments I received and went back to the drawing board on my cover. I don't know if it's better or worse, but I do kinda like it. https://dwtr67e3ikfml.cloudfront.net/... Plus, you can actually read it at thumbnail size now.

Ooh, and I just noticed Rage's Echo is now $5.49 for Nook. Does anybody even have a Nook?

J.S. wrote: "Ooh, and I just noticed Rage's Echo is now $5.49 for Nook. Does anybody even have a Nook?"

How long did it take you to get yours on Nook? It took me 2 months

J.T. wrote: "J.S. wrote: "Ooh, and I just noticed Rage's Echo is now $5.49 for Nook. Does anybody even have a Nook?"

How long did it take you to get yours on Nook? It took me 2 months"

I don't know. My novels aren't self-published so I wasn't responsible for putting them up on any sites.

I understand your plight. My books are Christian fantasy - struggles with faith while angels and demons battle for souls. I have not done a lot of marketing, which is why I have not had a lot of readers yet. As I try marketing more, I am hoping to change that, but I got rejected by a number of agents because of the mix of genres.

Lana wrote: "I understand your plight. My books are Christian fantasy - struggles with faith while angels and demons battle for souls. I have not done a lot of marketing, which is why I have not had a lot of re..."

Are your books available in print? I do a lot of book signings in coffee shops, bagel shops, donut shops, and other places where people are. :) You might want to consider contacting some local companies and ask them if they'd be willing to let you have a signing there.