To pay or not to pay, that is the question

Author Carol Wyer
Author Carol Wyer
Author Carol Wyer

When I finished my first novel, I foolishly believed that my work was over. I’d get it published, sit back and wait for the sales and no doubt, the film offer from a top director to turn it into a box office success.

The reality is somewhat different as many of us indie authors and indeed traditionally published authors have discovered.

But just how do we keep people interested in our work, long after it has been published and is gathering virtual dust on Amazon Kindle virtual shelves, or indeed in the garage where there are several cardboard boxes filled with the said novel, next to the barbecue set that comes out once a year?

You may be tempted to try any one of a number of sites to have a ‘professional’ help promote you. Don’t be too disheartened but I have discovered, to my cost, that many of these sites that offer to promote your works are actually pointless. I’ll confess that in my exuberance to become an established and well-recognised writer I have blown my son’s inheritance and tried a lot (yes, I mean a lot) of these sites which promise to get you and your novels exposure.

Now, these guys aren’t exactly ripping you off. They do what they say they will do. They do a decent job of displaying your wares and write nice words about you. They ‘shout out’ about your work on Twitter to their legions of followers or facebook. They promote you as best they can, however, think about it…who are they promoting this stuff to? Probably other muppets like me who signed up to be promoted!

It gets worse now before it gets better, so stick with me on this.

I tried iBookPromo who made a wonderful advert for my book to push it to directors. Result? Nothing. No Martin Scorcese. No one.

I placed my book on various promo sites paying for advertising space. Did that work? No.

Next, either because I was having an off day, or I had in fact lost my marbles completely, I resorted to paying for a month of advertising on Facebook. Sales = zero.

Being a Brit I was desperate to get US sales. I must have had too many glasses of Chardonnay when I made the next move – yes, I hired a PR company. (I can hear you inhaling in disbelief). I used our holiday money to promote my book, convinced it would pay off.

Well, I had a ball. I was a media darling. I was instantly in demand, catapulted to fame and was invited onto numerous radio shows. I had massive exposure on various websites. It was huge fun. Did my sales increase? No. No, I tell a lie, I sold two copies on Kindle thanks to the campaign.

Now there is a positive ending to this sorry tale. In spite of all the goofs I actually discovered a magical place where you can get exposure for your books for no cost. Your book sales will increase. You only need to be courteous and friendly.

While I was weaving about in ‘La La land’ I also sent copies of my book to various book blog sites. I had visited these sites when I was writing my own blog and had cultivated genuine friendships with the reviewers. I sent out emails asking if they would be interested in reviewing a book by me; most graciously accepted.

A reviewer on these blogs is an important ally. If they like your work they will write a good review. If they write a good review it often gets tweeted or mentioned somewhere in cyberspace or on an influential site like ‘Goodreads’.

Last week, unbeknown to me until my Google Alert went off, a ‘small’ book blog gave Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines a terrific review. Sales rose that same day propelling the book to #1 in the Kindle charts (category ageing) and it stayed there for four days.

So, save your money and cultivate your on-line friendships. They are far more valuable.

*     *     *     *     *

Carol E Wyer is a Contributing Author for Indies Unlimited and author of the novel, MINI SKIRTS AND LAUGHTER LINES. For more information, please see the IU Bio page and her website: http://www.carolewyer.co.uk

Author: Carol Wyer

Carol E Wyer is a Contributing Author for Indies Unlimited and an award-winning and best-selling author of humorous novels including MINI SKIRTS AND LAUGHTER LINES, SURFING IN STILETTOS, and HOW NOT TO MURDER YOUR GRUMPY. Carol has been featured on NBC News, BBC Radio, and in The Huffington Post. For more about Carol, go to her website or her Amazon author page.

57 thoughts on “To pay or not to pay, that is the question”

  2. Carol,

    This is fantastic advice for those of us whose holiday money has already gone on paying the gas bill. The only thing I've tried is targeted advertising through FaceBook (after a tutorial a few weeks ago here). I did sell a few copies, but nowhere near enough to cover the cost of the "campaign".

    It is very reassuring to hear from someone who has tried these strategies and is willing to share their experiences to help others. Thanks ever so much!

    1. I tried Facebook advertising as you know and I kept getting weird messages from people saying 'I don't know why I am here – I didn't 'like' your page.' I think Facebook redirected them whether they wanted to go or not. It didn't result is sales either. The best thing is support from fellow authors and reviewers. It really is the only way. Count on your Indie friends.

      It's hard enough to make money out of our books without blowing it on a campaign or expensive marketing.

      1. Facebook advertising is excellent…but not necessarily for a new author. It can be used for established authors who already have a fan base. For example, you could target people who already mentioned on their profile that they like your books. It's a good way of rounding up existing fans who have already expressed interest in your work, yet don't know that you're active on Facebook.

        The best thing is to find out where your target market hangs out, and connect with them there. What other authors do your fans read?

  3. That's one of the reasons this group is so great. We all get multiple exposure on various sites through re-sending via our individual links. Sort of like a sneeze. Starts at the mouth and propels everywhere from there. lol

    1. You are 'bang on the money' with that comment Yvonne. I cannot praise everyone enough. The support and interest that is generated through this site is amazing.Love the sneeze analogy.

  4. Thanks for this, Carol. I was honestly in the throes in a "what if" panic attack for a book that's only half-written! Certainly now I won't waste my money (or brain matter) on PR that really won't make too much of a difference in the long run.

    I think I'll just try my best to make friends instead 😀

    1. Hi R.J. Keith!

      You will save yourself a lot of 'wonga' if you don't go the PR route. There are sites who will promote your work for free and I'll discuss those at a later date. If you need to know them beforehand send me an email from my website contact form page and I'll happily oblige. Stick to friends and nice helpful groups on Facebook. It'll be a better decision.

  5. I agree with you, Carol, especially about Twitter. Seems like nearly my whole feed there is taken up by people trying to market their books to me. I've set up one list in HootSuite for tweets from friends and family, so they don't get lost.

    I see paid advertising as having some value for getting your name out there. But in terms of direct book sales…not so much.

    1. Absolutely right Lynne. I see it all the time and I am not really someone who likes to keep advertising my own book on twitter or Facebook. I understand why people try to promote there but it is more effective if someone else, like a reviewer, does the promotion. Good idea to set up a separate list for friends and family.

      As for paid advertising, again you are right. I certainly got my name everywhere which is great as I am clearly a media whore but in terms of number of sales, not so effective.having said which I am hoping that now people have heard of me I might get an invite on Jay Leno's show when the next book releases!

    1. You are very welcome Ken and thank you for leaving me a comment. It's always nice to know that people have read and enjoyed your posts.

  7. Thank you so much for writing and reassuring my thoughts. I hired someone, and went through most of the steps you walked through. I think that time is also a very important issue here. It takes time! I have sold in one year 10,000 copies, this was way beyond my expectations. But on cyber world everything is possible. We Authors need to stick together and support each other. The rest will come.

    Good luck, Revital

    1. Wow! 10,000 copies is a tremendous amount. I was told (by my PR agent)that if a new author sells over 4000 copies then they were doing exceptionally well.I am mightily impressed. Well done.

      Good luck with further sales and yes, time is very important. Cyber world holds many surprises.

  8. I love the knowledge and friendships I have gained from the web. But I have to agree with you, Carol, me sitting at the computer is not going to sell books. Forgive me if I have an old fashioned mind set, but word of mouth and physically promoting your book has brought me more sales. I also believe in giving free books to strangers. Give one free book and sell ten. That's not a bad return on your money. Great insight Carol. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Renee after I finished and sent this article I thought about the 'word of mouth' approach. I should maybe have mentioned it but I shall no doubt touch on it in a future article because there is quite a lot I can say about that topic alone.

      I have had a lot of 'workshop' invitations and been asked to do 'talks' on the back of my on-line presence which earn money and as you correctly point out giving away free books will result in further sales. I have some extra info about that and how to 'give away' books for the said future article.

      As for on-line friendships-I wouldn't be without them.

    1. Lisa – thank you so much. The companies who offer the services do their job, there is no doubt about that, but I question just how much of what they do results in direct sales. I maintain there are better ways of promoting that don't involve large amounts of cash leaving your pocket.Good luck with your books.

  11. Well, having read this advice confirming and mirroring my own experiences, I think I might go back to the sales at gunpoint marketing program. It was generating good sales and great word of mouth recommendations, however most of those were going law enforcement, not exactly the demographic I was hoping to explore.

    I am beginning to recognize the visualized book “success” will be more like a bolt from the blue, uncontrolled and arbitrary. All you can really do is build the storm and hope lightning strikes. As an Indie Author don’t you sometimes feel like the young girl sitting at the drugstore counter just praying Cecil B. Demille will drop in for a hotdog and an egg crème?

    The critical issue with marketing is that it all works to some extent, however most campaigns have you sitting in a 1950's drugstore…. in Cleveland.

    1. Stephen I was under the impression that you were doing very well with your word of mouth sales and getting quite a lot of interest from the press so yes, take it up again. Your book trailer video is very good too.

      I love your comment about the girl in the drug store. It sums it up nicely. Yes, it's all a waiting game. In the meantime let's just keep it up and hope that our efforts pay off.

  12. Great blog post. I'm always suspicious of these promo sites but tried a few just in case. Though I kept my expenses no bigger than $30 I think that is the most I spent at any case. What a casual reader doesn't realize is how important the ratings and reviews are to boost the book sales. Many people don't know how to write a review or can't be bothered. I know many avid readers that just don't want to get involved in on-line debate or trolling with others who don't share their opinions and I can see how that can be I see many nasty replies on any social network just because someone's posted a different thoughts on something.

    1. Zrinka – There is a whole debate about book reviews and how they are currently being received. I try to only get my books reviewed by well-known review sites or book blogs in the hope that I don't tread on any toes.It's tricky out there at times.

      1. Yes, very tricky. I've even seen a review on Amazon where a reviewer didn't give a flattering review to a book and someone replied to the reviewer in a nasty way. And the fact is that anyone can lash at you. This could be the author himself with a sock puppet account or the author's friend of family member. The people you don't know and never will, they are nameless, faceless and I think that is what gives them the courage. Or they would not say those things to your face. But the fact that their nastiness is posted on the Internet for the whole world to see makes me cringe. Yes, you can report this person,but will truly anything be done about it?

  13. While personal connections are indeed valuable, I don't think advertising is a waste of time. In fact, after a career in radio/newspapers, I believe smart advertising is a necessity if you are running a small business (which writing is, if you are a professional).

    I spend about 10-15 percent of my income on marketing, in addition to making personal connections. And I have to say it has all paid off. Goodreads ads, blog sponsorships, giveaways, blog tours, etc. Every little bit may pay off in ways that you don;t realize. In fact, I think a mistake many writers are making now is to try to correlate one thing they did with a "return on investment."

    "I bought an ad but made zero sales." You do NOT know that for a fact. You don;t know where word might have reached, or where that will lead down the road. That ad or mention might be discovered by a "thought leader" somewhere and broadcast. It may reach someone who runs a book club. I look at it all as a cumulative effect, but you have to be realistic about where the message reaches. I don't just say this as a partner in the book promo site eBookSwag.com (which employs many of the principles I personally follow), but as someone who wants writers to benefit by making good decisions without expecting someone else to solve all their problems. Either way it is difficult, but it is also very possible. Good luck!

    Scott

    1. Scott I was very interested in what you you had to say because I think the key word there is 'smart' advertising. I think I went 'helter-skelter' into it all without much thought, just a blind desire to get noticed and get book sales.

      I have more recently been researching giveaways, blog sponsorships and blog tours along with Goodread ads and I feel more heartened having read your words. I shall certainly try these suggestions and will report back.

      Many thanks for your comment.

  14. Thanks Carol, until I read this post I was having daydreams about trying to hire someone to make me an overnight success. -sigh- It is great to know how things really work though. Congratulations on the break that shot you to no.1. and please keep posting tips like these.

    1. Meeks – I wish I could tell you that it was all magical but alas, I prefer to tell the truth and stop someone else going through financial pain. I have some tips to help though, so stay tuned to future posts where maybe I can help us get the attention we deserve.

    1. Sherri you are very welcome. I couldn't let my fellow authors go through a similar experience and not warn them. Others may have had more luck than me but it takes a lot of book sales to pay for a PR agent.

  16. I had a wee bit more success with my FaceBook campaigns than you, Carol, but I must say I agree heartily that nothing much happens when paid companies do very much all they can do, and it's almost identical to what YOU do over and over.

    That it takes time is true. But it also takes other books. Selling one book is three times as difficult as selling three. I have eleven titles out there, and they help to sell each other. The novels sell better, and get the best (the BEST) reviews.

    When readers find an author they like, they want MORE, so all you need to do, really, is spend the time and trouble writing more.

    1. Rosanne – Your comment is extremely valid and I heartily agree with you which is why I am trying hard to get the next two novels out there. Thank you for leaving this comment and I am sure others reading it will take heart from it too.

