Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hello everyone,

I have released my debut book two days ago and as we all know marketing your book is really important to attract possible readers. Still, most of the marketing involves pre-release period. What one should do after the release to keep the interest? Is there anything you would like to recommend? Or anything that you do not recommend doing at all?

Thank you.

If you want ongoing sales, it means ongoing advertising, but if this is your debut, don't dump a lot of money on it if you haven't gotten sales so far. Learn about marketing. There are a lot of courses out there but Tim Grahl, who is a professional marketer had one of the best. Nick Stephenson is good as is Derek Murphy (Creativindie). Mark Dawson also has a course that goes through platform through email and promotions but you can get much the same thing with Derek Murphy.

Bottom line, they all same the same thing. Ongoing ads, good platform, big email list and working it.

B.A. wrote: "If you want ongoing sales, it means ongoing advertising, but if this is your debut, don't dump a lot of money on it if you haven't gotten sales so far. Learn about marketing. There are a lot of cou..."

Solid advice B.A. :)

David Gaughran also gives decent advice.

But, in general, it's suggested to start only when you have at least a few pieces, if it's a series. Especially as throwing ads on book(s) without reviews/ratings may be a wasted effort (and money).

Tomas wrote: "David Gaughran also gives decent advice.

But, in general, it's suggested to start only when you have at least a few pieces, if it's a series. Especially as throwing ads on book(s) without reviews/..."

It is very hard to profit on ads with only one book. Generally, you need read through to generate income.

If you are with KDP exclusively, using the 5 days per 3 month period to give away books free. No, it's not sales, but generates (a few) extra reviews, which makes people more likely to buy later and gives you an excuse on message boards to spread the word saying free today.
Oh, and make the price cheap if it's your first book and a small number of reviews.

I have found using the free days generates a few actual sales and maybe a review. If I use a marketing group such as justkindlebooks, the free days creates more downloads than if I do 99 cents. I keep my regular price so downloaders can compare and maybe encourage them to sign up for KU. And isn't that is what amazon wants?

A. wrote: "I have found using the free days generates a few actual sales and maybe a review. If I use a marketing group such as justkindlebooks, the free days creates more downloads than if I do 99 cents. I k..."
Good point I hadn't thought that people love to get a bargain. Maybe setting a higher temporary price is a good idea. Free from $3.99 is more of a deal than from 99cents.

Well, free days may lead to a lot of downloads, but how many people will read the book? Free, even compared to just $1, gives no real incentive to read (let alone review) the book.
And it can, in the extreme case, screw up your Also Boughts, if many people download it outside of their usual reading preferences.

You can get a bookbub deal. You put your book on sale & they can feature it.

Tomas wrote: "Well, free days may lead to a lot of downloads, but how many people will read the book? Free, even compared to just $1, gives no real incentive to read (let alone review) the book.
And it can, in t..."

You are right. I did a giveaway and a good number of people downloaded the book but afterward, the sales were as anemic as before.

Grasshopper wrote: ""

You're repeatedly breaching the "no link" rule. I deleted your post and am putting a suggestion to the group leader to ban you from the group.

Scott wrote: "I can't link to my blog, so I've copied and pasted a post I wrote about self-marketing. I apologize if this violates the self-promotion rule but I don't know how else to share it.

So, you've writt..."

No links Scott.

Another idea - there are several authors on Goodreads (myself included) offering free author interviews on their websites. Every little bit helps.

Dave Chesson (Kindlepreneur) also gives great advice on everything from choosing book categories to marketing -- both before and after launch. I like the way he breaks things down into simple steps.

Bertalan wrote: "Dear Group Members,

My new release,
Believe, Live, Run.
is available at Amazon.

Hi Bertalan. First off, no links. I have deleted your post for this reason. Second, I'd urge you to reconsider your marketing approach. Pitching your book here won't help you in the long run.

Commenting for later reading.

Catherine wrote: "HAPPY EASTER TO ALL
..."

Hi Catherine. Sorry, had to delete your post. No links please :)

Is Goodreads helpful? I finally got my link from my publisher so now everyone can add it to their reading lists.

J. wrote: "Is Goodreads helpful? I finally got my link from my publisher so now everyone can add it to their reading lists."

I find this comment confusing J. What would a publisher have to do with your Goodreads page? More to the point, is this self-promotion in disguise?

Hello! like in general. Not a self promo but I'm trying to use Goodreads a bit more. Still learning lol

J. wrote: "Hello! like in general. Not a self promo but I'm trying to use Goodreads a bit more. Still learning lol"

No problem J.

First off though, the group rules do not allow for any links in the posts. Second, I'm not sure that asking everyone to add your book to their TBR lists isn't self promo. There are places on Goodreads where you can post comments of that like, but this thread isn't it.

Good luck with the new book :)

J.M.K. wrote: ""

Sorry J.M.K. but no links please.

Thank you Eldon! :)

Bryan Cohen has a marketing challenge you might want to look at. It is free and he does it every couple of months. It will work better if you have more than one book, but it can get you the basics of Amazon ads.

...oh and what is the Goodreads page where you can ask people to add your book to their "To be read" lists? I am just learning how to use this tool also.

Ann wrote: "...oh and what is the Goodreads page where ..."

It's definitely not in this group. I'm not sure you can do that anywhere in Goodreads, but not here.

Isn't that something the reader does on his/her own after briefly reviewing a book and decides to shelf it on the "to be read" list?

Eldon wrote: "J. wrote: "Hello! like in general. Not a self promo but I'm trying to use Goodreads a bit more. Still learning lol"

No problem J.

First off though, the group rules do not allow for any links in t..."

It would probably be more helpful to new members if someone actually POSTED the places on Goodreads where links CAN be promoted! Especially as the author promotion stuff is so vague on the site

Gail wrote: "It would probably be more helpful to new members if someone actually POSTED the places on Goodreads where links CAN be promoted! Especially as the author promotion stuff is so vague on the site"

Hi Gail. The group rules are posted on the group's main page under SIA Code of Conduct.

As for where to self promote, allow me to give you some friendly advice. Promoting on Goodreads in general will not give you any real return on your investment of time. You need to find where your audience is and reach them there. Author groups sadly, are not your intended audience.

Yes, I am aware of the rules and have no issues with them. I was referring to Goodreads actually posting where such promotions could be posted on the front of the author site, as finding such is quite difficult, especially if a member hasn't already spent a couple of hours looking for one!

Gail wrote: "It would probably be more helpful to new members if someone actually POSTED the places on Goodreads where links CAN be promoted! Especially as the author promotion stuff is so vague on the site"

We're not working for Goodreads, we volunteer to keep an eye on the Support for Indie Authors discussion board. It would take an awful lot of time and energy to compile such a list. A great part of being an Indie author is learning to do some research on your own.

Tacking on to what Eldon said, Goodreads exists for readers primarily. Most readers don't really care to have authors promoting their books in their groups. And groups set up for authors are often a poor place to promote. I have seen groups here and there, long ago, that were set up for authors to promote themselves... and that's really all it was. All the members were authors trying to sell to one another with little result.

Gail wrote: "I was referring to Goodreads actually posting where such promotions could be posted on the front of the author site..."

I think the issue, if I may, is you are misinterpreting what Goodreads is focused on. They don't cater to authors, in short. This is a site for readers to find and share books on their own. While if you search, I'm sure you could find a few groups that allow promotion, I'd put to you this question. Is it worth the time to find these areas of the site when in all likelihood they are not frequented by readers?