# How do you market an ebook?



## Yurika (Jun 20, 2013)

So I just published my first ebook (fantasy novel) and I have been agonizing over how to market it.
I'm doing the social media thing, getting friends to spread the word and all that. But besides doing a little song and dance with banners and trumpets every time someone looks at me, what can I do?
Any suggestions?
How did you do it?


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## jayelle_cochran (Jun 20, 2013)

This topic comes up a lot.  There are several ways to promote your novel.

When I publish I plan to use kindle and smashwords for distributing the e-book.  Smashwords also has a free e-book about marketing and another one about e-publishing.  

Here's their book marketing guide

The Secrets To E-publishing Success

There's a lot of great advice here on the forums too.  After a while the information starts repeating itself.  Most of the ideas I have come from the smashwords books and web surfing.  

*hugs* and good luck!
Jayelle


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## InkwellMachine (Jun 20, 2013)

The three things I plan to do once I start publishing e-books are:
-Go to conventions and 'busk' there, advertising my books in character (as someone from the cast of characters).
-Create affiliations with other writers and publishers of media ("I mention your thing, you mention mine," sort of deal).
-Work on your following. This is the tricky one. Yes, your ultimate goal may be for people to purchase your book, but who pays attention to the person trying to sell them something? Instead, I recommend collaborating with other artists and writers to promote your work. I didn't enjoy reading Scott Westerfield's _Leviathan _trilogy, but I bought the whole series on a whim simply because I saw the amazing art associated with the books and _had _to know the creative origin. Things like this will not only work as advertisement, but they'll bring readers closer to your world, which is almost the most important thing you can do. After all, a couple of die-hard fans will do more to advertise your books than any paid advertiser ever could (this is a lie, of course, but it sure sounds nice).


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## Yurika (Jun 21, 2013)

Hi Jayelle,
I published through Smashwords and perused their various ebooks - it was a great help!
But I do agree with you about the info: it becomes tedious to read after a while. I have been implementing their tips over the past few weeks, but I am yet to see some 'smashing' results. Will let you know if I come across anything else!


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## Yurika (Jun 21, 2013)

Hi InkwellMachine,
Thanks for the tips! I have stuck my neck out and managed to secure a little guest blog spot on another fantasy author's site - yay!
As to conventions... I am South African and the closest thing we have to a sci-fi convention here is thousands of soccer fans running around with springbok horns on their heads 
But I am moving to Germany later this year and I have heard some pretty good things about the fantasy scene there..


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## Dave Watson (Jun 21, 2013)

A couple of things I did to get the word out were putting posters up in my local libraries and contacting the local newspaper, who agreed to interview me. Also contacted every indie reviewer website I could find to see get some people to do write ups of the book, which (if the reviews are good of course!) you can then include in the book description on Amazon and Smashwords. 

Good luck.


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## Yurika (Jun 21, 2013)

Dave, that is excellent advice! I am making contact with the local newspaper now and googling review sites. Will let you know how it turned out!


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## Violets (Jun 21, 2013)

Amazon KDP select allows you to give your book away for free for five days every three months. It seems odd, because all writers want to make money, but it's good; practically anyone who reads will download a book of their preferred genre for free, and if they do, they might review, which is good so long as the review is. Also, this would get you on the lists like 'people who bought this also bought' and 'customers who viewed this also viewed'. I would say don't underestimate the power of freebies


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## Yurika (Jun 21, 2013)

I agree, this is really effective. I did a little promo on my Smashwords account and it did really well. I'm definitely gonna try it with Amazon as well, as soon as it's listed - didn't know you could set it that way! Thanks!


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## jayelle_cochran (Jun 22, 2013)

Yurika said:


> Hi Jayelle,
> I published through Smashwords and perused their various ebooks - it was a great help!
> But I do agree with you about the info: it becomes tedious to read after a while. I have been implementing their tips over the past few weeks, but I am yet to see some 'smashing' results. Will let you know if I come across anything else!



A few weeks is a very short time in this business.  Most good authors  aren't successful until after several years of writing and publishing.  A friend  of mine is one of the authors mentioned in the smashwords e-book.  When  she and I first met she had a handful of readers who would buy her  books regularly.  Now, about 5 years later, she's doing remarkably  well.  I wouldn't say she's on easy street.  But, she does have a  strong following and is what I would consider successful.  Even with traditional  publishing, no author has a huge following off the bat.  It takes a lot  of hard work and dedication to get to that point.  I honestly don't  expect to see a decent number of sales for my own work until my novels have  been out there for years, with new ones coming out on a  regular basis.  Even in the smashwords books, they tell you that there  are no true overnight successes.  Even those that seem to be so have  been working at it for a long time.

