I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!
Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path.
Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:
Okay, I know I said last week that I was going to discuss audio books this week, but I changed my mind. I have something fun planned for that eventual post, so we'll circle back around to that later. It will be well worth the wait. Promise.
Considering release day is TOMORROW (!!), I decided to talk about what marketing stuff I'm doing this week to celebrate and boost visibility. So, here's another comprehensive list of things I'm planning and results so far:
1. More Reviews -- As I mentioned in Part 8, I listed my book on NetGalley to help garner some pre-release reviews. Thankfully, all the wonderful reviewers there have cross-posted to Goodreads already, and I'm hoping they'll cross-post to Amazon this week as well. But I knew I wanted more reviews readily available as close to release day as possible, so I invested in BookSirens.
I have to say, I LOVE this site. It's super easy to use, extremely affordable, and it offers me so much control and insights into who is requesting and reviewing my book. The staff has been very helpful and prompt in their communications with me. I'll definitely be using them for the other books in this series. What I like so much about this site is that I set the budget.
There's an initial $10 set up fee per book listed, and then it's $2 per reader who downloads my book. I get to determine how many copies I want to offer, which means I can determine how much I spend. Because this a new site for me, I decided to start with offering 25 downloads to see how it goes. Oh! And you only pay for those who actually download the book, so if someone requests it but never downloads it, you don't get charged, which is wonderful!
Cost: $60.00 (per my set budget)
Results so far: My book has been seen by over 1,000 readers, has been clicked on / viewed by almost 60 readers, has been downloaded to read by 16 people, and I've already received 1 review. (YAY!) I requested to send gentle reminders to reviewers to post on Amazon, so hopefully that will happen during release week or shortly thereafter.
2. Book Blitz & Giveaway -- I hired Xpresso Book Tours to organize a week long book blitz, starting on release day and running for a full 7 days. I sent them a full media kit with teaser images and guest posts. Bloggers can post whatever they'd like on any day within the week. I combined this with a small giveaway--a $25 Amazon gift card--that will hopefully entice people to check out my book and me as an author.
Cost: $115.00 ($90 for the blitz + $25 for the giveaway prize)
Results so far: 91 bloggers signed up for the blitz!
3. Paid Ad -- I've paid for an ad via The eReader Cafe that will go live on Sunday, September 20th. I'm contemplating running a small ad on Facebook, too, but I admittedly know very little about those and I don't want to do it wrong and waste my money. Because I currently have my book priced at $0.99, it's eligible to be listed on quite a few bargain ebook sites, so I plan to do some research and post to as many of those places as possible.
Cost: $25.00
Results so far: Unknown
4. Facebook Release Party -- I hired the lovely Paige Boggs of Electively Paige to organize a 6-hour Facebook event on Thursday, September 17th. We've invited fellow paranormal romance authors to stop by and share their books. The goal here is that everyone invites their fans / readers so we can all tap into new reader bases. If you'd like to check out the fun, join the party HERE.
Cost: $60.00 (plus whatever prizes I choose to giveaway)
Results so far: Unknown, though people are RSVPing "yes" to the event, so that's a good sign.
Overall, I've spent a total of $260.00 on release week marketing efforts. Next week, I'm going to revisit this and share what worked, what didn't, and actual sales numbers.
Got questions?
Drop them in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment