Author Support Group discussion

After trying many review sites I've found my best luck has come from Google Ad Words. It seems I get occasional traffic from other avenues such as social sites like Facebook and Twitter, but nothing consistent. What is the most effective means you have used to promote your work?

Giving ebooks away in various groups on goodreads seemed to get the word out about my books but not like I was secretly hoping. Most of my sales came from all the marketing work I was doing on Amazon once upon a time. I did a lot of reviews, lists, and guides, drawing exposure to me and to my books. Now I'm trying the whole blogging route. ;o)

I saw a book on a fundraising website a few months ago.
The author posted it and asked people to buy it. About 1,000 did, but it was part of a series and he had created somewhat of a following.

Does anybody know how to turn your book into an ebook, and circulate it for free? How that would work with the publisher?

Hi Yolanda,

You should check with your publisher, or on the web-site...they may have an option for e-book purchases, I think you then should be able to ask them to send you a copy...but, you may have to pay, and work out royalties on both sides <- when you are selling, or buying copies for marketing purposes.

:)

The best site I have found for marketing my novel, is right here on Goodreads. My book sales have rocketed since I joined this amazing community.

Let's face it…Goodreads is the perfect venue...everyone on the site is a reader.

The downside...my checkbook is nearly empty from purchasing books by all the amazing authors that I have discovered since I have joined Goodreads.

However, it is nice trade-off.

Oh, and I also have noticed a huge increase in sales since I started to Twitter :]

Dee wrote: "The best site I have found for marketing my novel, is right here on Goodreads. My book sales have rocketed since I joined this amazing community.

Let's face it…Goodreads is the perfect venue......"

Dee, I agree with you 100%. Goodreads is a valuable resource. I am working between Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. I also think it is important to build good fan relations also. Word of mouth is important. I have to rely on the web more than most authors because I am writing under a pen name but the interaction is highly valued. Time consuming but valuable.

Um...I have a question...what is Twitter?...

Athena wrote: "Um...I have a question...what is Twitter?..."

I'm new to it, Athena, but it is similar to Facebook and Myspace except you only type a status and that is it. I personally think the main purpose is to make initial contact with people by following them and they in return following you. It is a fast way to network. It took a moment for me to get use to it.

I've found that blogging brings most exposure to Utamaro Revealed. I get more hits on my Japanese art blog than my other two blogs combined. I get a lot of emails from people who've seen the blog and have become interested in the book. I do museum talks too. So, blogging and talking for the Japanese art stuff.

For The Wonderful Demise of Benjamin Arnold Guppy it's a whole different ball game. Goodreads is the most effective site for generating online interest, but signings have generated the most sales. I was sceptical about them before I did my first one, but they've really worked for me.

I know that signings don't work for everyone, and I have no idea what it is that's making them a success... I'm just thankful that they are.

Facebook has been good too, followed by Twitter.

I am considering attending a Phantom of the Opera convention in September since there is a tie-in with my book. I've never tried this kind of promotion before (well, I've never been published before either, LOL). I'm not sure whether the ROI will be worth the expense that I will incur, so I have to weigh this carefully.

I'm new to all this. Right now I'm using Twitter, various other forums, and Google checkout which brought me more exposure. I'm still trying to find ways to get it out there. We are also sending promotional copies to people who might have connections.

Becky wrote: "I'm new to all this. Right now I'm using Twitter, various other forums, and Google checkout which brought me more exposure. I'm still trying to find ways to get it out there. We are also sending promotional copies to people who might have connections."

Sounds like you have a good start. It is all a learning experience. I'm currently offering a free download of my first book, Betrayal, from Smashwords.com. We'll see how well that works to get attention.

Becky wrote: "I'm new to all this. Right now I'm using Twitter, various other forums, and Google checkout "

What's Google checkout?

Bernadette wrote: "Becky wrote: "I'm new to all this. Right now I'm using Twitter, various other forums, and Google checkout "

What's Google checkout?
"

It is the Google version of PayPal. When you use that, it seems to help your exposure in the Google search engines and move you up. Also, if you use ecrater for your shopping cart to sell your book and any accessories (like bookmarks, tea mugs, etc.) you shop up as a sponsored link on searches. A friend showed me how to do it since he uses these for his businesses and his exposure to the internet world has dramatically increased.