Definitely share anything you learn along the way.  We can all learn from one another.

*hugs*
Jayelle


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## Sera A (Jun 24, 2013)

Just wanted to say I had the same question as Yurika, and these are some great answers.  Thank you all for the help!


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## philistine (Jun 24, 2013)

It's not that difficult, provided you follow the steps:

1. Print your manuscript, and attach a few LED lights and circuit boards to it. Make sure they're secure.
2. Write a note saying something along the lines of 'please publish me', making sure (and this is important), and attach a USB lanyard with the typewritten message saved on it.
3. Throw it out of the window, chanting 'Domo arigatou, Mr Robotou'- your phrasing must be perfect and without fault.
4. Wait for the kudos to roll in. The average person finds fame in 3 - 5 days, unless you started the process on a weekend, in which case it takes a week.

God speed.


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## David Gordon Burke (Sep 18, 2013)

Going to jump right in here although it is just slightly off topic.  Mentioning Smashwords and Amazon in the same thread made me think someone here might have an answer.  I was under the impression that depending on the Amazon options one chooses, that you end up in an EXCLUSIVE arrangement with them and you can't publish with any of the other ebook distributors.  

Anyone know anything about that?  Amazon is known as the biggy so if they are dominating and dangling exclusivity deals as carrot in front of our noses, well, I'd say that's dirty pool.  

D.G.B.


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## movieman (Sep 18, 2013)

David Gordon Burke said:


> Going to jump right in here although it is just slightly off topic.  Mentioning Smashwords and Amazon in the same thread made me think someone here might have an answer.  I was under the impression that depending on the Amazon options one chooses, that you end up in an EXCLUSIVE arrangement with them and you can't publish with any of the other ebook distributors.



It's optional. Amazon have a program where you can choose to be exclusive, and you specify that when you upload the book. If you join that program, you're stuck with them for 90 days and can renew or drop out at the end of that. It lets you make the book free for five days in that time, gives higher royalties in some markets, and allows Amazon customers to borrow the book, for which you get paid a fixed amount each time.

It used to work well because the free books would push the book up the sales rankings, so someone who gave a lot of books away could find themselves in the top 100 for their genre when it went back to paid. But Amazon split free and paid sales rankings so that's no longer the case, and I just use it to have a few free days in the first 90 days and then move on to all the other site.


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## SungmanituTanka (Oct 30, 2013)

David Gordon Burke said:


> Going to jump right in here although it is just slightly off topic.  Mentioning Smashwords and Amazon in the same thread made me think someone here might have an answer.  I was under the impression that depending on the Amazon options one chooses, that you end up in an EXCLUSIVE arrangement with them and you can't publish with any of the other ebook distributors.
> 
> Anyone know anything about that?  Amazon is known as the biggy so if they are dominating and dangling exclusivity deals as carrot in front of our noses, well, I'd say that's dirty pool.
> 
> D.G.B.



To add to what movieman said, it's called KDP Select. As was said, you have to be exclusive to them for 90 days, and then you can change your mind if you choose. 

The borrows, however, are not fixed. They are determined at the beginning of each month, which they will publicize.


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## HasShah1 (Nov 6, 2013)

Yeah I'm with KDP Select but I've found that the promotions really help push my sales.  I went with them after trying to sell my eBooks in other spots, but Amazon seems to have the best results by far.  Helpful thread either way, keep the tips rolling in!


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## Grimball4 (Nov 7, 2013)

Thanks Jayella for linking those guides they look like a lot of help.


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## David Gordon Burke (Nov 8, 2013)

Jumping back into this thread since I now have *ONE *book up on Amazon and although it has been just a few days, it has been *ILLUMINATING*.
This thread is going to be a dark cloud of gloom so if dire negativity isn't your cup of tea, scroll away and no one will think less of you - plus you look so cute in those Rose Colored Glasses.

