HOW MUCH TO ADVERTISE? NEW RELEASE!

By Caroline Clemmons

One of the problems constantly perplexing authors is advertising/promotion. How much is enough? We want our readers to know we have a book for sale, but we don’t want to hit them over the head with our promotion so much that they aren’t interested.

Author Alison Henderson recently posted on Facebook the perfect analogy by Steuart Henderson Birt: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but no one else does.”

We don’t want to offer our books for sale and hope someone learns about it somehow. Because most of us depend on our income, we need those sales. At the same time, my friends and I don’t want to be like an author who shall be nameless who posted numerous times every day about her latest book. We felt she was hitting us over the head a dozen times a day. We were ready to block her from our Facebook feed until someone clued her in to what she was doing.

So, what’s the perfect way to promote? Ha! No one knows. What works for one person doesn’t for another. The author who posted too often made a humongous number of sales, proving that one man’s poison is another’s cup of tea. Or something like that.

Here I am throwing a new release at you. A BRIDE FOR DALTON, Proxy Bride Series #25, at the Universal Amazon link:  http://getbook.at/Dalton. This book released on Thursday, September 12.

A BRIDE FOR DALTON Blurb:

Rebecca wants a husband but not the man her stepbrother-guardian insists she wed. To escape his threats she turns to a family friend for help. Reverend McClain suggests she enter a proxy marriage to his only living relative, a nephew who ranches in Montana. Out of options, she agrees. Until she arrives in Sweet Springs, she has no idea the telegram with instructions to her supposed groom has not been delivered. Where does that leave her?

Dalton is working with dangerous men to accomplish his goal. The last thing he needs at this time is a wife in the way. He is a gentleman and sees no other solution than to complete the vows. How is he going to keep her out of harm’s way while he completes this job?

Rebecca and Dalton embark on married life in unusual circumstances. Can love blossom in tumultuous times?

I still don’t know how much to advertise/promote. I guess I’m a work in progress.

social media and promoting

 due out end of July, second book in what is now called the Barrio Viejo series

Because I've been wrestling with how to best promote the next book, debating what is a wise use of my time in marketing, these two links were of interest.

Please shut up-- why self promotion as an author doesn't work

To be honest, I felt a sense of relief reading that first one, as social media can suck up a lot of time. How much does it help? For writers who push their books a ton of places at once, I suspect it is more annoying for readers to find their news feed swamped by those blurbs. 

On the other hand, social media is one of the few places writers can let readers get to know them and their work. Most writers don't like doing promotion, but it's also no fun to see a book fall into Amazon's black hole-- and without readers, that's exactly what will happen. The following site then offered hope

Wait, keep talking author-- self-promo that works

It's not enough to get your book seen. It has to be seen by those most likely to read that genre. I would love to hear from those who are wildly successful at it as I have never understood what works. I use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, email list signup, and do post new books on GoodReads (but don't do more there than that). Facebook is where I've spent the most time.

Often when I get a jump in sales, I can't tie it to anything I did-- nor have I ever figured out why suddenly there are no sales. I've used only one place to promote my books using $$-- boosting a post at Facebook. I then saw many coming to the site... but sales??? pffft.

In terms of social media, I guess I'll keep my blogs active (even when a lot of times I have to dig for something to say), notify my email list when new books come out, offer tweets every couple of days, and participate in places that I feel I can contribute something in terms of writing process. Also I'll share new books by other authors, when I have enjoyed their books.  I don't want to spend lots of hours in social media

For this week, I have a book to do the final edit after it comes back from the beta readers, creating a book trailer, writing a blurb, and am beginning to plot out the next book in this series. Overall, I think it'll do well... Okay, I don't know about that, but i am excited about the subject matter and mostly that's what it's about. 

These two guys are stray cats and they are also part of what is on tap right now. We are willing to give them both a shot at being house cats if that works out. It's uncertain that it will. The black one was marked as feral by having her ear clipped when she was spayed. The orange one got into a fight with a raccoon and ended up having an abscess treated when he was neutered. It's still iffy though if they want to be part of our home. Kind of like the books and maybe that's the lesson in it all-- do what you can and then sometimes accept it won't always go as you would wish. We haven't named them yet as if they don't come in at night, get along with our two, then we'll have to consider other options. I am not fond of the idea of inside/outside cats because of all the risks from predators and vehicles.

What comes next

The book is finished. Big sigh of relief/joy/angst/sorrow/satisfaction! 

Not so fast! Then comes the time when many writers cringe-- promotion. I am sure there are writers where promotion is pleasurable. However, for others, it's like pulling teeth—you know it has to be done, but you don’t like doing it. 

I didn't find a definitive answer for how many eBooks are on Amazon but some suggest as many as 5 million. For any new book, the easiest thing to happen is dropping into Amazon's black hole and staying there. Avoiding that fate involves not just the quality of the book but of its promotion. Promotion begins with a cover, title and blurb—not necessarily in that order. 

