Nobody gets into writing because they love marketing, but self-promotion is quite important (word of mouth is still king, but, by definition, that cannot be manufactured).
As mentioned elsewhere, I excitingly cocked this up with my first book (inexperience) and second (computer woe meant I had to choose between rushing to release or delaying it for an unspecified period, and I chose the former).
That said, I do have some plans. Cunning plans, to be implemented ahead of Kingdom Asunder's release. I thought it might be useful to run through my ideas, and if anyone has more suggestions for pre-release PR, do comment.
ARCs - advanced review copies. Blogs and sites that review self-published stuff will sometimes give ARCs priority (so they can be reviewed pre-release). Be aware that many review sites do not handle independent stuff as a general policy. Also, even a rubbish review is better than none (assuming you don't already have a reputation to lose).
Cover reveal, map reveal - the latter's optional, of course. Both these things give you a legitimate reason to bang on about your imminent book, reminding potential readers of its existence. The single biggest problem getting sales is people being unaware of your book (and spamming repetitive self-promotion "buy my book" can often put people off rather than entice them).
Interviews - these can often be nicer than reviews because it's hard to get a bad one, given you'll have some questions thrown at you and you then choose the answers.
I'd also argue that these things should be staggered, so instead of splurging everything over a short period they should be gradually released over a couple of weeks (or months if you've got loads of stuff to mention).
This isn't something I'm going to do [probably], but you could also try releasing the first chapter for free.
Pre-release marketing is like the run up to the long jump. Doesn't guarantee you'll go far, but does make it likelier.
As mentioned elsewhere, I excitingly cocked this up with my first book (inexperience) and second (computer woe meant I had to choose between rushing to release or delaying it for an unspecified period, and I chose the former).
That said, I do have some plans. Cunning plans, to be implemented ahead of Kingdom Asunder's release. I thought it might be useful to run through my ideas, and if anyone has more suggestions for pre-release PR, do comment.
ARCs - advanced review copies. Blogs and sites that review self-published stuff will sometimes give ARCs priority (so they can be reviewed pre-release). Be aware that many review sites do not handle independent stuff as a general policy. Also, even a rubbish review is better than none (assuming you don't already have a reputation to lose).
Cover reveal, map reveal - the latter's optional, of course. Both these things give you a legitimate reason to bang on about your imminent book, reminding potential readers of its existence. The single biggest problem getting sales is people being unaware of your book (and spamming repetitive self-promotion "buy my book" can often put people off rather than entice them).
Interviews - these can often be nicer than reviews because it's hard to get a bad one, given you'll have some questions thrown at you and you then choose the answers.
I'd also argue that these things should be staggered, so instead of splurging everything over a short period they should be gradually released over a couple of weeks (or months if you've got loads of stuff to mention).
This isn't something I'm going to do [probably], but you could also try releasing the first chapter for free.
Pre-release marketing is like the run up to the long jump. Doesn't guarantee you'll go far, but does make it likelier.
Thoughts?