1.  Step one usually involves setting up an intricate web of social networks that share links and spead the word of your literary prowess all over cyber-dom.  Your Facebooking Twittering friends will all shower you with praise when you announce that you are throwing your hat into the ring of Ebook sales.  Your 'likes' will skyrocket.  

Sadly, upon publishing your book you will realize that all those friends that you supported over the years in their creative and professional endeavors, whether it be musicians, actors, painters or a bud who works at the local greasy spoon, and all the money that you spent on cover-charges and CDs et al was all in vain.  

Here's a likely conversation in a live music venue between you and that guy you went to High School with whose band (which you have seen close to 100 times) is on the brink of FAME:

Guy / Musician: Hey Dave, Long time man. Yo, how's it going?
Dave: Hell man, things are rough!  Last week the Doctors diagnosed me with terminal whateverwhatever and now I can't pay my rent cause I got fired.....
Guy / Musician:  Cool man!  Hey, are you coming to the gig next week?  We're playing at........

You see where I'm going with this.  

Now Twitter seems like a better option since it is all about 'like minded people' so you are likely to have a .00005% better rate of share / retweets and that might even work out to 2 or three sales.  Not exactly the stuff Swiss Bank Accounts are made of.  

I'd say the best solution to this is:
A.  If you aren't in it for the long haul - don't even think of going down that road.  Disappointment and failure and disillusion abounds.  You'll end up old and wrinkled hanging around the writer's retirement home telling stories about the big one that got away.
B.  The 'Give Away' plans for KDP or KFC or whatever it's called - there's really not much point.  If you can't coerce, convince or corrupt 5 or 10 friends to read your book and write up a review for it on Amazon or wherever then the great likelihood is that your ability to weave words is nil anyway.  (what is the written word if not a m...u....c....h slower conversation)  

HOWEVER...The 'Give Away' plan when you have MULTIPLE books to offer IS a great way to get it done.  You could get some reviews AND sell one of your other titles to the same person.

In that capacity, I suggest 'The Story Cartel' which is affiliated with Amazon.

C.  The Holy Grail (particularly a foot in the door in the world of Amazon) is Goodreads.  Join groups, list the books you have read and are reading.  Review them.  Once you publish, get you book listed on Goodreads.  Make friends.

So far, members of the groups there have shown a lot of interest, have been supportive and have requested my book which I delivered free via Email.  Will they review it?  Who knows but the chances are a lot better when the ASK for the book instead of stumbling across it like a bag of chips in the impulse 'buy' section of the check-out at Walmart.  

*So the moral of the story is*....(Nah, forget everything I said, the market is full, no one will ever make a buck in this field and there is already too much competition....take up the flugelhorn....big things happening in the flugelhorn world....the market is opening up)..... 
Have various titles to offer.  
Be in it for life or......FLUGELHORN.
Have reasonable expectations.  
Don't be surprised by the deafening silence of your friends.  (I wasn't surprised at all....people rarely surprise me)

And Good Luck.


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## Grimball4 (Nov 8, 2013)

From my experience I have to agree with a lot of David’s post. The trick is to stand out above all the hundreds of thousands of eBooks out there. All those eBook sites with their paid ads don’t work. They claim thousands of subscribers on their list, but what they don’t say is these subscribers are just fellow authors who signed up to get their own book sold. Twitter and Facebook can be a waste of time too, unless you have a good fan following. I had a friend tweet to his 16,000 followers to watch my cool book trailer. I got probably only 10 views from it. Oh and don’t waste money on Facebook adds, they are great for getting followers, but terrible for sales or views. As of now I only know two paths to success, Amazon luck (them picking your book for extra advertizing) - The Atlantis Gene, or slowly building a following – 50 Shades of Grey.


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## Gavrushka (Nov 8, 2013)

Maybe I am being naive here, but if the prose is good enough, success will follow. - I'd agree that networking may expedite such a thing, but I would be horrified if it is plausible that a literary masterpiece doesn't grab the attention of the public in due course.

I know many people will tire of the dross that is self published, but a few good reviews must give a self-published title a little momentum.

I remember DGB put a small excerpt of his work up on here, and it certainly was not dross.

Anyhow, I do hope the book gets the attention it deserves.

Best of luck.