I'm working on my author website, which is turning out to be harder than I thought. (Heck, I taught myself some basic HTML when I was between jobs and made a fansite for Scottish actor Gerard Butler ... this should be a piece of cake, right?) I don't know how much good it will do, but it is one more piece of the puzzle.

Main hold-up: figuring out what should go on the media page. When I was a publicist, it was before the days of the internet. There are whole new mores and rules out there nowadays.

Oh, Sharon, I can commiserate. I'm trying to get mine up and running as well. I spent all last night browsing author sites looking for the best ideas.

Oh, HTML, I really need to read a book about that. I can do





And that's about it.

sad.

My husband bought me a book about HTML and about a week later it was out of date. Things move so quickly! I've changed my web site five or six times in the past ten months... just when I think I've got it just how I want it, it starts getting on my nerves. I think I'm settled on the current design, but then I said that about the last one.

Hi Thomma...your site is B E A U T I F U L...I love that you can't imagine your life without music, because I cannot either...there's nothing like writing and playing!

I noticed a child in one of your pictures...do you also teach?

Ali :)

I'm with Thomma. I have used Front Page which is very nice, but my page is a template from many I could have chosen from. HTML is sooooo 1990.He he. All the newer sites are made from Sharepoint Designer or other cool new web software. It is nice to have full control though.
Another option is to find someone online willing to help. Many times they come cheap or they will be willing to trade. I.E. if they are a fan, you could trade some books for web help. It's worth a shot.

My site http://www.jjritonya.com

Yep, I agree - try to find a WYSIWYG program. Makes life much easier! I used Serif's Web Plus for my page. You can download free versions of the program or pay for the latest. I found it very easy to use but I also used Serif's Page Plus to design my book and they run very similarly.

Hey Gang,

I am website challenged and only want mine for informational purposes. For people like me who do not want to learn HTML because we're lazy lol, try Yola.com or homestead.com. They allow you to use existing templates. With Yola you only have to purchase the domain, homestead is five bucks a month. Again my website is very basic but I made it in less than an hour and was able to take care of other business.

oh my website is www.madisonpaine.com

My website is still a work in progress. I went the super-easy, super basic route and used Google sites. I got my web address from 1&1 Internet for $5-6 and pointed it at my google site but I did something wrong and I don't know how to fix it. For every page clicked on, the web address doesn't change. Anyone know what I did wrong? And I don't want to call customer service. Cust Ser reps scare me. :o)

http://www.jaimeygrant.com

Hi to all from Sharon in Texas. Happy Freedom Celecration weekend.
Sharon

I'm using Trellix (provided by Earthlink) in addition to the HTML that I know for customizing. However, to my annoyance, Trellix has decided that it no longer likes Firefox -- and I only have IE at the office since IE is no longer supported for Mac (oh, hooray). So, I'll put the finishing touches to the site on Monday and at least get it launched. I joined PRLog tonight and will be doing an initial press release about the eBook so that I can have something on the media page, LOL.

Madison wrote: "oh my website is www.madisonpaine.com"

Love the graphics, Madison! Very neat and clean site.

Jaimey wrote: "For every page clicked on, the web address doesn't change. Anyone know what I did wrong? And I don't want to call customer service. Cust Ser reps scare me. :o)"

I'm not sure...but at least the links take you to where you're supposed to be! Looks great!

Bernadette wrote: "I'm not sure...but at least the links take you to where you're supposed to be! Looks great!"

Thanx so much, Bernadette! It's still not quite how I want it but it will suffice for the time being...I think...

:o)

Someone's up in the middle of the night again! :)

Hi Guy's,

After a (helluva) lot of research, value for money etc. I decided to go with MD web hostings. After the usual (teething problems) I am happy.

http://beyondmycontrol.net

I tried Google for a website but it was beyond me so I have one there that I quit trying to do anything with. The one that was easy to do was the one I have now. http://davilbob2.books.officelive.com...

It's with officelive.com

Wow, hey everyone. Those are some seriously nice-looking sites you all have, my gosh. I could browse author websites all day. I swear.