For my fifth Arizona historical, the title search was complicated by needing it to feel right for the series, stay true to its own story, and work with the next two books. For weeks, I'd go to sleep and wake up thinking of word combinations. When finally I had that eureka moment, it seemed so obvious that I wondered why I'd never seen it before. The realization was helped by having found the cover image first. Images inspire words. In this case, I got lucky with the expressions on their faces where she is going within for dreams and meaning, while he's looking out into the world for the danger he is expecting.

So many things happen in a novel. How does one compress them in a few paragraphs for the blurb? I found no way to mention that the story brings back Arizona Sunset's Rykers, as secondary characters. Abby and Sam are among my favorite characters; so having them along with their offspring was fun for me as a writer. There was a problem though. Whenever Sam Ryker is in a book, he tends to take it over-- luckily the powerful and complex Vince Taggert is up to the challenge.

Sticking to the two main characters for the blurb, I worked for another week or more with words that always ended up feeling pedestrian. It was not until I was putting together the back cover, that the image of the couple revealed the crux of their problem. The past was haunting them both but in different ways.

Blurb for Echoes from the Past

They had absolutely no reason to be together, nothing in common-- except, oh maybe a few past lives where the passion was sizzling. There was a minor complication—he always ended up dead. Pure coincidence. Couldn’t happen again. Her fear that it could led her to try to convince him not to come with her on a potentially dangerous archaeological investigation to Central Arizona, a place where one of those lives had been haunting her dreams since she was thirteen.

He knew, given his experiences, there were many ways a man could end up dead, and he wasn’t about to worry about dreams with no real bullets. He did know, however, that she could prove dangerous to him. He had never walked away from danger before and wasn’t about to now.

1901, a new century and things should be less wild and woolly in Arizona. Very civilized, with only an occasional nightly shootout. Much safer—for some. Not so much for the son of an infamous outlaw family, who was falling in love with the one woman from whom he should have stayed many miles away. Shoulds weren’t in his vocabulary.

This western adventure takes two unlikely lovers from Tucson, north into the Sierra Ancha, where answers and danger await. As the fifth Arizona historical, long-time readers will find some familiar characters. This is the first romance for the Taggert brothers-- Vince, Jesse, and Cole.

Some strong language and mild profanity

Heat level: ♥♥♥♥

Echoes from the Past: pre-release sale-- $2.99
Delivered August 5, 2015 when it will go to 3.99

Posters are another way to promote books and show the connection when they are in a series. Although the next three Arizona historicals books will be sharing some secondary characters, as well as settings, they can be read alone. There are no cliff hangers.

The Bane of my Writing Existence by Paty Jager

I LOVE to write and come up with new characters. I don't mind the editing. I've gotten used to doing full scale revisions. As a self-publishing author, I don't mind the hats I have to wear to publish a book. But I abhor promotion!

Readers, the best thing you can do to help an author whose books you like is to spread the word about the book and the author and to buy their next book. Also putting up reviews at all the places you can: sales venues, Goodreads, Facebook reader groups, other reader groups.  Spreading the word is the best way to reward the writer for the entertainment they've given you.

I try to get on blogs. Tours work the best because your book and name gets in front of potential new readers and not the same people who are reading the blogs your on all the time.  Writing post for a blog tour can be daunting but worth it when you see sales. I gave the book away on the last tour. That person wrote to me to tell me how much they liked it. planned to get the next books in the series and had put up a review. When I wrote back I suggested she sign up for my newsletter. I give all newsletter recipients a three day period when a book first comes out to get it at a reduced price before I up the price. She wrote back and said she signed up. A newsletter has become the best advertising tool for a writer. But you have to get people to sign up for the newsletter. You can sign up for mine at: my blog- Writing into the Sunset, my website, or here- http://eepurl.com/1CFgX

The hardest part for me about promotion is telling people I write and handing them a card or bookmark. My husband gets frustrated with me because I don't tell everyone I meet I write. Not everyone is a reader and not everyone wants someone walking up to them, saying, "Hi, I'm Paty Jager, I'm a writer. Here is a sample of what I write."  I'm not that pushy.  My husband meets new people. "Hi, My wife is a writer, here's her card." He can do that all he wants. I can't. It's not in my DNA to spout what I do and shove a bookmark at them. I'll leave a bookmark on tables in restaurants, coffee shops, doctor offices, and the like but I can't hand one to a person unless they say they are a reader.

The other hard part about promotion is knowing what is working. Every time I get caught up and start doing whatever it is they say is the "Hot" button for promotion it's changed and I have to go back and research again. I've decided what works for one does not work for another and as long as I keep putting my books out in front of as many people on the internet as I can that will be my best promotion.

To that end:  This is what I am promoting right now:
The first ebook of the Halsey Brother Series is now PERMANENTLY FREE! You can download it for free at all the major ebook vendors.   This is my push to help sell the other four books in the Halsey Brothers Series and the three books in the Halsey Homecoming Trilogy.

Marshal in Petticoats

After accidentally shooting a bank robber, Darcy Duncan becomes marshal of a town as accident prone as herself.  Darcy’s taken care of her younger brother the last five years, and she’s not about to take orders from a corrupt mayor or a handsome drifter, whose curiosity could end her career as a marshal and take away their security.