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## David Gordon Burke (Nov 8, 2013)

Gavrushka said:


> Maybe I am being naive here, but if the prose is good enough, success will follow. - I'd agree that networking may expedite such a thing, but I would be horrified if it is plausible that a literary masterpiece doesn't grab the attention of the public in due course.
> I know many people will tire of the dross that is self published, but a few good reviews must give a self-published title a little momentum.
> I remember DGB put a small excerpt of his work up on here, and it certainly was not dross.
> Anyhow, I do hope the book gets the attention it deserves.
> ...



Thanks for the best wishes and for making me look up the word 'dross' - what horrifies me is that a literary piece of _Da Shiong La Se La Ch'Wohn Tian _grabs the attention of the public in short order. Case in point '50 Shades of Grey.' 

Again, the key is longevity and getting as many titles up as possible. To that end I will continue to divide my time between Fiction / Non-fiction and tutorials. In the down time between edits you can write a pretty good tutorial, especially if you know about the subject. Apparently, I know a little bit about everything. 

David Gordon Burke
On another related topic - does the writing forum have a section for either promoting your work or asking for reviews and / or offering your book for free?  Occasionally we might rub each other the wrong way but I would still be more than willing to help out the most abrasive fellow WF bro with a review and a facebook Like in exchange for a free copy of their book.  (I don't say this because I have something to gain - ask around....I have liked quite a few members books)


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## Terry D (Nov 8, 2013)

You can promote your book in the Literary Emporium. You could also perhaps post an excerpt in the Workshop and then work out a tit-for-tat with someone who responds to that.


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## spartan928 (Nov 8, 2013)

David Gordon Burke said:


> Thanks for the best wishes and for making me look up the word 'dross' - what horrifies me is that a literary piece of _Da Shiong La Se La Ch'Wohn Tian _grabs the attention of the public in short order. Case in point '50 Shades of Grey.'
> 
> )



And thank you for making me look up _Da Shiong La Se La Ch'Wohn Tian. _Made my day.


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## spartan928 (Nov 8, 2013)

Gavrushka said:


> Maybe I am being naive here, but if the prose is good enough, success will follow. -
> 
> 
> Best of luck.



A book is self-published every 80 seconds. That is a gargantuan avalanche of books hitting the market every day in relation to the amount of people who actually pay for books. So yes, the next Great Gatsby could easily be out there and nobody will be the wiser. If you have written the next Gatsby the best way to get the world to find out is build relationships with people. And build, and build, and build.


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## movieman (Nov 8, 2013)

spartan928 said:


> A book is self-published every 80 seconds



And most of them suffer from one or more of:

1. bad cover.
2. bad blurb.
3. bad intro.

That takes at least 90% of them out of the running before most readers get to find out whether they're good books.

The long-term solution is, as you imply, to find readers who like your books and keep them informed when you're releasing a new one. The hard part is getting to the point where you have enough fans that they'll start telling their friends about you (and when sites like Amazon will start recommending you to readers who like similar books).


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## David Gordon Burke (Nov 11, 2013)

Ok, sit back and enjoy the show while I eat a big heaping plate of Humble Pie.  My friends that I somewhat keep in touch with via Facebook came out in droves to support me this weekend.  Ok, so it may only add up to 15 or so people 'sharing' my book ad one time, but it was unexpected and appreciated.  
That said, it most probably won't work out to sales.  

As for bad cover, bad blurb and bad into....(not too sure what is mean by bad intro....into to the book???)  there is a whole lot more of it than that.  
Add...
1.  Zero on line presence.
2.  No dot com (I'm working on that now....the site is finished, just need a domain and a host) 
3.  Refer to point ONE again.  

Combine that with the cover and blurb issues and you have a recipe for no sales at all.  
Still, I refer to my earlier post on the subject...You must be in it for the long haul and are only likely to hit when you have various titles.  Look at the biggest sellers J.A. Konrath comes to mind.  Has about 50 titles.  (actually, I think he pumps up his numbers by selling a lot of short stories and novellas and colaborating with other writers....he knows the theory of critical mass)

Other bigs have a minimum of 6 titles.  Almost no one in the mid range $10,000 a year bracket have less than 6.  
I will have 4 titles up by Feb. 2014 (possibly more if I include Spanish Translations)  

IMHO (said opinion to be put to the test in the near future) this is the way to go.  That and doing all the marketing you can.  Plus a possible sacrifice of a young goat under a full moon and a trip to the crossroads at midnight.  