  17. Thanks for the tips! I hate spending money period and I wanted to delineate the parameters of how I promote and market (I'm not shy but I am very private) so I'm doing all of it…for free thanks to cyberspace…and I am having the time of my life! Sure, it's time consuming but it's really FUN! In all honesty, sure, I'd like more people to read my book but I myself wanted to read a book about Jewish, time-travelling vampires, so I wrote one. Let's face it, no matter what anyone tells you, they still really want to be discovered at the lunch counter at Schwab's!; )

    1. Well, that comment got me interested so I shall have to wander over and check out your Jewish time-travelling vampires as soon as I have written this reply.

      If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. I have loved the whole experience even if Hubby is still sulking about how much I spent!

  18. Excellent post. I have a debut novel coming out and after reading several blogs and similar experiences like yours, I think trying the free resources,although time-consuming will benefit the most. Much success to you and thanks so much for sharing with us!

    1. Amber I wish you every success too. If I find the winning formula you can be assured I'll share it with you all. It takes persistence and effort. There are lots of free resources which produce good results. I'll be writing about them at a later date.

  19. Great article. I have been agonising about what to do to boost sales and get more people to know about my books. I've sent my books out for reviews and not heard back from most. I'm hoping that means their TBR piles are really long and they are yet to read mine and not that they read and didn't like it 🙁

    1. Don't worry Empi. Lots of reviewers have very lengthy lists and it takes time to get through them. Sometimes it's best to send an enquiry letter to a reviewer and ask if they would like to read your book rather than bombard them with a manuscript that is not necessarily to their usual taste.

      Check out book review sites that favour your genre and good luck.

  20. Thanks so much for this advise Carol. You have probably saved me a fortune.I can't believe how naive I've been. I stupidly thought that once I published my first book, I could relax and bask in the glory of my sales figures!(well, pretty much) I don't have the money to hire anyone to market my work, so was at a bit of a loss. I am still hopelessly in the dark as far as marketing goes, and don't really know how to blow my own trumpet. Well, I didn't, until I read this!

    1. I think I win the prize for naivety 🙂 It's a learning process for many of us which is why I felt compelled to share my experiences with you. Keep reading the posts here and I'm sure you'll pick up on a few marketing techniques. I'm becoming a dab hand at promotion so if you want to email me personally go to my website and use the contact form. I'll be happy to assist as much as possible

  21. Hey, thanks Carol! If you have a Kindle, get ready to rumble!
    Sink your incisors into a Super Summer Savings Special! What? Where? Why, at the fangtastic discount offered for BLOOD AND MATZAH, for sure! Check out my limited time price of $2.99 for the Kindle version at&nbsp ;http://www.amazon.com/Blood-and-Matzah-ebook/dp/B006P3MCES/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

    Satisfy your inner vampire urge for a super sexy summer beach read, complete with Jewish, time-travelling vampires on a mission from G-d, waging a holy war against evil. So speed on over and snap one up because the sale ends surprisingly soon! Sincerely, Shira; )

  22. Excellent article, Carol. I've been hearing a lot about getting a book reviewed on review sites and blogs and it's clearly something I have to plunge into. However, I need advice. How does one send books to the review sites? No More Mulberries is both paperback and on Kindle. I can't afford to send the actual book everywhere and don't know how to send the eBook. Oh, do I send what I have on my computer – doh! Sorry, I'm probably just being very thick.

  23. Thanks for the heads up, Carol. Co-incidentally, my son sent me a comic strip this morning reminding me that all I have to do is write something interesting and people will come. I think some days we forget all that in the 'hype'.

  24. Thanks Carol, very useful. I have one novel and, based on advice from the publisher, am finishing off the sequel. He seems to believe that a first book rarely takes off… we'll see if the second is any different.

    I agree with Scott when he says that it's very hard to tell for sure the result of any particular marketing activity so I think part of the game is to keep plugging away at promoting our work. Let's not give up, and support from folk on sites like Indies helps to motivate us to fight on.

  28. I coach authors how to get on TV and I have to say your experience with publicists is quite common. The sad thing is that promoting your book yourself is not that hard if you use the right system. Yes, 99% of pitches fail, but lets face it, 99% of the pitches are off the mark. No one knows a book or its audience better than the writer, it has been their life for quite some time. To try to give others that knowledge and expect them to turn around and magically make you famous just doesn't work. On the other hand using that same knowledge yourself is indeed magic. OK, thanks, Edward Smith.

Comments are closed.