My friend who is doing my site is a designer so she actually made a template to reflect the little Japanese creatures that I like to write about. I spent many hours there last night drinking beer and learning about how to update the What's New part. I'm not sure doing those two things at the same time was a great idea. I got home this morning and couldn't remember my password to get into the site!

t

Thersa wrote: "I got home this morning and couldn't remember my password to get into the site!"

HAHAHAHA!!!!

I'm sorry, terrie. I'm not laughing at you, I swear. That just sounds so much like me...maybe we really ARE twins. :o)

*thumbs up*

(^-^)/

Thersa wrote: "Wow, hey everyone. Those are some seriously nice-looking sites you all have, my gosh. I could browse author websites all day. I swear.

My friend who is doing my site is a designer so she actually ..."

LOL about the been and Japanese monsters. Just had a great visual.

I like the tinkering part... it's when it goes live and you have to get the ranking up that I start pulling my hair out. Figuring out what to add or take away to affect your google ranking is a black art. I added text anchors, which are supposed to have you zooming up the ranking, and went down instead... removed them and wet up. At one point, google actually artificially held my site at position 500, refusing to allow it to climb. I had to write and ask to have the site evaluated (took weeks too), and then it shot up the ranks and I was on page 1 to 3 (position 5-25), depending on the day of the week. I've given up trying to figure it all out now.

And forgotten passwords... I have a keychain on my FTP program because I would never remember them in a million years. I can't even remember what I had for dinner last night.

Hi, everyone. I have my basic author website up now: http://home.earthlink.net/~scathcart1... . As Gina points out, tinkering will commence. :-)

I like that, Gina, "a black art". I sooo agree.

All hail Tinkering!

Lovely site Sharon. I must get my butt in gear.

t

Thersa wrote: "I like that, Gina, "a black art". I sooo agree.

I am sorely vexed today. Google has moved me from page 3 to 313 again, after months of being in a good position! I am artificially fixed there again. I haven't changed a thing, but I am in their bad books again. A black art... likely to leave me in a black mood.

Google is off my Christmas list until further notice.

Honestly? I don't care about my Google ranking. When I added Win a Book to the platform, they knocked my PR from a 4 to a 0. Now it's a 4 again.

I figure I'm not in this to monetize anything. The people who are meant to find me, will. And to help that along, I'm going to focus on content and networking. Google can suck rotten eggs and get salmonella. Same for Technorati.

I feel the same way when it comes to my Guppy book, but the Utamaro book is a different kettle of fish. I was getting a lot of traffic from google searches for the word 'Utamaro', and that's disappeared now. I am no longer on page 313... I've disappeared entirely.

Do you have new content using that word? That might do it. I used to get all sorts of hits from people searching how to get the green out of your hair (an event that happens in Demo Tapes 1) but as it became older content, I lost those searches.

I shall have to fiddle with the site and see if anything changes, but last time the only thing that made a difference was getting google to reconsider the site, which took a while. Last time, every time I added something that should have made a difference, the site would rise immediately after the change and then, the following day, be put back to a very low position. Only when the site was reassessed did it rise to page 1.

Is there a way to get your blogs on your site (it's a slick-looking site, btw)? One thing that Google likes is a site that changes frequently and since most of what changes is a blog, it's helpful to have it on your site.

For example, when I had the Meet and Greet over at Blogspot, it's page ranking was a 4. My website was a 2. Almost no Google searches returned to the actual site. In fact, some places that merely linked to the site returned higher than the actual site!

Once I moved the Meet and Greet onto the West of Mars platform, bingo. Page Rank 4.

I still get better searches to Win a Book, but that could be the other solution to the issue -- using good SEO terms. I don't try with the Meet and Greet, but it winds up happening with Win a Book, just because of the nature of the beast.

I don't know if I can integrate the blog into the main site. I shall have a look at that, and see if I can put together some extra pages which contain relevant terms too. Images seem to bring in a lot of traffic for the blogs, so I could add some images to the main site. I do like to tinker.

Gina wrote: "I don't know if I can integrate the blog into the main site. I shall have a look at that, and see if I can put together some extra pages which contain relevant terms too. Images seem to bring in a ..."

I did a google search using "java rss feed reader" as my term (unfortunately, I don't recall the URL) to put my blog on my site. It worked very nicely: http://home.earthlink.net/~scathcart1... . Just click the appropriate link in the menu, and you'll see how it came out.