David Gordon Burke


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## Jason (Nov 19, 2013)

I am brand new to the game so my "insights" may be a bit naive.  With that out of the way...

It is a marketing issue.  Bad everything that gets marketed well sells well, at first anyway.  Crap music, crap literature (50 Shades of Gray included) etc.  Way back in the day, IBM was the number one best selling business computer system with a B level system and an A+ level marketing company.  Note, a C level or D level lousy computer would not have supported the marketing - there has to be a quality product - book in our case here. 

Today's world, is SEO/Google and Amazon.  They have algorithms that make sense.  We may not know what they are, but they usually make sense when you get an insight into them.  You just have to think like they do.  Fit the algorithm and your book will be moved up in the rankings.   Do I now what they are?  NO.  But I am keeping my mind open to learning up what seems to fit.

An example is getting reviews.  We all know that positive reviews help with sales because someone reads good reviews and buys the book.  That is only the first of three issues here.  The more good reviews you have the more Amazon pays attention and moves you up in the rankings where someone can see your book.  So the second part is more good reviews helps with rankings.  The next part is the real point I am making.  If the person who writes the positive review got your book by query like a regular customer would find it, then the algorithm sees that as stronger than just a review from someone who went directly to your book by title.  For example my current book is: Super Teacher's Inside Look at How Kids Learn: Brain Based Learning and Teaching.  My friend goes to Amazon and queries "Teaching Method".  There will be a list of books.  It can be very long or short.  In the case of teaching method there are about 5,000 titles.  My friend now goes to my book, selects it, BUYS it and reviews it with a five star rating.  This is much stronger than having my friend wait until it is free on KDP then goes directly to it and ....   

Yes, my friend has to buy my book.  No problems because my "friend" is either a good friend and will buy my book for 0.99 cents just like he or she would buy me a cup of coffee when I am a guest in his home.  Or my "friend" is someone like you, another author, who I am exchanging reviews with.  You buy mine, I buy yours we write good reviews for each other.  

To get started, leave the book at 99 cents for a few weeks and get all of your author friends to help as you either help them now or for the promise of a review on their next book when it comes out.  After a few weeks when you have at least 10 good reviews you do the KDP select thing and give away enough books that the algorithm likes you even more and your ranking is very high.  Now with a high ranking in your category, and good reviews you will get your book in front of the real readers who want what you have to sell.  That is when your
1. Excellent Cover
2. Excellent Blurb
3. Excellent Intro
4. Quality Book 
All come into play.  1, 2, and 3, are still marketing and have to be excellent.  4 is product which has to be quality, but not excellent.  It if is excellent then the movie rights are on the way!

Back to my friend finding my book after he queried Teaching Method.  I need to be a good friend and help out.  I will have already done the work, I know that my new book is listed at rank 75 on page 5 (out of 400 pages) of the query for Teaching Method.  I tell my friend to go to page five and look about half way down, or the fifth from the top, whatever it is that will help him find it.  I have already sent my friend an image of the book cover along with the full name of the book so it is easy for him to pick it out.   

That seems to be a way to make the Amazon algorithm "happy" which is essentially meeting the criteria I would set up if I were paid a lot of money every month to figure out how to make Amazon more successful. After all, they want to sell books.  The books, and authors that do well will continue to do well and sell more books which will make Amazon happy.  

That is one way to help move up on the Amazon system.  If anyone is interested in helping, I am very willing to get and review your book for the favor returned.

Next.  Does anyone have any other ideas on how to make the Amazon system work?  I am all ears and willing to help or try!


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## gill woods (Feb 15, 2014)

this has been an excellent thread i have tried all the social media promoting but have not been getting very far i shall definately be trying a few of these ideas!


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## Thorick (Mar 6, 2014)

I'm not an expert. But I have done a lot of reading by an expert.

Dean Wesley Smith at deanwesleysmith.com says this about marketing:

(Paraphrased of course)

Write the Book.
Publish as ebook and paper.
Distribute to every retailer you can find.
Post about it on your own author website.
Let your friends know, but not to annoyance.
After you have about 10 books under your belt, make a flyer and send it to bookstores.
Write the next book. 

He says that promoting a book beyond that won't increase sales. This is according to a bunch of studies. He mentions them in his promotion posts. He has a few.