Gil Halsey is looking for his boss’s son who is riding with outlaws. Taking the young man back to the ranch will seal the foreman’s job. When he discovers the town’s new marshal is a passionate woman with high regard for family and being framed for a bank heist, he has to has to decide which is the better future—the feisty woman or the ranch.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Marshal-Petticoats-Halsey-Brother-Book-ebook/dp/B004W9C2II

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/marshal-in-petticoats-paty-jager/1101744510

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/marshal-in-petticoats

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/marshal-in-petticoats/id858169882

Windtree Press: http://windtreepress.com/portfolio/marshall-in-petticoats/

And I have a short story at Kindle Select. It's $.99 or FREE if you have Prime.

Secrets of a Christmas Box: An Isabella Mumphrey Adventure

This short story has anthropologist Isabella Mumphrey excited about spending her first Christmas with her Venezuelan DEA agent boy friend. The two met in the Guatemala Jungle in Secrets of a Mayan Moon. They found their missions intersecting in Secrets of an Aztec Temple. This Christmas story takes place before Isabella meets with her aunt at the Hopi Reservation and becomes entangled in Hopi myths and human slavery in Secrets of a Hopi Blue Star.

Only Isabella’s plans of a wonderful Christmas are thwarted when her father hands her a World Intelligence Agency mission. He allows Tino to help her with the mission, so they can be together. As the days hasten to Christmas can she decipher the wooden cube she’s been handed or will her first Christmas with Tino be a bust? 

Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Christmas-Box-Isabella-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00XCZ60OA

As a reader, what is your favorite promotion by an author? As an author, what do you like to do to promote a book? 

www.patyjager.net

Writing into the Sunset

Goodreads

Facebook Fan Page

WE ♥LOVE♥ READERS!

By Caroline Clemmons

Some author friends and I recently had an amazing experience. We launched a boxed set of nine book in a month long Facebook party. Yes, the event was time consuming and expensive, but also rewarding. Online, we met and made (we hope!) incredible reader friends.

What is indispensable to authors? READERS! And these readers let us pick their brains about what they like and don’t like. Fantastic, right?

The kind of reader we love!

Authors spend hour after hour alone at the computer with only the company of a dog or a cat and maybe some music. We do leave our writing caves occasionally in search of chocolate and a beverage. And  to shower, eat, and go to writers meetings. Most of the day and a lot of the night, though, each of us spends time only with the people in his or her head. These characters are real to us, and we hope our writing makes brings them to life for our readers. Is that sane? Probably not, but it makes for nice books. 

Me in my writing cave --
anyone have chocolate?

Promotion is usually a dirty word to authors. We resent the time away from our writing. So many times we have no idea if what we’re spending time and money on is what makes a difference in our sales. In the first place, growing up we were told bragging on ourselves, beating our own drum or tooting our horn was impolite. As authors, we have to pound the heck out of the drum and toot our horn as loud as we can to call attention to our books. Is anyone listening to us?

Hey, readers, please buy my book!

That’s why this launch party helped us. Readers told us what they wanted and what they didn’t want. We learned about book cover appeal. About plots and heroes and heroines. This was a treasure load of information.

One of the logos from our promotion event

From sales spikes, we saw what paid publicity affected sales and what didn’t. A lot didn’t, by the way. So, in the future, look for better books directed toward the readers who partied hearty with us in September.

♥WE LOVE YOU, READERS! ♥ 

Mmwahhh.

The Insanity of Promotion.

There has never been a time in my life when I've felt as overwhelmed and behind as I do now. Even with four children going twelve different directions when they were home and in sports, clubs, and going to school and I had a part time job, I didn't feel like I was floundering like I do now.

I was told once the children leave the nest, you have more time. Not so for me. That's when I picked up the writing gauntlet and charged full steam ahead to try my hand at becoming a published author. I made the published part and am still trying to feel like an author and not a writer.


As a reader, how much publicity or what kind brings you to an author you've never read before? Every time I hear about a new place to put up my books either for sale or for promotion I feel like I should do that, but there goes a day of writing.Then there are blogs. My own and the group blogs I feel will attract more readers to my writing. That takes my time away from my WIP(work in progress). And all the other promotion "fun" I think up takes time.

I've attended two reader conferences and haven't noticed any correlation to sales from those. So I'm thinking not worth my time and money even though they were fun. I teach at several writer conferences. I like helping other writers as I was helped. And they usually allow us to sell books and some pay for a night or two of the motel rooms or a free entry to the conference.

So readers, I ask again, how does an author get noticed in the millions of books out there?  Any ideas or suggestions? I need to narrow my publicity down to a more manageable level.  Or should I go with the most common piece of advice I've been told, "Just write the next book"? I'm thinking that may be my motto for 2014 and not do any publicity just to get a couple of series finished and to see if not doing anything but writing does more for me than all the other hoopla that takes me away from writing.

Next year watch for the third Isabella Mumphrey book and the next two books in the upcoming Halsey Trilogy.

www.patyjager.net
www.patyjager.blogspot.com