ROBUST discussion

I've been working on my 'Horsewomen of the Zombie Apocalypse' series. I've got a date with the copy editor and a 'just in case' backup date for the 3rd book.

So I'm looking at different ways to launch the series. One needs always take Amazon-First under concideration. The countdown promotions are interesting. However that means losing all other markets for the e-books.

This has bitten me in the butt in the past. B&N used to be my best market, and Amazon was never as good to me.

So I'm looking for information - how do you manage a launch?

Apparently, not very well. But I'll offer the usual suggestions anyway.

If you've got a paperback version, I'd suggest a Goodreads giveaway. If you can line up some bloggers for a tour that runs just after you release your book, that could get you some initial buzz.

CoolMain Press doesn't use Amazon any more. We arrange pre-orders through Smashwords and D2D (see for instance the new book by Dakota on pre-order till Thursday at https://itunes.apple.com/ie/book/gods...), and use permafree giveaways at all vendors (see for instance http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...) which lets us escape the wretched effects of Amazon's clumsy price-matching. Apple is a good market for quality books, and B&N, with Kobo also coming along. Smashwords also puts electronic books into libraries, and D2D can handle Createspace semi-automatically if not necessarily beautifully; CoolMain will run a test there before Christmas. Smashwords has an excellent deal with Scribd where one gives permission to put the books on Scribd (http://www.scribd.com/search-books?es...), and the subscribers can borrow them and every time a customer reads more than 30% of the book Scribd pays the full list price for the book. (Each author also gets a free one-year subscription to Scribd, which is worth $108, and is worth having. I've read several of the books in their library.)

Oh...pre-orders...that might be very good once I've got Part 2 in the can.

I must admit that I've never understood blog tours. How does that work?

I was doing well on Sony...until they closed. Apple is picking up as a market. Odd reviewers on that site, but they buy books.

How does one get the free Scribd subscription? I've read about it and drawn a blank.

Good thing I asked this question. I've got lots of homework on this subject.

K. A. wrote: "Oh...pre-orders...that might be very good once I've got Part 2 in the can.

I must admit that I've never understood blog tours. How does that work?

I was doing well on Sony...until they closed. Ap..."

Well, I only did blog tours with my first book, but I think they were extremely helpful for getting a lot of steady reviews that left me with a solid base of reviews (the Amazon free promotion with the second book, however, didn't do this as well).

At that time, I contacted two "tour" companies, TLC and Pump Up Your Books. They charge big bucks, however ($400-$600 dollars for a couple dozen book bloggers, supposedly vetted for size of following, reliability, and taste).

Unfortunately, I don't think that TLC works with indie authors any more, which is too bad given Andre's advice about professional promotion. The bloggers and readers for TLC take their work very seriously and tend to be highly educated and well spoken.

Pump Up Your Books ... I think they probably still take indie authors. You can find the "operator" here on Goodreads. Her name is Dorothy Thompson. I found the many, though not all, reviewers there to be good.

So you probably would prefer to do this on the cheap. If you have the time and know bloggers, I'm told that you can set these up yourself. You'd need to contact a couple dozen bloggers about three months before your release. Most probably take digital ARCs now, so there's no printing and mailing costs (I had to send out books four years ago).

If you have the pre-order mechanism online while the bloggers are posting reviews (and interviews of you or possibly posts you write), then readers can order even if the book isn't yet available.

Given what I've learned now, I'd probably combine pre-orders with a blog tour in the future. I'm just not sure how to line up the bloggers since the ones I've come across who seem ideal don't typically accept indie books.

K. A. wrote: "How does one get the free Scribd subscription? I've read about it and drawn a blank."

Publish your books on Smashwords. On the Channels page, accessible via the top of the Dashboard page, choose where you want them distributed, including Scribd. Smashwords then puts the books on Scribd and eventually Smashwords sends you a letter saying you have a free Scribd account and you should grab it before the offers expires. Wotth having; they have good books and might make a big go of it, in which case the income will be worth having too. The income is the full price every time a customer reads more than 30% of any of your books.

The email must have gotten into the trash folder. I haven't seen one and my books have been on scribed the whole time.

dang it

The send them out in waves. They might just not have come to you yet. Write to them and ask what happened to your membership.

I found one and joined. It was addressed to Mom's author name. So that's taken care of.

This time I'm going to make a list of things to do for the book launch. That might be a good place to start.

Once I figured things out, I started planning ahead. If you can set up the pre-orders and get some advance reviews, that can only help get the ball rolling.

I just realized that I never did much for the first book. I guess I was overwhelmed by RL at that point.

I'm blogging about the series.

I still don't get 'blog tour' but I'll google it. Maybe then it will make sense.