He says the biggest promotion a book can have is another book. and another book. With each sequential book you launch into the sales distribution system, the more advertising your getting.

one reader reads one book you write and likes it, he will tell his friends, and he will read another book you wrote. Each book will increase your readership.

The more you write, the more people will by your books. He suggests not wasting time on promotion beyond what I listed above.


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## Jason (Mar 12, 2014)

All of the above posts are bits and pieces of information about Amazon, and Smashwords, plus a nice touch of magic incantation (always a good idea).  The 'problems' with this approach are: 1. very slow to garner information, 2. some is pretty good, some not so much,  3 other things I'm not thinking of now....   

I suggest taking a different tack.  Reading the books that other self published authors have written on the subject.  

After reading about 20 books (not an exaggeration) I found that the Bestseller Tactics series by Glyn Williams is the best step by step 1, 2, then 3, book for initial publishing and marketing.  He does not cover everything - you will have to read more broadly as you grow - but it is an excellent starting point that will take you into some initial successes.  

If you are wondering about self publishing or looking for a publisher I suggest Indie Survival Guide by Susan Kaye Quinn.


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## Jason (Mar 12, 2014)

Thorick, I am happy that you started by saying you are not an (the) expert, because my disagreeing with your following statement is directed at the expert you cite.  That said, I strongly disagree with the conclusion from the basic tenant of your post.   

The basic tenant is that the "biggest promotion is another book"  Yes, in many ways that is true, however, the conclusion that you don't need to be very active in promotion is not true.  It couldn't be further from today's reality faced by a self-published or even a new unestablished traditionally published author.  

What Mr. Smith said may have worked some years back when paper books sold in physical book stores ruled book sales, but it is not the world today.  Amazon sells more books than all other book sellers combined.  If you don't work to the algorithm on Amazon your books will not move up in the ranking structure and will be lost.  How lost?  Amazon reports that they publish over 2,000 books A DAY!  An author without a large well established following will simply drown amidst such a deluge of newly published books.  Will this change in the future?  Of course, everything changes, but for now that is our reality. 

In my earlier post I cite Susan Kaye Quinn's book.  She is a mid-list author that made the transition from traditional to self-published author who makes a good living on her books.  While she makes the point that the best marketing is writing _good _books and writing the next book.  She also goes on to make it very clear that without an ongoing promotion/marketing plan that you the author work on a regular basis your books will never take off.   One of her biggest challenges is striking the balance between marketing and writing.

Anecdotally, I know two authors who have been writing for a number of years and have many books but next to zero sales.  I have read and reviewed several of their books, they are fine.  One guy, a retired professor, has three different series and several stand alone novels for a total of around 16 or 17 full length well written books published.   

Paraphrasing what I have heard many times by many successful authors and beginning to become successful authors: If you don't continue to promote you books on an ongoing basis sales will diminish and gradually your sales will simply quit.  

Personally, I have published two books in a series with the third on the way.  My experience is that sells go up or down in direct proportion to my ongoing marketing effort. 

I realize that my alternative perspective to Mr. Smith's view is just that, only an alternative.  However, for the sake of other readers, especially novice self-publishers I feel the need to present that alternative. If your personal success has proven Mr. Smith's view to be correct I am sure many others as well as myself would greatly appreciate hearing about your success and the specific steps you took to get there. 

Cheers, 
Jason


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## qwertyportne (Apr 8, 2014)

*How Many Shiny Needles Can You Hide in the Kindle Haystack?*



Jason said:


> Amazon reports that they publish over 2,000 books A DAY!  An author without a large well established following will simply drown amidst such a deluge of newly published books... I know two authors who have been writing for a number of years and have many books but next to zero sales.  I have read and reviewed several of their books, they are fine...Cheers, Jason



Yes, the e-book market is definitely a quality/quantity issue. The quality of your writing means nothing until it is discovered "amidst such a deluge" of other books. But when your writing is discovered, its quality better shine. 

Too many authors are "spamming" distributors with poorly written books. Like any market, we've got the good, the bad and the ugly. It's just too easy to write, format and upload a book these days. The question I have been asking myself recently is. "How many shiny needles can you hide in the Kindle haystack?" Zillions, so if you want your writing discovered, you must be willing to do all those other things besides writing. 

Been doing a lot less of those other things this year because I keep reading posts like yours all over the Web that despite doing all those other things, most authors remain undiscovered with "next to zero sales." I actually believe I have more control over people finding my books at my own site than at the Amazon or Smashwords site. Would like to hear feedback on moving books off the Amazon platform and promoting them on your own site.


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## mockingbird (May 22, 2014)

First get at least 1000 friends/fans on your author facebook page. This page will be splashed with everything there is to know about the book - excerpts - chapter 1 - cover - reviews if any - who you would like to star in it as a movie etc. Next join author groups on FB and interact, promote other books as well as your own. Then create a release event on facebook and advertise the crap out of it. Trawl the web for games, funny pics, jokes anything for the event to be fun. Caption this is a fave and offer mobi copies as prizes also signed paperback if possible. There are 1000s of pros who will set this up for you but it ain't cheap. Promoing your book will cost $1000s if you want a big splash. Oh and most important of all create ARC copy (Advanced Reader Copy) with the cover and in pdf and mobi - for this download Calibre for free which will convert your doc to any format. Then send these ARCs out by the dozens and hope for good replies. And get on Goodreads. Nothing will happen unless you're on GR.


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## Nexx (Jun 15, 2015)

Some indie authors choose OpenBooks beacuse there they will not be lost among thousands of others.


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## kpierce (Jan 5, 2017)

Well, there are a lot of ways to market your ebook. Ask publishers about ebook marketing to help you more.


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## Ell337 (Jan 6, 2017)

philistine said:


> It's not that difficult, provided you follow the steps:
> 
> 1. Print your manuscript, and attach a few LED lights and circuit boards to it. Make sure they're secure.
> 2. Write a note saying something along the lines of 'please publish me', making sure (and this is important), and attach a USB lanyard with the typewritten message saved on it.
> ...



I suggest a seasonal variation, a chocolate marshmallow Easter egg around April, a bit of tinsel and a note to Santa at Christmas.


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## Ell337 (Jan 6, 2017)

First step to marketing yourself - get over the feeling of disgust at self-promotion. 

Note to self - work on this.


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## moderan (Feb 5, 2017)

Something that hasn't been covered at all in this thread is direct marketing. I'm gonna use my first ebook as an example because that's what I have.
I put the book together as an experiment-to test various schemes and see how they worked. I chose not to have any blurbs or quotes.
First I put the book on Smashwords.
I advertised on Facebook, in one of their 5-dollar, 5-day campaigns. At the time I had 700-odd friends, some of whom were very odd and also writers. That resulted in five sales, which meant I was in the hole 45 cents at the end of that period. (There was a coupon involved-how I tracked the sales)
Meanwhile I sold eleven copies on Smashwords. I communicated with all of those people, asking what they liked, and about the formatting, etc.
Did a Twitter campaign, with a different coupon, for five days. This cost me nothing except the thirty seconds or so to copy and paste the thing twice a day. Sold four copies.
Re-formatted the book, to fit Smashwords' arbitrary ideal and take advantage of advanced placement.
Sold forty copies in all in the first month. My cut was just over thirty bucks.
Put the thing on Amazon, just for data. Sold fifty copies in a month, then was one of those 'recommended books' in an email service. Sold a thousand in a month.
Smashwords kept selling, at around 20 copies/month.
I ride in a lot of taxicabs and buses, and visit a lot of doctors' offices. I am not a well man.
But that led to an epiphany, borne from my reflecting on the times I used to sell my band's cassettes out of my trunk.
I put copies of the thing, in various formats, on my tablet, and took it everywhere I went.
Direct sales have resulted in @45% of my sales since.

The stories in the book are good. The formatting is crappy. Lots of random line breaks and hyperlinks that go nowhere. To-date, I've moved 4500 copies. That's not much...but it's a LOT for what it is. I made enough from that ebook to have to pay taxes on it last year.
The official edition, due out shortly in e and tree, has a waiting list. I've been spending the rest of my time writing and networking.

Conclusions:

Unless you get one of those 'recommends', _you'll likely disappear_. Too much volume, too much choice. Cover art/photo, jacket copy, those are hugely important. Most of the stuff on the market doesn't look 'pro'.
Cultivate relationships with known writers, be witty and pithy, and some of their audience can become yours.
Write for love cuz _there ain't so much money in it_.
*Be prepared to meet your public*. Many self-publishers thrive at conventions. Be witty and pithy, etc.

As always, take what I say with a pound of salt. It's my experience, not necessarily yours.


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